[Q] Can you break your android os of a S2? - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So maybe the question from the title is a little bit unclear.
The problem that i had with my phone is that one day, i got a message that a new android version appeared(4.1.2)...and obviously i clicked to download it. After the download and install when it was time to enter in my new version, a screen where a password was required appeared, saying something that my phone is encrypted, and a pass is needed to make i work...Problem is that i didn't have a previous password...
So anyway i restarted the phone...and android didn't even brought me to that screen...it just wouldn't load...So i decided to take matters in my own hands (not the best decision i made that day)...
I searched online how to do that...i found about odin..installed it ...and then tried to install android...Problem is that odin gave me errors when trying to upload the kit or something (i was in download mode with the phone)..when odin gave errors i either disconected the cable from the phone, or in some cases i got pissed off and removed the battery...
My question is...could i have broken my phone permanently by doing that ? Like i don't know...in a way..that neither an expert could fix it?
Thanks

You can scramble the NAND so badly it has to be replaced if a flash goes bad/you flash something you shouldn't be flashing (or if you do dopey things like pull a USB cable in the middle of a flash), and the way that's done is by replacing the motherboard, so you can certainly cause damage that costs money to repair, but it can pretty much always be repaired one way or another.
I seriously doubt you could bork a phone completely beyond all repair via firmware/software & without physically damaging components.

No physical damage was made to the phone...
Assuming all the alien language things that you said ...so the worst case scenario...do you have any idea how much a new motherboard would cost?

Varies widely depending on country/how much labor costs in your country. Samsung don't sell new motherboards on their own, you can either pay an authorised service centre to put a new one in (most expensive option, you normally keep your existing IMEI), or you can get a 2nd hand board from a broken/'donor' phone (How much you'll pay for one again highly variable depending on how much someone wants for their busted phone, search eBay/Google) & either swap it into your phone yourself, or if you're not confident with that sort of thing pay a local mobile repair shop to swap the boards for you (least expensive option, your IMEI will change to that of the phone the board came from).
Edit - If what I said in my PP was 'alien', I'd suggest you shouldn't have been messing with your phone in the first place & should probably avoid same when you get it fixed as well.

Teshte said:
So maybe the question from the title is a little bit unclear.
The problem that i had with my phone is that one day, i got a message that a new android version appeared(4.1.2)...and obviously i clicked to download it. After the download and install when it was time to enter in my new version, a screen where a password was required appeared, saying something that my phone is encrypted, and a pass is needed to make i work...Problem is that i didn't have a previous password...
So anyway i restarted the phone...and android didn't even brought me to that screen...it just wouldn't load...So i decided to take matters in my own hands (not the best decision i made that day)...
I searched online how to do that...i found about odin..installed it ...and then tried to install android...Problem is that odin gave me errors when trying to upload the kit or something (i was in download mode with the phone)..when odin gave errors i either disconected the cable from the phone, or in some cases i got pissed off and removed the battery...
My question is...could i have broken my phone permanently by doing that ? Like i don't know...in a way..that neither an expert could fix it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long story short, Yes your device could be "Broken" in such a way that the only option is to replace the motherboard. You atleast tried reading and doing something, dude there are several thread regarding this matter try different strategies, try out your luck, ask questions, but don't get your hopes too high.
Sorry pal, I wish you the best of all the luck in this tiny planet of ours.
Edit : sorry I was too late, I actually started the reply almost after you posted it but I went away had a coffee then completed it.
Edit: lol to actually make a phone completely unrecoverable you might need a sledgehammer, no software related issue in the world can completely damage an electronic device(unless that software was related to triggering a nuke).
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app

