[Q] Noob In Need of DESPERATE HELP!! - AT&T Samsung Galaxy S II SGH-I777

Hello Everyone,
I apologize if this isn't in the correct place, but I'm at my wits end with patience with my Att SGH-I777. I've been all over this forum and others trying to figure out my problem and have absolutely no problem admitting that all of this is above my head. Here's my issue: I attempted to update to JB using kies the other day, halfway through I got an error message that the update failed and that the next step was recovery mode. Attempted this and it also failed, several hundred times. My phone has now been stuck in recovery mode for 4 days. Ive downloaded ODIN and am ready to try to flash the phone with JB. As I understand it, because I can still get my phone to both the DL screen and recovery screen all is not lost. My problem however is that I can't get ODIN to recognize my phone. It shows that its been added, but doesn't light up yellow. My phone only shows in my devices and printers as "serial gadget", no longer as removable mass storage device. I've downloaded and uninstalled kies multiple times, along with the drivers separately, nothing has worked. Please help!
Thanks!

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OK. You seem to have done your homework. Good start. We need to identify where the problem is, as it could be several possible things. For instance, you must not have Kies open or it will tie up the drivers and prevent the connection. Sometimes just for good measure, it is a good idea to uninstall Kies so that it cannot interfere. You can always reinstall it later if you need it. You will need to have the correct drivers installed. In windows you should go to "Control Panel | Programs | Uninstall a Program" and look for "Samsung USB driver for Mobile Phones." If you don't have that, then you need to install the latest version of the driver. If you do have it, then it is a good idea to remove it in windows, reboot the computer, and reinstall the latest version of the driver.
The problem could be leaving out a small step in the whole process. Complete the following and let us know which step you are unable to complete.
How to use stand-alone Odin3 to flash firmware:
Follow and recheck each of the following steps. Do them in order listed, as some steps are dependent on previous steps. Instructions are for Odin3 v1.85. It should work with any version of Odin, but some details, like color of items, may be different.
1.) Open Odin on the Windows Desktop.
2.) Have the USB cable plugged into USB port on the computer, but *Not* plugged in to the phone.
3.) Shut the phone off.
4.) While holding down the vol+ & vol- keys, plug micro-usb plug into phone.
5.) In Odin, you should get the yellow box under where it says ID:COM with the text 0:[COMx], and in the Message area, <ID:0/00x> Added!! where x is some number, usually 1-8.
6.) In Odin, make sure Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are checked and all other items are not checked.
7.) Click on the PDA button. Browse to the tar file you want to install and select it so its path appears in the text edit box next to the button.
8.) Make sure the check box next to the PDA button is checked.
9.) Click the Start button.
10.) You should see the green progress bar advancing.
Let me know if it flashes successfully. Regardless if it works or not, before you close Odin, copy out the information in the Messages section and post it back here.

