Soft Brick, bootloop? - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

So I just got my GS4 and I rooted it (stock) on the VRUAMDK build and flashed TWRP. I was using an app called No Bloat Free to delete some system apps, mostly VZ apps and Samsung apps. I guess i might have deleted something (but i used backup and delete). Now after i reboot, my phone works for about 30 seconds before it reboots.
Went to TWRP to make a nandroid and so far its taking a while even though the file size is like 8000 MB
I'm a little worried but i'm gonna try to fix it tommorow, just wondering if theres any advice. I would prefer to stay stock for now but i understand i could just flash a stock-like ROM and probably fix my bootloop issue.
Edit: TWRP Nandroid finished (it claimed 800 seconds, but it felt longer lol) so i can take a deep breath lol
Fix permissions after the Nandroid seemed to have fixed bootloop
To Moderator: Fixed the issue myself, you can remove this post if you want or keep it up for other users who might have run into this issue

Edited out

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[Q] OCLF + nandroid - OCLF + JI6 = infinite FC closes on boot

Apologies if this is the wrong forum.
The update notice came through on my phone yesterday afternoon. From reading on here I knew that a number of people were having problems with it. Like a meth addicted crackwhore I couldn't say no.
Before saying yes, I did make a backup.
Here's what I had on my phone beforehand:
Modified swype overlay
Modified battery icon
OCLF 2.1+
GPS fix update
I'd renamed the startup video so it wouldn't show
I'd replaced the startup sound with my own
I think that's all.
I did a nandroid backup before applying the update and even made a copy of the backup just in case.
I undid the lagfix but - perhaps stupidly - left all the other updates in place.
After applying the update my phone was stuck at the vibrant screen right after boot. No amount of waiting - 30 minutes the first time - did any good.
I've been through several rounds of flashing using the second round of steps in this thread but the best that happens is when the phone boots I see the stock home and the media,calendar,(+a few others I can't recall) FC continuously and the home shows a bunch of missing widget boxes.
If I do a nandroid restore I strangely end up with the hung vibrant screen again. It's like it's automatically applying the update or something other odd like that.
I can repartition and flash stock or the updated rom and things are working fine but I'd really rather not lose my data.
It occurred to me this morning that I might have done the backup before removing the lag fix. I'm guessing the backup won't recreate the ext2 partition and that's why things are FC'ing like mad?
I'm going to - probably pointlessly - try to re-flash, install the lag fix and do a restore to see if anything different happens.
If anyone else has a suggestion while I wait for my phone to charge enough to do the lag fix .... little tiny voice... <help?>
Well, re-installing oclf 2.1 didnt change the behavior. I've still got a brick after restoring my nandroid backup.
I've gone back to a clean ji6 install and I'm trying a titanium restore. I'll be a week out of date if this works but won't lose anything critical. If this works. I hope, I hope, I hope.
That happen to me too, had to odin back to stock then flash bionix 1.7. lost all my data
How about flashing JI6, applying OCLF, booting into clockwork recovery and selecting Nandroid-> Advanced-> (Your restore file)-> Data-> Yes.
This will reflash all your data on top of the new rom. The reason for reapplying the OCLF is because you backed up BEFORE undoing OCLF, so all your data is still in a .EXT2 file, so we have to have it expecting that before restoring.
Only thing left to do at this point is redo any themes you had installed, and your phone should be back to normal + the update.
I must have backed up after removing OCLF because I ended up flashing stock and restoring just the data. Unfortunately while the data was there, none of my apps were so the fact that the data was there was moot since I couldn't get at a lot of it.
I followed up by flashing just system and now I've got my full functionality back just without ji6.
I'll probably try again after rolling back a few more changes -such as removing the rom manager update.zip - and making another backup or three.
I wonder if the people who've rooted - like me - are having problems because of updated versions of busybox that clockworkmod installs.
Also, the titanium restore worked on stock. I haven't tried it on ji6. yet.
After all the forced learning by doing where flashing roms is concerned I decided to skip the tmo update since they can't be bothered to provide a full list of fixes. I've installed the latest bionix and couldn't be happier.
phillipxenxciel said:
That happen to me too, had to odin back to stock then flash bionix 1.7. lost all my data
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've found that a Titanium backup is enough to use when flashing a new rom. Do a full backup. Flash the new rom. Restore apps+data. Selectively restore the green system items (so you get all your sms msgs and contacts). Enjoy. Worked for me on Sunday as I flashed various versions of bionix to try.