Related

[Q] Dead s2

Hey guys, sorry for another topic, however I actually do know what is wrong with my phone and know it needs to be JTAG repaired..
however... I was wondering if anyone knew the root cause of this (no pun intended).. I was flashing JellyBam v5.0 (custom [email protected]~) and mid installation, phone froze, powered down and is now bricked. Any reason why it would do that mid install? Battery was 95%+
cheers
rsr1 said:
Hey guys, sorry for another topic, however I actually do know what is wrong with my phone and know it needs to be JTAG repaired..
however... I was wondering if anyone knew the root cause of this (no pun intended).. I was flashing JellyBam v5.0 (custom [email protected]~) and mid installation, phone froze, powered down and is now bricked. Any reason why it would do that mid install? Battery was 95%+
cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please state more details. Rom, kernel, modem, odin, cwm, etc
He did. Regardless, none of that info would be relevant/useful in this case anyway, phone's borked.
@OP - Honestly, that's impossible to say. Something hardware related in the phone, something simple like the battery contacts not making a proper connection, something on the PC side even (temporary issue with the connection b/w the PC & phone) ? The possibilities are endless.
Have it looked at by a JTAG repairer & if that can't be done, maybe try and source a motherboard from a donor phone (broken screen or whatever). That will be the cheaper option than having Samsung replace the MB if it can't be JTAG'd, even if you pay a local mobile repair shop to install the 'new' MB (if you're not confident enough to DIY).
seanwong98 said:
Please state more details. Rom, kernel, modem, odin, cwm, etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
He did. Regardless, none of that info would be relevant/useful in this case anyway, phone's borked.
@OP - Honestly, that's impossible to say. Something hardware related in the phone, something simple like the battery contacts not making a proper connection, something on the PC side even (temporary issue with the connection b/w the PC & phone) ? The possibilities are endless.
Have it looked at by a JTAG repairer & if that can't be done, maybe try and source a motherboard from a donor phone (broken screen or whatever). That will be the cheaper option than having Samsung replace the MB if it can't be JTAG'd, even if you pay a local mobile repair shop to install the 'new' MB (if you're not confident enough to DIY).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah you are right it could be anything happening within the phone without my knowledge, luckily phone was connected to mains when i was flashing using CWM so no problems there, but i don't think i will find the reason why it actually happened as you said the possibilities are endless
I'm trying to get in touch with a place that does JTAG repairs at the moment, however im just scared they say it can't be done. Havent really got the money to fork out for a new MB. I bought the phone second hand last year (april) where i was told it was only 3-4weeks old however had no old purchase details. Is there any way for me to check if the warranty is still valid or does it become void after resale? Thanks
There used to be an online warranty checker on one of Samsung's regional websites (can't remember which, maybe someone else does ?) where you could put the serial number in & get the warranty end date, but I recall people on here saying it either went away or didn't work anymore at some point last year.
But I doubt you'd get warranty service without the original receipt anyway, and even if you had it, I'm not sure the warranty is transferable beyond the original purchaser (Someone else please correct me if they know of cases where the warranty has been honoured regardless, I realise this might vary from country to country).
Unless the phone has physical damage as opposed to the NAND simply being scrambled beyond all recognition which normally happens when a flash goes wrong like that, you'd probably expect it to be JTAG'able.
If it's not, as I said in my PP, a board from a 'donor' phone would be much cheaper to both buy/have installed than paying a Samsung authorised repairer to put a new MB in (apparently they charge in the vicinity of half what a new phone would cost retail).
Edit - Re: getting a 'donor' phone for the MB, here's an example of what I'm talking about; no doubt you'll probably pick one up cheaper, just thought I'd give you an example of what to look for if you end up needing to go down that path.
rsr1 said:
-SNIP-
I'm trying to get in touch with a place that does JTAG repairs at the moment, however im just scared they say it can't be done. Havent really got the money to fork out for a new MB. I bought the phone second hand last year (april) where i was told it was only 3-4weeks old however had no old purchase details. Is there any way for me to check if the warranty is still valid or does it become void after resale? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MistahBungle said:
There used to be an online warranty checker on one of Samsung's regional websites (can't remember which, maybe someone else does ?) where you could put the serial number in & get the warranty end date, but I recall people on here saying it either went away or didn't work anymore at some point last year.
But I doubt you'd get warranty service without the original receipt anyway, and even if you had it, I'm not sure the warranty is transferable beyond the original purchaser (Someone else please correct me if they know of cases where the warranty has been honoured regardless, I realise this might vary from country to country).
Unless the phone has physical damage as opposed to the NAND simply being scrambled beyond all recognition which normally happens when a flash goes wrong like that, you'd probably expect it to be JTAG'able.
If it's not, as I said in my PP, a board from a 'donor' phone would be much cheaper to both buy/have installed than paying a Samsung authorised repairer to put a new MB in (apparently they charge in the vicinity of half what a new phone would cost retail).
Edit - Re: getting a 'donor' phone for the MB, here's an example of what I'm talking about; no doubt you'll probably pick one up cheaper, just thought I'd give you an example of what to look for if you end up needing to go down that path.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think you're right on that one, if i don't even have proof of purchase then I don't think warranty will be valid. Thanks anyway on that behalf. Yeah it is only that one issue nothing else is wrong physically so i am hoping for the best and do believe a JTAG should get me out of this situation without a problem (fingers crossed).
On the topic of a replacement motherboard thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction if JTAG fails. Buying a cheap phone as such is a great idea and taking a working motherboard for a lot cheaper than RRP is wonderful.
Thankyou very much for your input & help ::highfive:
I have the EXACT same problem...
the ivelstre
Simmyen said:
I have the EXACT same problem...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It happened to both of us whilst installing JellyBam v5, so surely there must be a problem with the ROM? We encountered the exact same issue 100% and are both left in the same position now due to the ROM
rsr1 said:
It happened to both of us whilst installing JellyBam v5, so surely there must be a problem with the ROM? We encountered the exact same issue 100% and are both left in the same position now due to the ROM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the exact same problem yeah, but i know a friend of mine who used the same ROM as we did.. it worked for him though
Always try a Jig before JTAG, no harm there.
If warrantu isn't voided, make sure it's really bricked so you can claim it with the "I was updating it via wifi and dropped dead" rutine.
No probs. Just sorry we couldn't be of more help. Best of luck (Hope it ends up being easily JTAG'able for you).
rsr1 said:
-SNIP-
Thankyou very much for your input & help ::highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