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creepyncrawly said:
OK. You seem to have done your homework. Good start. We need to identify where the problem is, as it could be several possible things. For instance, you must not have Kies open or it will tie up the drivers and prevent the connection. Sometimes just for good measure, it is a good idea to uninstall Kies so that it cannot interfere. You can always reinstall it later if you need it. You will need to have the correct drivers installed. In windows you should go to "Control Panel | Programs | Uninstall a Program" and look for "Samsung USB driver for Mobile Phones." If you don't have that, then you need to install the latest version of the driver. If you do have it, then it is a good idea to remove it in windows, reboot the computer, and reinstall the latest version of the driver.
The problem could be leaving out a small step in the whole process. Complete the following and let us know which step you are unable to complete.
How to use stand-alone Odin3 to flash firmware:
Follow and recheck each of the following steps. Do them in order listed, as some steps are dependent on previous steps. Instructions are for Odin3 v1.85. It should work with any version of Odin, but some details, like color of items, may be different.
1.) Open Odin on the Windows Desktop.
2.) Have the USB cable plugged into USB port on the computer, but *Not* plugged in to the phone.
3.) Shut the phone off.
4.) While holding down the vol+ & vol- keys, plug micro-usb plug into phone.
5.) In Odin, you should get the yellow box under where it says ID:COM with the text 0:[COMx], and in the Message area, <ID:0/00x> Added!! where x is some number, usually 1-8.
6.) In Odin, make sure Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time are checked and all other items are not checked.
7.) Click on the PDA button. Browse to the tar file you want to install and select it so its path appears in the text edit box next to the button.
8.) Make sure the check box next to the PDA button is checked.
9.) Click the Start button.
10.) You should see the green progress bar advancing.
Let me know if it flashes successfully. Regardless if it works or not, before you close Odin, copy out the information in the Messages section and post it back here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply. I uninstalled Kies, as well as the drivers, rebooted the comp and than reinstalled the drivers. I'm using Odin v3.07, so I'm not sure if this is the reason I'm not getting anything other than the usb added in the message box, as this may be all that happens with this version. I attached a snippet of what I'm seeing after plugging in my phone and following the steps you outlined. The flash failed and this is what was in the message box. I never made it to the point of a progress bar.
<ID:0/003> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I777UCMD8_I777ATTMD8_I777UCMD8_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/003> Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
<ID:0/003> Removed!!

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I'm not sure if there is an incompatibility of this phone with the newer versions of odin. Why don't you try downloading Odin3 v1.85 and see what happens when you try it? Go to the Download Repository, link in my signature, and there is a download link near the top of the page.
Also, which version of the Samsung driver did you install, and where did you get it?

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creepyncrawly said:
I'm not sure if there is an incompatibility of this phone with the newer versions of odin. Why don't you try downloading Odin3 v1.85 and see what happens when you try it? Go to the Download Repository, link in my signature, and there is a download link near the top of the page.
Also, which version of the Samsung driver did you install, and where did you get it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've downloaded it but wont be able to try it until sometime later tonight. I installed version 1.5.14.0, downloaded it directly from Samsung's site. If I can't get the icon to light up yellow, there's no point in starting the flash correct?

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hessian2310 said:
I've downloaded it but wont be able to try it until sometime later tonight. I installed version 1.5.14.0, downloaded it directly from Samsung's site. If I can't get the icon to light up yellow, there's no point in starting the flash correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that is the latest driver.
I don't know what you mean by icon, but yes, this:
In Odin, you should get the yellow box under where it says ID:COM with the text 0:[COMx], and in the Message area, <ID:0/00x> Added!! where x is some number, usually 1-8.
After you try Odin3 v1,85, we'll see where you stand and if it doesn't flash, what to do next.

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creepyncrawly said:
I think that is the latest driver.
I don't know what you mean by icon, but yes, this:
In Odin, you should get the yellow box under where it says ID:COM with the text 0:[COMx], and in the Message area, <ID:0/00x> Added!! where x is some number, usually 1-8.
After you try Odin3 v1,85, we'll see where you stand and if it doesn't flash, what to do next.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried with v1.85, got the yellow box and things looked promising. Same result. No progress bar and the following message box details:
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I777UCMD8_I777ATTMD8_I777UCMD8_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/004> Odin v.3 engine (ID:4)..
<ID:0/004> File analysis..
<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/004> Can't open the serial(COM) port.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
Thanks again for your help and patience.

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Update: Tried a couple more times and got it to work finally!! Odin def seems finicky, or I just had no clue what I was doing, or both haha. Can't get past how many times I tried with the other version and switching to v1.85 made the difference. Thanks for the help, feel like I've rejoined the rest of the connected world!

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hessian2310 said:
Update: Tried a couple more times and got it to work finally!! Odin def seems finicky, or I just had no clue what I was doing, or both haha. Can't get past how many times I tried with the other version and switching to v1.85 made the difference. Thanks for the help, feel like I've rejoined the rest of the connected world!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good! It's probably not Odin, but more likely the data quality of the cable, or a degraded connection at one of the USB ports, or any number of things similar to that. Anyway, glad you got it going.