[Q] Some more EMMC Brickbug questions - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys!
My first thread, so please be gentle...
3 weeks ago I flashed the WanamLite ROM with full wipe. I was unaware to the EMMC brickbug and my phone died when reaching 10% of the installation process.
My phone is now being fixed (JTAG didn't help and thus MB is replaced), which is very expensive.
After reading some XDA threads I realized that I should have taken few steps before flashing the ROM.
When I get my fixed phone (probably today) with probably another "insane EMMC", I wanna make sure that it won't happen again. I've already read the xda threads, but still unsure and afraid that i'll miss some steps or that I didn't fully understand it.
Thus, my question are:
1) When I flashed the WanamLite ROM, I wiped it first, and only then flashed the ROM (using the Recovery). When installation reached to 10% the phone died. This goes in contrary to the XDA EMMC Threads that explains that it should happen only while wiping. How can that be ? Is this a different bug ?
2) If before ***any flasing or wipe*** I change the kernel to SIYAH (which has DISABLED CAP_ERASE) using ODIN, then no matter what kernel/ROM i am flashing after, is it totally safe from this bug ? is this the safest method ?
3) If not, what is the safest method to flash the ROM without having a brickbug (if I have the insane/unknown chip) ?
Thanks !!!
Lior

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stlior said:
Hi guys!
My first thread, so please be gentle...
3 weeks ago I flashed the WanamLite ROM with full wipe. I was unaware to the EMMC brickbug and my phone died when reaching 10% of the installation process.
My phone is now being fixed (JTAG didn't help and thus MB is replaced), which is very expensive.
After reading some XDA threads I realized that I should have taken few steps before flashing the ROM.
When I get my fixed phone (probably today) with probably another "insane EMMC", I wanna make sure that it won't happen again. I've already read the xda threads, but still unsure and afraid that i'll miss some steps or that I didn't fully understand it.
Thus, my question are:
1) When I flashed the WanamLite ROM, I wiped it first, and only then flashed the ROM (using the Recovery). When installation reached to 10% the phone died. This goes in contrary to the XDA EMMC Threads that explains that it should happen only while wiping. How can that be ? Is this a different bug ?
2) If before ***any flasing or wipe*** I change the kernel to SIYAH (which has DISABLED CAP_ERASE) using ODIN, then no matter what kernel/ROM i am flashing after, is it totally safe from this bug ? is this the safest method ?
3) If not, what is the safest method to flash the ROM without having a brickbug (if I have the insane/unknown chip) ?
Thanks !!!
Lior
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the emmc brickbug comes only with Stock android v4.0.4 (should not make any wipes in that Stock 4.0.4 recovery)
so the best way is to flash Siyah kernel v5.0.1 from odin to get rid of the brick bug issue since the emmc_cap_erase thing is disabled in siyah.
then u can use siyah kernel recovery to wipe/flash etc without any problem
in ur early case while installing the 'Wanamalite' rom u had made wipe in the stock 4.0.4 recovery which caused ur phone to brick

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So the bottom line is: First root your phone, otherwise you will be screwed no matter what

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Donnie Sins said:
So the bottom line is: First root your phone, otherwise you will be screwed no matter what
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, as long as u dont do anything silly as the OP did (wiping in stock 4.0.4 recovery) ur not affected by the emmc thing
its only when u want to install a custom rom is when u make it safe to install a brick bug free custom kernel first and then proceed

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All I can say is your first bit isnt true.Ive read several threads about the problem and there are several other scenarios that people say have caused the brickbug.
Anyway,you can do what Sun says,or just avoid ever having stock 4.0.4 firmware on your phone.
eg. 4.0.3/gb/jb/custom

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Thanks. So...
Sun90 said:
the emmc brickbug comes only with Stock android v4.0.4 (should not make any wipes in that Stock 4.0.4 recovery)
so the best way is to flash Siyah kernel v5.0.1 from odin to get rid of the brick bug issue since the emmc_cap_erase thing is disabled in siyah.
then u can use siyah kernel recovery to wipe/flash etc without any problem
in ur early case while installing the 'Wanamalite' rom u had made wipe in the stock 4.0.4 recovery which caused ur phone to brick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In my early case I indeed wiped, but isn't the "death" suppose to happen while wiping and not while installing (after wiping) ? I just want to make sure that this was the bug and I didn't do anything that have caused other bug.
I will do as you adviced (never install 4.0.4 and first install Siyah kernel). But after wiping and flashing new rom with new kernel, does it matters if the kernel is safe or not?
ThAnKs again!