S2 totally unresponsive

Hi all,
I'm new on this forum so I hope i'm not being rude or something.
I had a custom rom on my S2 and wanted to flash the neatrom. I flashed a new kernel first and flashed the wrong one ( stupid!) and now my phone is completely out.
I don't have access to either recovery or download mode.
Please tell me there's something that can be done...
thanks
Belgarion
Keep trying to get into download mode (home/volume down/power) Try a jig (Unlikely to work, but try one anyway. You never know your luck).
Still no response ?
Service centre or local mobile repair shop. Or it may even be JTAG'able (tho I suspect motherboard replacement is necessary). With respect (and I really do mean that), you're not telling us everything you've done/haven't given us enough information, but I suspect it probably doesn't matter given your phone is likely borked.
when the battery is in the phone, it heats up. So I guess something is trying to work in there right?
Well, i've changed Roms many times.
Right before it got "borked?" i had the a Rom based on the chinese OS, can't find the name again xD My phone told me it didn't have the right version of CF root so it wasn't rooted. Because of that I tried to Flash a new Kernel and I went for the DorimanX, but I took the wrong version of it, the 9.x.
Now you've I told it all
Heating up & no response = dead motherboard. As I said, knowing/not knowing 'it all' doesn't matter in your case. You can either take it to an authorised repairer/service centre for a new motherboard (normally more expensive option), or you can source a 2nd hand one from a 'donor' phone (broken screen/etc but otherwise OK); search online - eBay/Google/etc which you can either swap yourself if you're confident or take to a local mobile repair shop if you're not confident (least expensive option).
If the phone is under warranty, you could always play dumb & send it to a service centre, you never know, you may get lucky & they may fix it gratis. But don't assume they will like many people do; these people sometimes end up disappointed because an authorised repairer/Samsung is under no obligation to repair/replace the phone at their expense given you broke it.
At least now I know I'm ****ed
Thanks for answering so fast
Have a great day/night ^^
Honestly, try a jig & keep trying to get into download mode/recovery. There's also a trick you can try to 'jump start' the phone without the battery using the charger (I believe King Rat was the last person to post this a few mths ago search his posts). Also, connect it to a charger & leave it for as long as it takes to charge from empty/overnight. You could also try another battery (at least you'll have a spare when you get it fixed), but getting warm & no response is normally a bad sign.
These methods are probably unlikely to work, but you have nothing to lose by trying them over & over & you may get lucky.