[Q] 1st day with Vibrant lots of questions need some OCLF ROOT help

Although I only had the phone for a day now, I've been reading the forum for a month trying to get the info I needed so that when it arrived, I'd be able to load up froyo, wifi calling and be done quickly. I set it all up and downloaded ryan's OCLF, ran it, rooted, installed the ext files, then the v2 lag fix it said to. Everything was great.
Later I downloaded a few apps and titanium backup, but didn't back up yet. I ran the battery down low. Went into the clockwork app that I downloaded and did a backup restore.
About an hour later the battery finally died. I read that you should turn it on until it won't anymore before finally plugging in to charge and wiping the battery settings. Problem is it wouldn't boot up again. Hung on the Galaxy S screen with the shining S.
I could still reboot into recovery and into download. Was going to ODIN back, but my PC was giving me trouble. I pulled the micro sim and thre the ASOP 2.2 rom on it from another laptop dragged it to card removed and popped it back in. I tried to reboot to recovery which worked, then reinstall, nothing. Tried to get to the SD card, but it doesn't find it.
Finally gave up and went back into recovery and did a factory data wipe reset or whatever it is called. When the phone rebooted it all booted fine, no problems at all however I lost every setting account etc..
So here's where I'm at now, i mounted it as USB and looked at the phone from the PC, in the clockwork folder is my backup I just can't get it to load.
I went back to the market and redownloaded the ryan OCLF and removed the lag, ext and root and I'm back to stock. Phone will turn off and back on.
What now? Where did I go wrong, it doesn't make any sense, I followed every instruction exactly as it was written.
I'm a little concerned to root again, but I want to backup settings, accounts etc.. in case this happens again.
first...welcome to XDA...the baddest forum on the planet...
second....this is the wrong section for this topic....should be in Q & A section...but a Mod will take care of that....
third....read this.....http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=849028
the author worked hard on this to become a sticky so noobs will see it first...if u need more info....there is another sticky in the general section...good luck!!
Thanks, I'll read through it now. I thought I had a good idea to drag the new rom to the sd card and fire it up from there, but it failed. Happy I didn't brick the phone. I saw a lot of posts saying ODIN was the only way back, guess I got lucky with the data wipe.
I've had iphones for 2 years and when this happened it would be a conflict with programs, is there a list like that for android like there was for cydia in the iphone info?
I don't know.... but make sure you read carefully before you flash... in a nutshell the steps for ROM flashing is.
1. Root
2. Download and install ROM Manager from market
3. Flask clockwordmod recovery
4. Nandroid (backup)
5. Backup SD card to pc(just in case)
6. Flash your ROM from clockworkmod recovery.
Sent from my XDA app cuz I'm stalking your mom....
Here's a question I don't think is answered after reading the post. So rooting via OCLF without installing the lag fix v2 is exactly the same as rooting by dragging and dropping.
Rooting in itself can't cause the phone to not reboot, but if you flash incorrectly or apply lag fix and flash over them you could run into trouble. I just can't seem to figure out where the error was. I didn't delete the update zip after rooting, thats the only error I see.
Other issue I noticed is that on mounting to USB after booted I can see the backups, but I can't locate the ROM zip I put on the SD card or the SD card at all.
So let me get this straight... you rooted via OCLF.. but did not apply the lagfix?
Edit: oh I see... u tried to flash a froyo Rom then go back to stock?...
Sent from my XDA app cuz I'm stalking your mom....
No I rooted then applied the lag fix it had available which was version two I believe
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Ok... try ODIN back to stock...make sure you have the correct drivers
Sent from my XDA app cuz I'm stalking your mom....
Let me correct what I'm saying, the phone went into the stuck glowing S screen when trying to turn it back on after I ran the battery down to nothing. It wouldn't boot past that point. I tried reinstall, reboot, etc..from the menu in clockwork recov in recov screen as that was all i could get to. When that failed I tried just loading a 2.2 ROM to the sd card direct from my laptop, thought I could just flash from that screen right over everything, didn't work either. Thats when I tried delete all info as a last effort, but then it magically booted back 100% stock, but still rooted. So i reloaded OCLF and unrooted because I don't know what caused the phone to be stuck in the S screen, I didn't flash anything, just did the root and oclf all from ryan's OCLF app
I tried to reroot manual, didn't work, lots of issues, wouldnt root. Went back for OCLF gone. Went for the z4 gone. Found links for both, tried the z4 didnt' work, superuser continiously popping up for permissions, went back removed that and reloaded oclf from web, ran and fixed boot and rerooted, all good. Went back and downloaded and flashed Vibrant AOSP ish JK2 1.1 Official FROYO. Absolutely love it so far. I've been waiting for wifi calling for a long time, it actually works. Problem is I'm not really sure if I rebackup everything now or leave the backups I have from clockwork for stock. I keep reading everything and feel like I'm missing something. I have Vibrant AOSP ish JK2 1.1 Official FROYO saved so I guess if it crashes I just reflash that and don't need a backup, but should titanium backup the whole thing instead now? Sorry if no one replies i get it. Two years of iphone jailbreaking is a waste, nothing like this at all! I will say I never bricked an iphone, feel like i'm gonna brick this thing.
I want to run the OCLF v2, but concerned it's going to cause issues as it's running so smooth right now.
It works fine
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
version 2 isn't an option, i'm running lag fix one, seems ok I'm having some other issues, but its running
If your still having problems odin back to stock and start over it always safer and will cause less problems
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
All my issues were because busy box was messed up, all good now
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Just to throw it in there... you should always backup your current ROM and all apps using both ROM Manager AND Titanium Backup. It makes it THAT much easier if you do, by chance, have to use ODIN or run a recover, to get your settings, apps, saved data, etc. back without much hassle.
I run a Titanium backup on all of my apps I have loaded (NOT SYSTEM APPS as they are backed up by ROM manager I believe) once a month or so, just to keep fairly recent. It makes it to where, if it does need to be restored, the apps all get re-installed at once including saved data within the app (saved game progress, etc.). This is handy because you don't have to remember what all you had installed and you don't have to go searching through marketplace to get those apps back.
If you are running a custom homescreen (Launcher Pro, etc.), you should also use their backup option to save your homescreen settings.
In short, backup everything you can... it makes 3 hours worth of reloading things condense into a nice little 10-15min "install", "ok" button pressing fiesta!
And, to let you know, I've (as just about 100% of XDA users) flashed, and ODIN'd nearly a thousand times and have yet to brick a phone. These things are crazy indestructible. There's 3 or 4 different ways to get into Download Mode if you get the computer!phone screen... so don't worry about it. The only thing you really lose is time spent getting things back to normal if you screw up. But read up on everything, which it sounds like you already do, before you even attempt anything that could kill the phone. I don't post much on here because just about everything is already answered... you just have to search a little bit.