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stlior said:
In my early case I indeed wiped, but isn't the "death" suppose to happen while wiping and not while installing (after wiping) ? I just want to make sure that this was the bug and I didn't do anything that have caused other bug.
I will do as you adviced (never install 4.0.4 and first install Siyah kernel). But after wiping and flashing new rom with new kernel, does it matters if the kernel is safe or not?
ThAnKs again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, the Brick Bug appears while you're wiping. I wouldn't know what happened else... But maybe others do.
Only stock 4.0.4 kernels can be affected. Therefore you have to flash a custom kernel first, and then wipe, flash, etc. Custom roms will always be safe, so no need to worry after you've flashed Siyah or any other kernel.

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The bottom line is, if you stay away from 4.0.4 & can follow instructions/learn 'how & why' before you do it so you understand why you do certain things a certain way/in a particular order, rather than post in Q&A and say 'Give me the instructions to...<insert name of phone modification here> !!' (like rooting, installing a rom, etc, etc) & someone lists a bunch of steps you don't understand, the only way you're bricking your phone is if you're unlucky, and I've seen maybe 10 people like that out of quite a few thousand on here over the past 18 mths.

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Lol,theres always GB.Its the most stable and battery friendly.......thats why I use it.

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To MistahBungle
MistahBungle said:
The bottom line is, if you stay away from 4.0.4 & can follow instructions/learn 'how & why' before you do it so you understand why you do certain things a certain way/in a particular order, rather than post in Q&A and say 'Give me the instructions to...<insert name of phone modification here> !!' (like rooting, installing a rom, etc, etc) & someone lists a bunch of steps you don't understand, the only way you're bricking your phone is if you're unlucky, and I've seen maybe 10 people like that out of quite a few thousand on here over the past 18 mths.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well MistahBungle your post is excactly the kind i tired to avoid (sorry for bad english), so please let me defend myself.
I read the xda EMMC threads before I posted here, and my post isn't just "tell me the steps cause i'm too lazy".
I asked a few questions:
The first one i tried to understand if what I have is the standard EMMC brickbug, because as i read in the previous threads, it happens while wiping, and not while flashing as it happend to me (don't want to do the same mistake again).
The second one I asked is if it is safe to flash any kernel after I use the siyah, which is unclear from the other xda posts i read (and "on the way" i wanted to confirm that i indeed have to flash the siyah kernel).
The third question was only to answered if the assumption i made in the previous question is wrong (maybe this and only this was redundant). But you also must remmember
All the above shows that I indeed read the XDA threads and instructions, but didn't get the answers I wanted. In addition, keep in mind I've just spent few hundreds $$$ and lot of time, and I wanna be extra careful so it won't happen again.
I really think that all the rules were kept, even thought this is my first thread here.
Thanks.

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To Stlior
stlior said:
-SNIP-
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You seem to have trouble comprehending. I'll say what I said in my last post a bit more clearly for the slow kids up the back...
If you make sure you know/understand what you're doing before you do it & follow instructions, you won't brick your phone unless you're unlucky. This happens in 0.0001% of cases. You were not one of these cases.
This advice has served many thousands of XDA'ers well in the time I've been here. You broke your phone. Nobody else. All the information you could ever need is here if you're prepared to take the time to find & learn it. Thing is people like you aren't.
The end.
Happy ? (Yes you're now on my ignore list so I won't see any further posts from you).

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Donnie Sins said:
Yes, the Brick Bug appears while you're wiping. I wouldn't know what happened else... But maybe others do.
Only stock 4.0.4 kernels can be affected. Therefore you have to flash a custom kernel first, and then wipe, flash, etc. Custom roms will always be safe, so no need to worry after you've flashed Siyah or any other kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. I hope that this indeed was the brickbug and I don't have another hardware fault...

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MistahBungle said:
You seem to have trouble comprehending. I'll say what I said in my last post a bit more clearly for the slow kids up the back...
If you make sure you know/understand what you're doing before you do it & follow instructions, you won't brick your phone unless you're unlucky. This happens in 0.0001% of cases. You were not one of these cases.
This advice has served many thousands of XDA'ers well in the time I've been here. You broke your phone. Nobody else. All the information you could ever need is here if you're prepared to take the time to find & learn it. Thing is people like you aren't.
The end.
Happy ? (Yes you're now on my ignore list so I won't see any further posts from you).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
omg lol :laugh:
how much bitterness!
I explained well why i asked those specific questions, you chose not to listen and instead chose to attack and be bitter. It's ok thought this is kind of your problem. Feel well my friend ! (even if you do not see this).

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Basically pal,it doesnt matter what happened in the past or whats going to happen in the future,because you should be removing samsungs stock 4.0.4 firmware.
You should be accepting experts advice rather than irritating them.
We dont know what you understand,but if you ask and get an answer/advice,then try it out.
If you want to improve your knowlege,then read guides and problems other people are having.