[Q] Bricked phone, black screen and can't get into download mode

Hello!
I really hope you guys can help me. I tried to flash a recovery with Odin, and now my phone won't do anything. Its screen stays black, regardless of whether I try to turn it on, or go to recovery or download mode.
Here's some background as to what I did and what I was trying to do:
I had CheckROM RevoHD V6 with CWM Recovery (v5 I think) on my phone.
I wanted to install Cyanogenmod v 10.1.3-RC2.
I followed this guide: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_i9100
However I couldn't get Heimdall to work, so I got Odin v3.07.
I used this guide with the supplied PIT file (this may have done me in).
In the attachments you can see the Odin output.
I waited a good 4-5 minutes, but my mobile wasn't restarting or anything, so I disconnected it, but couldn't get it to boot.
And as I've said before, now I only see a black screen, regardless of the buttons I push. I've tried removing and then replacing the battery, but still doesn't work.
I've read that the USB-JIG is the last resort, but that you need to at least have the screen turn on and display a logo for it to work. Is this true, or can I still in my phone's state of brokeness use it?
And if I can use a jig, this one would be a good one to get, right?
Thanks for any help!
Jig has a 0.000000000000000000000001% chance of working, but try it anyway. If you can afford to be without your phone for as long as the jig takes to arrive, try it, but if you want it fixed sooner than later - service centre. You don't flash PIT's. Ever. This is most likely the cause of your busted phone.
Yeah. PIT is the cause of most phone bricks. I don't want to lead somebody to misinformation, but I heard that you use PIT file only for 3-file stock software when you want to start again with clear fully wiped phone. This is the only situation I heard when PIT file is used.
About your problem. You can buy USB JIG. Like the user above has mentioned you have really low chances to get it working. Your last resort in this case is to try and leave the phone on warranty in samsung repair service. Many people suggest that you should say that your phone turned off during update with Samsung KIES software and has never turned on again even though it has been written on your computer screen that installation has completed succesfully. This might help and they will replace motherboard for free. If not buy new phone. Anyway be patient and wait for more answers.
Dammit. Well thanks for the replies and tips. I hope there is someone who has another tip.
The reason I went with the PIT file as well is because I did it the first time around, flashing the first recovery. So I thought it wouldn't harm this time.
No miracle fixes. If the phone won't even bootloop, you've got zero chance of fixing it yourself. It's unlikely to even be JTAG'able. A Samsung service centre certainly wouldn't attempt one given a motherboard replacement is quicker/easier for them to do (not to mention they make a nice profit margin on the labour/parts). Having mentioned motherboards, you could also source a 2nd hand one from a 'donor' phone with a broken screen & either replace it yourself or pay a local mobile repair shop to do it (will be cheaper than paying a service centre to put a new one in).
Also, if you're lucky, service centre may not notice or care that you've been messing with it/you broke it & might fix it under warranty. Tho anyone here who tells you that's a certainty is lying to you. It's a crap shoot, you might get it, you might not. Obviously if you have no warranty that's irrelevant.
Damn. I was afraid of this. I've contacted Samsung support, but I'm pretty sure they won't do anything since I'm 3 months out of guarantee.
And now I'm looking for replacements as well.
Always seems to be the way unfortunately (this kind of thing happening just after warranty expires). If you've had the phone a while (e.g since it was released), yeah, maybe a new phone might not be a bad idea. But still, get the jig, try it, see what happens. Nothing to lose except a couple of bucks for the jig.
Thanks. Will do, since it's only 4€. And it might come in handy if I replace my phone with an S3, S4 or Note 2.
I feel your pain. I did the exact same thing earlier this year. I didn't think I was still covered by the warranty but when I took it in to the service center they fixed it for free even replacing the main board (I think). Your as well to take it in on the off chance their record still show it as under warranty.
Thanks for the support. Unfortunately the service centre is not close to me, so I'm awaiting a reply from Samsung support and hope they allow me to send it to them.
At least I was just smart enough to make a backup of the files before. So nothing lost on that end, I can get all my contacts, messages, etc. back.

