[Q] Reset flash counter without Triangle Away - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

My phone is bricked, so I can not use Triangle Away to reset flash counter.
I believe my NAND memory is broken, cuz I can't flash entire Stock rom. It stops after a while. I can flash CF recovery image however, and enter cwm recovery mode. I have tried 800 different ways to flash my phone, no one works. And many more like me has experienced this issue lately, after flashing JB stock rom.
So, I will take it to service center and let them swap the main board. But to be able to get it on the warranty I need to reset the flash counter.
Is it possible to reset in other ways than using Triangle Away? Triangle Away boots into a specific boot mode to reset. Is it possible to enter that boot mode without the App, e.g., by flashing something? Or by flashing something in Recovery Mode?

Related

Will installing stock rom with odin help me here

I extracted some filed to my phone now it wont start, so I am trying to install some stock roms with odin, but will this possibly brick it? I have the bell canada version i think.
How else can i fix this?
What do you mean it wont start, does it bootloop, do you see the i9100 logo, a yellow triangle, or will it not turn on at all.
Can you get into CWM recovery or download mode? If you can only get into download mode, odin will work fine, just make sure to flash the proper roms. (If you have the i9100G, Do not flash the i9100 roms and same of the opposite)
successfully installed
I've successfully installed using odin..just use the search button for the steps and procedure of installation.
Factory reset first .
jje

[Triangle Away] Flashcount was 3, got it down to 1 but how to get it to 0?(Stock Rom)

Ok so I just flashed the I9300XXDLIH official firmware (4.1.1) with ODIN, returning to stock firmware and stock recovery. I then rooted (while retaining the stock recovery) and used triangle away. It showed the flash count as 3 before aplying the fix, and now it shows flash count 1 and "custom "status. It stays like that and won't go to 0 no matter what.
How come it removed the 3 count and replaced it with 1 but won't remove it to 0? I don't use a custom kernel or custom recovery.
I read certain kernels are compatible and let it go to 0 but when you use a custom kernel, it will be set to 1 on each reboot anyways, so that doesn't help.
Anyone know how to get i to 0? It worked on a CM Rom but I need it to be zero with the stock firmware
thanks for replying
Triangle Away. Make sure you have absolutely stock FW + Kernel.
If it doesn't work, flash the Siyah Kernel then reset and flash the stock on back on.
Everything is stock.
Well, when I flash siyah, reset the counter and then flash back the stock kernel, the flash will bump the counter back to 1.
I have to install the kernel either via CWM or ODIN, but both will trigger the counter. Kind of a vicious cycle. What to do
- Use Triangle Away to reset the flash counters, and pull the battery immediately after rebooting starts
- Boot into recovery and perform a wipe, and pull the battery immediately after rebooting starts
- Go to SamMobile and get the stock firmware for your region
- Flash that stock firmware on your device
- Let Android boot, go through device setup (without doing any logins) until Android is fully usable again
- Reboot
- Wait at least 10 minutes
- Check Settings->About device->Status and make sure Device status is not "Modified"
- Perform another factory reset
- Boot into download mode and make sure the flash counter and system status are all set to official
Try this...
Vipeout said:
Everything is stock.
Well, when I flash siyah, reset the counter and then flash back the stock kernel, the flash will bump the counter back to 1.
I have to install the kernel either via CWM or ODIN, but both will trigger the counter. Kind of a vicious cycle. What to do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is a vicious cycle. It took me forever to get it right.
Once you have installed triangle away:
1. reset counter ( sometimes it reboots sometimes it doesn't ) regardless after the it resets remove the battery.
2. put the SG3 in download mode and flash the stock firmware
3. right after ODIn reboots the SG3 remove the battery
4. reboot into recovery mode and perform a factory reset
5. done
:highfive:
Usually Flash Counter is reset to 1 because of the custom recovery, or because some Samsung devices (including i9300 of course ^^) send a "System Modified" flag both from the bootloader and from fully booted android. There is an option, however, to run Triangle Away at every boot, and early in the boot cycle, to keep it at 0.
See here for the original Triangle Away thread. In the second post, developer chainfire explains why it's this way and what you can do to keep your counter at 0.