---

Man you guys been busy with this.
By reading about the brickbug you learn one thing:
If you are on 4.0.4 you either get the hell out of there or flash siyah, period.
Questions aroused?
Only if you should use Mobile Odin.
It's pretty clear I guess.
Now, you're saying that you wipped and didn't brick right away, but during flashing. I've seen that before, don't know why it happens.
Si, bottom line:
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/ CWM
Sent from the little guy

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gastonw said:
Man you guys been busy with this.
By reading about the brickbug you learn one thing:
If you are on 4.0.4 you either get the hell out of there or flash siyah, period.
Questions aroused?
Only if you should use Mobile Odin.
It's pretty clear I guess.
Now, you're saying that you wipped and didn't brick right away, but during flashing. I've seen that before, don't know why it happens.
Si, bottom line:
View attachment 2017049
/ CWM
Sent from the little guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this, stock 4.0.4 was a noob flashers nightmare, the only pure stock I ever had was gb(yeah the one it came with long back), well OP I will give you a few points that will clear some some doubts, it's not the firmware that is risky, using ics 4.0.4 ain't a problem, it's the stock kernel of 4.0.4 that comes with the firmware who is the actual troublemaker, for example if you flashed cm9 stable (yeah ics 4.0.4) with the clockworkmod kernel, you're completely safe, since the custom kernel has the emmc_cap_erase command disabled and you can safely perform any wipe you want. So basically any kernel with the command emmc_cap_erase is dangerous for devices with brickbug effected chip(I am saying this because an old Siyah kernel had this command apparently, v3.xx something) , but no worries every new custom kernels are safe as far as I know.
So to trigger the brickbug there are three conditions,
1.Brickbug effected chip
2.Kernel containing emmc_cap_erase command
3.Performing any form of wipe operation.
If any one of the above condition is not satisfied your device won't get bricked.
Sent from my GT-P6200 using xda app-developers app

---

king_below_my_lord said:
I second this, stock 4.0.4 was a noob flashers nightmare, the only pure stock I ever had was gb(yeah the one it came with long back), well OP I will give you a few points that will clear some some doubts, it's not the firmware that is risky, using ics 4.0.4 ain't a problem, it's the stock kernel of 4.0.4 that comes with the firmware who is the actual troublemaker, for example if you flashed cm9 stable (yeah ics 4.0.4) with the clockworkmod kernel, you're completely safe, since the custom kernel has the emmc_cap_erase command disabled and you can safely perform any wipe you want. So basically any kernel with the command emmc_cap_erase is dangerous for devices with brickbug effected chip(I am saying this because an old Siyah kernel had this command apparently, v3.xx something) , but no worries every new custom kernels are safe as far as I know.
So to trigger the brickbug there are three conditions,
1.Brickbug effected chip
2.Kernel containing emmc_cap_erase command
3.Performing any form of wipe operation.
If any one of the above condition is not satisfied your device won't get bricked.
Sent from my GT-P6200 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+ back up restore
Sent from the little guy

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gastonw said:
+ back up restore
Sent from the little guy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah lol, well that's why I said any "form" of wipe operation as a nandroid restore performs certain wipes before restoring.
Sent from my GT-P6200 using xda app-developers app

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king_below_my_lord said:
I second this, stock 4.0.4 was a noob flashers nightmare, the only pure stock I ever had was gb(yeah the one it came with long back), well OP I will give you a few points that will clear some some doubts, it's not the firmware that is risky, using ics 4.0.4 ain't a problem, it's the stock kernel of 4.0.4 that comes with the firmware who is the actual troublemaker, for example if you flashed cm9 stable (yeah ics 4.0.4) with the clockworkmod kernel, you're completely safe, since the custom kernel has the emmc_cap_erase command disabled and you can safely perform any wipe you want. So basically any kernel with the command emmc_cap_erase is dangerous for devices with brickbug effected chip(I am saying this because an old Siyah kernel had this command apparently, v3.xx something) , but no worries every new custom kernels are safe as far as I know.
So to trigger the brickbug there are three conditions,
1.Brickbug effected chip
2.Kernel containing emmc_cap_erase command
3.Performing any form of wipe operation.
If any one of the above condition is not satisfied your device won't get bricked.
Sent from my GT-P6200 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks king_below_my_lord,
I see the final conclusion from everyone here is "do not flash (from) 4.0.4 !!!" (got the phone a few days ago, but the display was corrupted so i returned it).
can't wait to get my phone back.
ThAnKs for everyone (even the one who ignores me...) !
Lior