My S2 does not Boot at all may be HARDBRICKED :'(

Okay... initially i was on Custom Rom Jellybam based on Jellybean 4.2.1 with Siyah Kernel V5 sync.
I want to upgrade to Kitkat 4.4
so i downloaded all the required files , made nandroid backup , reboot the phone and started transferring all ROM files into internal SD card Sdcard0
I am doing all this is Linux Mint..
It started transferring and got stuck 33.2%
so i removed the cable and try it again and this time again it stucked again
and my phone reboots automatically ..
Samsung logo main screen shows and loading starts but after completing loading bar .. it Freezes there and i cannot boot into recovery either..
SO on searching on goggle for solutions .. it states that i have to flash kernel again through ODIN again in order to access recovery to do Factory Reset..
SO i did the same flashed siyah kernel v4.1.5
it shows its successfully flashed BUT on reboot it shows Yellow triangle and freezes there and i still cannot access recovery and it also freezes on battery charge animation
So i again try to flash using ODIN this time again with siyah kernel 6.b5
and still same problem ,, so pull out battery and leave for 5 minutes and again boot phone in download mode and flash again using odin siyah kernel 6.0b5 and upon Reboot PHONE does not Boot.. I was literally Shocked and i try to pull out battery .. put back in and Try to charge but it shows no animation nor it is going in download mode.
Please HELP ..
Suggest me some ways because 1 year before I've replaced the motherboard due to same problem caused by factory reset in stock ICS rom when There was Hard Brick problem in Stock ICS roms..but it was in warranty so there was no problem but this time its out of warranty..
I didn't do anything wrong and still it got HARD BRICKED and still not have a clue what went wrong ??
No booting at all = nothing anyone here can do = replace motherboard or get a new phone (JTAG also very unlikely to work).
MistahBungle said:
No booting at all = nothing anyone here can do = replace motherboard or get a new phone (JTAG also very unlikely to work).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i know. this.. its TOO scary to hear this thing..
If anything is possible ?? Anything ??
i will give every info you needed..
And what exactly do you expect people here to suggest ? If the phone won't boot you can:-
*Try a jig (0.0000000001% chance of working, but try it if you like torturing yourself with false hope)
*Try a JTAG if the person who tries is prepared to do it on the basis of 'you only pay them if the JTAG is successful' (also 0.0000000001% chance of working, try this if you like torturing yourself with false hope even more)
*Replace the motherboard; 99.99% chance of successfully fixing the phone provided there's nothing else wrong hardware-wise
MistahBungle said:
And what exactly do you expect people here to suggest ? If the phone won't boot you can:-
*Try a jig (0.0000000001% chance of working, but try it if you like torturing yourself with false hope)
*Try a JTAG if the person who tries is prepared to do it on the basis of 'you only pay them if the JTAG is successful' (also 0.0000000001% chance of working, try this if you like torturing yourself with false hope even more)
*Replace the motherboard; 99.99% chance of successfully fixing the phone provided there's nothing else wrong hardware-wise
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'll go to samsung care tomorrow but i am still wondering what happened wrong as i did nothing wrong at all then still how it hardbricked ??
... probably you only need to flash a correct running ROM. Did you try to flash an original Samsung firmware? Did you wipe data before starting the new ROM? Otherwise there is a big chance for a bootloop.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
AndDiSa said:
... probably you only need to flash a correct running ROM. Did you try to flash an original Samsung firmware? Did you wipe data before starting the new ROM? Otherwise there is a big chance for a bootloop.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the guide suggest to flash kernel so that i can wipe/data factory reset .. i tried that with odin but phone does not boot and freezes at Samsung logo when loading bar finishes... so i thought to flash stock ics rom but before doing that after flashing kernel again it reboot and hard bricked... and does not boot after all even in download mode..
So this happens after i flashed kernel 3rd time and i still have no clue why did it happened..
and customer care asks it would costs at least Rs.8,000 or $133 to replace a Motherboard.. which is too costly...
can anyone suggest me any other things.. ay alternatives ??
There are no other alternatives. Just because you refuse to accept reality doesn't make it anything less than reality.
And isn't it wonderful to see people still not reading threads & suggesting stuff that's impossible: 'probably you only need to flash a correct running ROM'. I mean, seriously ? The OP has already stated on multiple occasions that the phone will not boot. At all. How do you propose he flash 'a correct running rom' exactly ?
MistahBungle said:
There are no other alternatives. Just because you refuse to accept reality doesn't make it anything less than reality.
And isn't it wonderful to see people still not reading threads & suggesting stuff that's impossible: 'probably you only need to flash a correct running ROM'. I mean, seriously ? The OP has already stated on multiple occasions that the phone will not boot. At all. How do you propose he flash 'a correct running rom' exactly ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahah... i know .. people are sometimes too lazy to read ..
I just need to know.. what's wrong happened so that it will not happen next time..