[Q] triangle away

Hi all,
I am in super user on a routed s3. I keep trying to use triangle away to reset my counter but it stays at 1
I have tried factory reset to restore stock rom but it is still at 1.
I did this last week and it did reset to 0. Annoying it was the guy in the Samsung shop who put my counter at 1 when he flashed my drive.
I know triangle mentions something about this but if i am in stock super user features are then not available.
What can i do?
I am currently rooted on a stock rom but custom firmware. Any ideas how to reset this to 0?
I'd appreciate any input.
Joe
with the latest bootloader, you can only be on 0 if you're running a stock unrooted ROM and a stock recovery
If you had 4.1.2 official before rooting, if you have something custom, it increases back to 1 every boot. Its to do with the newer bootloaders. You could try flashing back to a stock recovery / kernel. Or you have to internupt immediately after reset so it doesnt reboot.
So triangle way, boot into it. Press volume button to reset. Before the samsung logo comes up, pull battery. Then boot into download mode and check. if 0, flash rom.
rootSU said:
If you had 4.1.2 official before rooting, if you have something custom, it increases back to 1 every boot. Its to do with the newer bootloaders. You could try flashing back to a stock recovery / kernel. Or you have to internupt immediately after reset so it doesnt reboot.
So triangle way, boot into it. Press volume button to reset. Before the samsung logo comes up, pull battery. Then boot into download mode and check. if 0, flash rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried the triangle away and pulled the battery as triangle rebooted before the samsung name and logo come up but it didnt work unfortunately
The recovery mode is clockworkmod recovery 6.0.2.7kernel id 3.0.31-742798 running jelly bean. I flashed back to stock recovery before but it took away my super user permissions. that was a firmware/rom all in one
root with CF Auto roo0t. It gives you root only. No kernel, no recovery.
triangle away will work if you pull teh battery but you have to get teh timing right. You may have to try several times.
rootSU said:
If you had 4.1.2 official before rooting, if you have something custom, it increases back to 1 every boot. Its to do with the newer bootloaders. You could try flashing back to a stock recovery / kernel. Or you have to internupt immediately after reset so it doesnt reboot.
So triangle way, boot into it. Press volume button to reset. Before the samsung logo comes up, pull battery. Then boot into download mode and check. if 0, flash rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's great, i tried again with the triangle away and pulling the battery and it worked.

[Q] i777 Dead?