Honestly ? That's almost impossible to say. Best guesses based on what you've told us are you simply got a bad flash, which is a small possibility (maybe 1 in 10,000) with any given flash. Or, I've had a theory based on instances like this I've seen on here over the past two yrs which involves the connection between phone & PC being broken for a split second during the flash (possibly caused by less than reliable USB ports on the PC or something else intermittent on the PC side), but not long enough for the disconnection to 'register' on the PC-side like it normally does when an external device is disconnected (you get that exclamation sound & a notification that the device has been disconnected in your taskbar).
It doesn't sound like you did anything 'wrong', put it that way. So I'm not sure there's a whole lot you can do to avoid it in future. Unfortunately, that's the risk all of us take whenever we flash stuff to our phones; every single flash (even CWM ones) involves that small risk (due to the nature of the NAND; having a write abruptly interrupted partway through can 'scramble' it) and the only way you can mitigate that 100% is to not flash anything at all.
Well .. I've already seen several people claiming a 'hardbrick' while the phone was only stuck in a boot loop. Especially while flashing only boot.img / system.img (which the OP claimed) it's normally really hard to create a hardbrick. That was the reason to suggest to try to flash an original firmware.If instead the bootloader is messed up, there is not much to do ...
AndDiSa said:
Well .. I've already seen several people claiming a 'hardbrick' while the phone was only stuck in a boot loop. Especially while flashing only boot.img / system.img (which the OP claimed) it's normally really hard to create a hardbrick. That was the reason to suggest to try to flash an original firmware.If instead the bootloader is messed up, there is not much to do ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well I've got my s2 since past 1.7 years and nothing wrong has happened till date as I've flashed plenty of ROMS earlier.. its nothing new to me.. i am well known to these things..
i have exams from 1 month and s2 was creating problems such as freezes while scrolling in any application and automatic reboot from many time
i have no time to solve this during exams..
so i tried to solve this issue yesterday by upgrading to new ROM.. downloaded ROM files .. and ready to transfer to internal sd where copying stuck at 33% 2 times and at 2nd time from where main problem starts.. of freezing at bootscreen and then i trty to solve by flahsing new kernel thriugh ODIN where Hardbrick was TOTALLY UNEXPECTED.. as I've done this earlier time too but nothing happened wrong that time... i was literally surprised that it does not boot at all even i didn't done any mistakes at all & followed procedure.. even ODIN every time shows "Flash Successful"
i've attached screenshot of ODIN flashing.. so you can check for yourself..
May be there is a possibility of battery dying and phone cannot charge the battery ??
i've no spare battery to check .. so will go soon to care to check if its battery problem or not..
MistahBungle said:
Honestly ? That's almost impossible to say. Best guesses based on what you've told us are you simply got a bad flash, which is a small possibility (maybe 1 in 10,000) with any given flash. Or, I've had a theory based on instances like this I've seen on here over the past two yrs which involves the connection between phone & PC being broken for a split second during the flash (possibly caused by less than reliable USB ports on the PC or something else intermittent on the PC side), but not long enough for the disconnection to 'register' on the PC-side like it normally does when an external device is disconnected (you get that exclamation sound & a notification that the device has been disconnected in your taskbar).
It doesn't sound like you did anything 'wrong', put it that way. So I'm not sure there's a whole lot you can do to avoid it in future. Unfortunately, that's the risk all of us take whenever we flash stuff to our phones; every single flash (even CWM ones) involves that small risk (due to the nature of the NAND; having a write abruptly interrupted partway through can 'scramble' it) and the only way you can mitigate that 100% is to not flash anything at all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i totally understand what you wanted to say..
i now how to do these things.. i know the risks...
still don't know what happened wrong..
hey guys.. i just went to samsung care and they told me that PCB need to be replaced and it ill costs me INR 8,000 or $133.33 which is too expensive and i told them if any other thing can be done .. i see some videos in youtube stating DEAD or HARDBRCIKED S2 can be fixed by changing its POWER IC...
so i told them that thing then they told me that OFFICIALY only Motherbaord could be replaced however I can ask local reapir shops in my city whether they can replace POWER IC or any other such thing which will be cheap..
So i went to one of the Repair shop (MAIN one in my CITY) & i ask them .. after checking he said.. I'll check IF Repalcing POWER IC will solve the problem or not... otherwise Motherboard need to be replaced..
the cost of POWER IC replacement is INR 800 or $13.33
otherwsie
he'll replace the motherboard for INR 3000 or $ 30..
so i deposoited my Phone to him and will go again in 2 hours.. to check if POWER IC replacement will fix the problem or not..
I am wondering if it will be safe to do this from unofficial reapir centre whether he will not take orignal parts of my phone internals ? however every people go to his shop.... Motherboard repalcing by him costs only INR 3000 ($50) while officialy its INR 8000($133)..
why is there so much price difference..??