Hello, first post here and I am hoping you guys will be able to help me.
I have here a SII that will only access download mode. I have tried re-flashing it several times with various Odin flashable files all of which returned a "Pass" but still would not allow me to pass the first "Samsung" screen. The files I have flashed include Clockworkmod, TWRP, and the stock UMCD8 firmware with and without pit file.
Is there any other option left short of replacing the motherboard?
You should be able to boot the phone after performing a wipe data/factory reset from within recovery. To enter recovery, hold all three buttons (vol+ vol- & pwr) continuously until the boot screen appears the second time, then release all three. You can perform a wipe data/factory reset from stock 3e recovery, or from a custom recovery, depending on which you have, it doesn't matter. That being said, you success will depend perhaps on what you flashed. I am assuming by ClockworkMod and TWRP you mean I-777 kernels containing those recoveries, as the I-777 does not have a separate recovery because the recovery is built into the kernel. If the kernel version does not match the system version (UCMD8 is Jelly Bean) then the phone would not boot even after a reset. But you could flash the full I777UCMD8 again, and then it should boot. If you have additional questions or issues, let us know.
creepyncrawly said:
You should be able to boot the phone after performing a wipe data/factory reset from within recovery. To enter recovery, hold all three buttons (vol+ vol- & pwr) continuously until the boot screen appears the second time, then release all three. You can perform a wipe data/factory reset from stock 3e recovery, or from a custom recovery, depending on which you have, it doesn't matter. That being said, you success will depend perhaps on what you flashed. I am assuming by ClockworkMod and TWRP you mean I-777 kernels containing those recoveries, as the I-777 does not have a separate recovery because the recovery is built into the kernel. If the kernel version does not match the system version (UCMD8 is Jelly Bean) then the phone would not boot even after a reset. But you could flash the full I777UCMD8 again, and then it should boot. If you have additional questions or issues, let us know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Retried flashing the I77UCMD8 using odin 1.83 but it still wont boot. I also realized that when I try to access recovery it doesn't actually shut down, but gives me a black screen from which it will reboot if left for approximately five minutes. Is there anyway to get access to adb, like perhaps flashing a. insecure bootloader or something?
Berthfield said:
Retried flashing the I77UCMD8 using odin 1.83 but it still wont boot. I also realized that when I try to access recovery it doesn't actually shut down, but gives me a black screen from which it will reboot if left for approximately five minutes. Is there anyway to get access to adb, like perhaps flashing a. insecure bootloader or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you get a pass in Odin when you flash the full UCMD8 distribution, you should be able to get into recovery. Pull the battery for at least 30 seconds, then put the battery back into the phone and hold all three buttons continuously until you see the Samsung logo appear, the screen to go black, the Samsung logo appear a second time, and the screen to go black a second time, then release all three buttons.
If this does not boot the phone into recovery mode, then please describe in detail in your next post exactly what happens when you follow this procedure.
And, if the phone will not boot into recovery, then I will need additional information in order to troubleshoot the issue further. You have not given much information about the phone. What is the history of the phone before the problem manifested? Has this been your phone since new, or did you get it from another user? What was it running before the problem. Exactly what happened when the phone stopped working. Are you an individual trying to get his personal phone going, or a business trying to fix a phone to sell? Give me as much information as you can possibly think of.
creepyncrawly said:
...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On a side note, very honored to have issued your 3,001 'thanks'. I swear you should have triple that amount, due to the quality and depth of help you've given to the community - and continue to do so.
creepyncrawly said:
Since you get a pass in Odin when you flash the full UCMD8 distribution, you should be able to get into recovery. Pull the battery for at least 30 seconds, then put the battery back into the phone and hold all three buttons continuously until you see the Samsung logo appear, the screen to go black, the Samsung logo appear a second time, and the screen to go black a second time, then release all three buttons.
If this does not boot the phone into recovery mode, then please describe in detail in your next post exactly what happens when you follow this procedure.
And, if the phone will not boot into recovery, then I will need additional information in order to troubleshoot the issue further. You have not given much information about the phone. What is the history of the phone before the problem manifested? Has this been your phone since new, or did you get it from another user? What was it running before the problem. Exactly what happened when the phone stopped working. Are you an individual trying to get his personal phone going, or a business trying to fix a phone to sell? Give me as much information as you can possibly think of.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. I am a student who repairs phones part-time, I am not new to the android platform or to the galaxy line however this is the first I am experiencing this particular problem.
This phone is a unlocked and refurbished device that was purchased recently by my cousin. He claims he was just installing an app when it shut down and refused to boot back up. I initially took it with the intentions of wiping the data and returning it, however I was unable to access the recovery menu.
As I had no idea what rom was on it before, other than the fact that it was a samsung original, I proceeded to trying to flash various recoveries hoping that one would load from which I could install a custom rom. Failing that I then went on to flashing the I777UCKH7 firmware which also failed to boot and/or access recovery. Unsure what to do next I then attempted to flash the I777UCMD8 firmware which also did not boot. I then made a second attempt at flashing the I777UCKH7 firmware and .pit file from your download repository which also failed to boot.
All were loaded using Odin versions 1.82, 1.83 or 1.85 (Mostly 1.85). They all returned a "Pass" status but would be stuck on the "Samsung" screen when they rebooted. It was at this point having run out of ideas that I made the O.P.
I have also tried leaving the battery out and then following your instructions for recovery, when I do so I get a black screen. If i leave it in that screen for some time (approximately 5 mins) it will reboot and again be stuck on the "Samsung" screen.
We appreciate that you aren't new to the android platform or to the galaxy-line. Regarding the i777, you are in good company, and if we know NOTHING about any other device, we know the i777 very well. We're here to help.
You mentioned that you flashed several recoveries to the device. For future reference, the recovery for the i777 is packaged with the kernel, and is not installed separately. Even the often-troublesome temporary flash-recoveries that can be found, are actually a kernel/recovery combination. The s959g (straight talk's s2) has the same partition layout as the i9100 and i777 (and several other s2's), and DOES use a separate partition for recovery.
The fact that desktop ODIN indicates PASS when the flash is complete tells us that all of the factory nand images flashed successfully (including boot). It is very common that the device needs to have the factory data reset even after the factory images have been installed via desktop ODIN, but of course that requires access to recovery. If after a successful factory flash, the vol+ & vol- & power button held-concurrently-until-recovery (<--while NOT plugged into a USB port) truly doesn't get you to recovery, then that would be a new one for me as well; all other signs (as you have stated them) point to a correctly functioning device.