IF POWER IC replacement is good idea ??
i just don't want to be in another problem...
Probably a 2nd hand board. If it were me, I'd be replacing the whole board. I wouldn't want someone fartarsing around replacing individual components on a board that size no matter how competent they claim to be. But that's up to you/how much money you're prepared to spend.
As to whether what he's going to do (replacing an individual component) will definitely fix it, how do you expect us to possibly know that ? You're the one who's met the person who's going to fix your phone/we have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of this person/their competencies. I know one thing though, in Australia, nobody who repairs Samsung phones for a living (I.E a commercial operation/business) would replace an individual component like that. Only 'spare timers' would do that.
MistahBungle said:
Probably a 2nd hand board. If it were me, I'd be replacing the whole board. I wouldn't want someone fartarsing around replacing individual components on a board that size no matter how competent they claim to be. But that's up to you/how much money you're prepared to spend.
As to whether what he's going to do (replacing an individual component) will definitely fix it, how do you expect us to possibly know that ? You're the one who's met the person who's going to fix your phone/we have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever of this person/their competencies. I know one thing though, in Australia, nobody who repairs Samsung phones for a living (I.E a commercial operation/business) would replace an individual component like that. Only 'spare timers' would do that.
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well i ask a local official samsung mobile shop onwer whom we knows from years ... he said.. he is the main person in our city and everyone goes to him for repair... and he thinks he won't do such as thing..
SO i gave my phone to him..
and about power IC replacment there are some videos on youtube i checked before asking for POWER IC replacement....
so thought may be it'll work.. :/
hope for the best..
anyways thanks..
MistahBungle said:
And what exactly do you expect people here to suggest ? If the phone won't boot you can:-
*Try a jig (0.0000000001% chance of working, but try it if you like torturing yourself with false hope)
*Try a JTAG if the person who tries is prepared to do it on the basis of 'you only pay them if the JTAG is successful' (also 0.0000000001% chance of working, try this if you like torturing yourself with false hope even more)
*Replace the motherboard; 99.99% chance of successfully fixing the phone provided there's nothing else wrong hardware-wise
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What's up with the sarcasm? Pretty sure that's not what this forum is about.
Sent from my SCH-R950 using xda app-developers app
^^^^
Unless you're one of the 'slow kids up the back', you'll know there is absolutely nothing anyone on a phone forum can do for a person like the OP who has a phone in that state. How do I know this ? Experience. I have seen thousands of examples on here exactly like this in 2 & a bit years. They all turn out the same whether you tell people straight up, or whether you stuff them around for two weeks trying stuff that has no chance of working.
And as it's turned out, I was absolutely correct in my initial post. I'm not a believer in having people try a bunch of stuff that has no chance whatsoever of working which builds up their hopes, only to have them end up disappointed when the 'stuff that had no chance of working in the first place' doesn't work (funnily enough ).
I'd much rather be honest with people from the outset, so they can either have their phone repaired & working again (or buy a new phone if people decide that's a better option) sooner rather than later, because I know what it's like to be without a (decent) phone for week/however long.
But you're not capable of comprehending this, are you ? You'd rather make your 2nd post on here a 'gob off' re: something you know absolutely nothing about.
So . the thing is IF POWER IC replacemet will fix the phone or not...i've done some googling and found that the POWER IC replacemet works for users..
If anyone here in this forum has tried this and successfuly saved his phone instead of replacing whole Motherboard.. ??
MistahBungle said:
^^^^
Unless you're one of the 'slow kids up the back', you'll know there is absolutely nothing anyone on a phone forum can do for a person like the OP who has a phone in that state. How do I know this ? Experience. I have seen thousands of examples on here exactly like this in 2 & a bit years. They all turn out the same whether you tell people straight up, or whether you stuff them around for two weeks trying stuff that has no chance of working.
And as it's turned out, I was absolutely correct in my initial post. I'm not a believer in having people try a bunch of stuff that has no chance whatsoever of working which builds up their hopes, only to have them end up disappointed when the 'stuff that had no chance of working in the first place' doesn't work (funnily enough ).
I'd much rather be honest with people from the outset, so they can either have their phone repaired & working again (or buy a new phone if people decide that's a better option) sooner rather than later, because I know what it's like to be without a (decent) phone for week/however long.
But you're not capable of comprehending this, are you ? You'd rather make your 2nd post on here a 'gob off' re: something you know absolutely nothing about.
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dude please if anything irritates you .. then i'm sorry..
i ts just its first time happened with me...s i am worried about my phone..
that's all :/

[Q] Bricked my phone!

Ok, so I have done something incredibly stupid. I had been using Paranoid Android on my Galaxy S2 with no issues, then we got new phones in work so I moved to a company phone, Galaxy S4 and ported over my old number. I also used the external SD card I had bought for the S2 with the S4 (not planning to use the S2 again). When I was tidying up the SD card I noticed the zip files for paranoid android so deleted it without thinking.
Now, however, I want to give the old phone to my sister, but it wont turn on at all. I know the battery is fully charged, I have tried holding down vol+power+home etc. and nothing. Have I completely bricked it? Is there anything I can do?
I should add that I can access another unrooted Galaxy S2, is that any use? Could I flash a recovery to the external SD on that and then swap the card to the bricked phone?
So no download mode.Did you tried vol up+ho
me+power to access the recovery?
Your options are:-
1) A jig.
2) Possible JTAG; this is the cheapest/most stress-free option after #1 (which will cost a few bucks on little e big B), but....Don't get your hopes up it will work, many phones in this situation are not JTAG'able. If you can find someone who will attempt a JTAG for you & you only pay if it's successful, knock yourself out. I wouldn't be paying on the basis of it costing me money upfront whether it works or not though given the next (and overwhelmingly most likely option).
3) Motherboard replacement - irrespective of warranty status, a Samsung service centre should replace the board for you with a new one. This will be somewhat expensive. How expensive will normally be dependent on what phone techs charge for labour in your country.
You also have the option of sourcing a 2nd hand board (cheaper) online; I believe KeithRoss39's 'Replace USB board thread' in General has a list of online S2 parts suppliers to get you started, a Google search will yield others, and then taking the phone & board you've sourced to a local mobile repair shop (non-Samsung service centre) & paying them to swap the boards for you (assuming you don't have the necessary skills to do this yourself). This will be significantly cheaper than the new board option in most cases.
So, in summary, the enormously more likely fix (that will actually work) is #3, with #'s1 & #2 a lot less likely to succeed, though definitely still try #1 unless you're not fussed about spending the money to do #3 right away, and possibly try #2 with the caveat I mentioned.
Edit - Also/before you ask 'what happened/why did it crap itself', nobody here can give you any indication of that. There's obviously something major hardware-wise going on, and without the phone open in front of us, it's impossible to give you a meaningful answer to that question. And though it's a natural question to ask in this circumstance, it's kinda irrelevant - the phone has a hardware fault of some kind, it needs to be diagnosed by someone qualified & fixed. That's the best we can give you.
Extra edit - Actually, as well as trying to get into both 'modes' over and over and over as TheImpossibleEnemy excellently suggested, find Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in General, and try the 'jump start' method where you try to boot the phone with just the charger/minus the battery detailed in his thread. Like #1 & #2, very unlikely to work, but given the alternative/money involved with that, you absolutely try it.
Thanks guys. Yes I ried vol up+home+power to access the recovery, no luck, no response from the phone. I won't be able to get resistors till after the weekend but I'll make a jig then and try that. As regards Options 2&3, the phone is very old now and I have a brand new one so I'm not willing to pay anything significant to get it sorted. I'm only bothered because a) my sisters phone broke so I was going to give her this for the time being and b) I'm worried I might have old photos on the phone I didn't backup
Unfortunately, unless you are able to get the phone to boot, you won't be recovering anything from it. Motherboard replacement means you get a new EMMC, and the only (very) remote possibility of extracting data from that without having the phone work somewhat normally, is a data recovery company which specialises in pulling data from dead HDD's. Fairly unlikely this is possible though (I've never seen anyone post they've been able to get this done in the 2.5 yrs I've been here), and if it is possible, expect it to be very expensive relative to the other fixes.
Crap, that's what I assumed. Thanks anyway. I'll try the jig after the weekend and post back here.
There's a thread in General which has people offering to share their jigs, take a look - there might be someone near you with one, which will might save you at least a couple days/a week/whatever waiting for a little e big B delivery.
Good luck.
Nobody near me unfortunately, but thanks. I wonder how difficult it would be to construct a working S2 from the two I have, one being bricked, and the other working but with a cracked screen. Might be an idea
switch the screens and that's it!:good:
The only problem with that one is it's most likely something on the MB has crapped itself; given the size of the components concerned, no tech worth their salt would attempt a fiddly replacement of individual components on the board given most electronics is 'modular' (everything is made up of 'boards') these days, and it takes no time/no stress for someone who knows what they're doing to simply swap a board.
Having said that, over the last 6-12 mths, we've seen threads/posts by people claiming they've been offered a fix where just the 'power IC' is replaced on the board. I've not seen a single person post & say they've had that repair done successfully in that time though, and you can easily end up with the situation where it's something else on the board that's buggered/as well, so you end up needing the board replaced anyway, or someone attempting the repair stuffs the board up because their soldering skills aren't up to scratch.
If the easy stuff you can try yourself doesn't work & you definitely want to keep the phone, replacing the board in the first instance is the (almost; assuming nothing else is wrong) guaranteed fix.
Edit - But yeah, you can definitely have a stab at trying the good screen on the dead phone on the good phone with the dead screen as per TheImpossibleEnemy's great suggestion. Doesn't get you your data, but it might just get you a working phone for pretty much nothing. Search for the service manuals on here (they've been posted from time to time here) or Google; these have full parts lists & diagrams/pics with run-throughs of the most common repairs (replacing screen is one of those from memory).
Great, thanks guys. I'm an electronic engineer so I'd be pretty handy at this stuff. Just wondering what the easier swap would be, moving mb from one phone to another, or screen from one to another.
Replacing the screen would be easier.
Really? I had a look over a guide for replacing the screen, and one for replacing motherboard. The motherboard replacement actually looked easier to me. Have you experience with doing this yourself?
Never had to
Just my opinion,because to access the mobo one would have to remove the screen first.
The choice is yours of course,as you are some kind of engineer,it should be easy for you to do it in both ways.
I'll take it apart later and see what looks easiest. Will update here
I have some experience with taking the S2 apart.
The way to take apart the phone is to take the back off of it......
This will reveal the circuitry on top of the screen and the circuitry fitted to the rear housing. You will be able to access the motherboard before you access the screen. Adding the *good* motherboard to the *good* screen will be the easiest option for you......
See my guide here....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2335961
You'll find a link to a video that shows a step by step procedure for stripping an S2. You'll also find links for part suppliers......
Sent via my Markox/Gustavo_s powered KitKatted S2

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