I'm hesitant to point you to flash a custom kernel;
there's some unnamed part of the procedure affecting the process, and flashing another boot image won't be helpful
-or-
there's a hardware failure, and flashing another boot image won't be helpful
-or-
you're using an incorrect method to get to recovery, and flashing another boot image won't be helpful
If you want to try it anyway, custom_kernel_twrp_v2.7.1.0.tar file via desktop odin might be worth a try.
^^this will trip the flash counter
^^this will install any custom firmware, but will not boot anything below android 4.4.x
I apologize for the hijack @creepyncrawly
Berthfield said:
Okay. I am a student who repairs phones part-time, I am not new to the android platform or to the galaxy line however this is the first I am experiencing this particular problem.
This phone is a unlocked and refurbished device that was purchased recently by my cousin. He claims he was just installing an app when it shut down and refused to boot back up. I initially took it with the intentions of wiping the data and returning it, however I was unable to access the recovery menu.
As I had no idea what rom was on it before, other than the fact that it was a samsung original, I proceeded to trying to flash various recoveries hoping that one would load from which I could install a custom rom. Failing that I then went on to flashing the I777UCKH7 firmware which also failed to boot and/or access recovery. Unsure what to do next I then attempted to flash the I777UCMD8 firmware which also did not boot. I then made a second attempt at flashing the I777UCKH7 firmware and .pit file from your download repository which also failed to boot.
All were loaded using Odin versions 1.82, 1.83 or 1.85 (Mostly 1.85). They all returned a "Pass" status but would be stuck on the "Samsung" screen when they rebooted. It was at this point having run out of ideas that I made the O.P.
I have also tried leaving the battery out and then following your instructions for recovery, when I do so I get a black screen. If i leave it in that screen for some time (approximately 5 mins) it will reboot and again be stuck on the "Samsung" screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cyril279 said:
I apologize for the hijack creepyncrawly
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the contrary, your input is valuable and desired.
@Berthfield,
If there was actual nand damage in any partition that was flashed, you would not get a pass in Odin, as far as I know. Since you are unable to boot into any recovery, this indicates a problem with the nand memory, possibly a corruption issue. Please try the following (you might try accessing recovery after each step, and if you get to it, perform a wipe data/factory reset):
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 Tar version of Siyah 2.6.14 Kernel. Flash it in PDA. Without ticking Re-Partitioning
2) Flash the Tar.md5 of the full stock Gingerbread distribution from the Download Repository, I777UCKH7 including the bootloaders and everything, in the PDA slot.
3) If that is successful you are done. If it is not, then:
4) Download the SBL Bootloader from the Download Repository. Flash it as PDA in ODIN, without ticking Re-Partitioning. (Please observe normal bootloader flashing caution.)
5) Flash the Kernel, as in step 1.
6) Flash the full stock Gingerbread distribution, as in step 2.
I was away from home for a bit and so was unable to work with the phone. I have followed the instructions given above but I am still unable to boot.
I was using the "I777UCKH7-REV02-home-low-CL503881.tar.md5" file downloaded from the download repository, is this the right file or is there another Gingerbread flash that wold be better to use?
I am really puzzled at what exactly is happening with this phone.
Yes, that is correct. That is the original stock gingerbread from when the phone was first released.
I agree that it is a puzzle. Just to be sure, you followed the directions exactly? I'm not sure why, but the sequence will clear nand read/write corruption. You might try once again with the SBL -> Siyah Kernel -> Full Gingerbread, just to make sure.
1) Flash the SBL by itself and pull the battery.
2) Flash the Siyah kernel by itself and pull the battery.
3) Flash the full Gingerbread stock and pull the battery.
4) Enter recovery and perform a wipe data/factory reset.
5) Reboot.
creepyncrawly said:
Yes, that is correct. That is the original stock gingerbread from when the phone was first released.
I agree that it is a puzzle. Just to be sure, you followed the directions exactly? I'm not sure why, but the sequence will clear nand read/write corruption. You might try once again with the SBL -> Siyah Kernel -> Full Gingerbread, just to make sure.
1) Flash the SBL by itself and pull the battery.
2) Flash the Siyah kernel by itself and pull the battery.
3) Flash the full Gingerbread stock and pull the battery.
4) Enter recovery and perform a wipe data/factory reset.
5) Reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did the above and it is still a no go.
I have come to realize that the phone seems to think it is in recovery mode when I attempt to enter it as if it is plugged in while on the black screen it doesn't display the charging animation. This occurs regardless of the kernel/recovery combo that is on the phone and while in that state it is also not detected by the computer. To rule out possible problems I have also attempted the flash on a different computer with a different cable and it is still the same.
I remember reading about the ICS hard-brick bug and that it was possible to brick the phone is a large enough file was written to memory. Is it possible that this could be my problem or would Odin return a error if the chip was damaged? Also I am not sure if this matters but I find it odd that after flashing the Siyah kernel and CWM the phone still hasn't tripped its custom binary counter.
Berthfield said:
Did the above and it is still a no go.
I have come to realize that the phone seems to think it is in recovery mode when I attempt to enter it as if it is plugged in while on the black screen it doesn't display the charging animation. This occurs regardless of the kernel/recovery combo that is on the phone and while in that state it is also not detected by the computer. To rule out possible problems I have also attempted the flash on a different computer with a different cable and it is still the same.
I remember reading about the ICS hard-brick bug and that it was possible to brick the phone is a large enough file was written to memory. Is it possible that this could be my problem or would Odin return a error if the chip was damaged? Also I am not sure if this matters but I find it odd that after flashing the Siyah kernel and CWM the phone still hasn't tripped its custom binary counter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Evidently, this situation is beyond my experience.
My understanding is that if emmc memory is damaged within a given partition, then Odin will not be able to successfully flash that partition. While I don't know exactly how Odin functions, I believe there are checks within the flashing sequence for each partition. So as stated before, it is assumed that if you get a pass in Odin, there is not emmc damage, at least not within the various partitions that Odin flashes.
There was one case I remember with the emmc super brick bug where the phone would boot, but would not function correctly. Evidently in that case, a small portion of the emmc memory was damaged. The usual symptom of that bug was a hard brick.
The charging issue could be hardware or it could be a failing or failed battery. Have you tried another battery?
Flashing the Siyah kernel and not tripping the flash counter is more than a little odd. The code that governs that behavior is in the secondary boot loader as far as I know, and you have reflashed that. Please bear in mind that anything I say is speculation, but this issue give me a lot of reasons to think it is a failed hardware issue.

[Q] Can't enter Recovery Mode, have to wipe phone

Hi
A friend of mine asked me to help with his old phone. He wanted to hand his phone to his children, but he can't remember the passwort he entered once.
It is a complete stock phone. No ADB activated.
But the main problem is, that I can't enter recovery mode. I am very familiar with flashing phones and so on and know what to do, but I really can't enter the recovery mode. At least I can enter download mode (not as good as normaly, it often doesn't work, but I can).
Has somebody an idea how I can reset the phone with Heimdall or Odin? I also tried to flash a new recovery (CWM, CWM touch, stock) and the Stock ROM, but I still can't enter recovery mode (volume rockers seem to work, also home button) .
@Pflunz thats odd. So even flashing siyah kernel out of my head still doesnt allow you to boot into recoverymode? Because the S2 has recovery and kernel for system builtin.
Try to maybe flash gingerbread for the s2 first and it will probably work.
After you have flashed gingerbread and try to boot into system. If that works then you can root it and flash recovery. And boot into recovery from your rom.
You can do the same with jellybean stock instead of gingerbread. Read odin guide cause you can reflash stock with odin and it should be okay. Are you also flashing it for the right model?
I dont own anymore the S2 so I cant talk out of direct experience anymore.
I hope also for you that someone who is current in the s2 community can help you with this problem goodluck :good:

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