Help, need to start fresh, major problems after stupid mistake

Ok, so first off, I was interested in the prospect of using the Droid3 camera because I heard it was better and supported high speed video recording (something that I really want on the Atrix) but I heard that you had to be Deodexed. Well, I knew that if I unlocked my bootloader and installed a custom ROM such as Alien or CherryPie, it would work, but I didn't want to unlock my bootloader. I was rooted though.
So then I decided to google how to manually deodex, and I came across the program xUltimate whatever, followed the directions (although it seemed to be intended for the Droid and not the Atrix, I don't think I should've done that) and part of the process through running xUltimate, I got a message saying that I was out of space on my Atrix relating to the process it was in the middle of doing, and was like, oh crap.
My phone didn't start, but I had made a recovery a couple of days earlier in Tenfar's CMW, so I went to restore that. Then when that was restoring, it froze on some process when it was restoring, and I let it try and try for hours, but to no avail, because it had been hours and it was still stuck on the same spot. So I restarted my phone.
Well, then upon my phone starting, everything was gone in terms of my apps, and the stock gingerbread background was there. I thought, well, maybe it's fine and I'll just restore my apps with TiBu, and everything will be fine. That wasn't the case at all because any app that I downloaded from the market with the exception of a few would automatically force close. So I couldn't get TiBu to work, or Superuser, or anything.
So at that point I knew that I had seriously messed up some files on my phone, and I decided I was gonna flash .sbf. So I got the stock 2.3.4 .sbf and flashed it with RSD Lite 5.3.1.
It flashed gingerbread, and when it rebooted, everything looked fine and dandy, but it was exactly the same problem, where apps would force close.
Then as a last hope of solving the problem I tried to use fastboot to recover my phone with the nandroid backup that I had made, but it said that the image file was too large. And that also probably has something to do with the fact that I can't actually use fastboot to do that unless I have an unlocked bootloader, right?
So my question is, how can I fix it? How can I start over fresh (since flashing .sbf didn't wipe everything) so that those system files that I messed with when I was running the deodexing utility are returned to their proper state?
I mean, at the moment, it works as a phone, it receives and makes calls, and I can send texts and take pictures, and use the stock browser, but no other app will open.
And secondly, has anyone gotten the 120fps video recording working with the d3 camera apk?
But of course, more importantly, how do I get out of this rut?
Thank you so much and I'm really sorry for writing so much, I just wanted to give you as much info as possible so that you could come up with the best answer. And I apologize for my stupidity,
Thanks again,
did you try a factory restore after the sbf flash? you have to do that to restore the phone to the orignal state. flashing the.sbf doesn't do it...
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
thank you so much, after doing the factory reset, it works fine now. Now to go mess with it again hehehe.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Glad your sorted as to your fastboot problem. Use moto fastboot as it splits large files for you.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
So, I thought I had fixed the problem, but after unlocking the bootloader, I installed Alien, and the radio is all wonky...I'm not getting service 99% of the time, and that's kinda really bad, and, yes I checked the APNs, and there were no problems there (at least I think, I restored default) and I even tried flashing a radio, which made no difference. And I know that flashing using RSD is bad but I didn't know better at the time so I reflashed stock Gingerbread 4.5.91, but the radio problem is still there.
And could someone tell me what I'm doing wrong because I've tried flashing two different roms (Alien and the Star Wars one) and it seems as if its not actually doing everything that it should, for example the star wars one, there is no camera app, or rather it force closes, and the bootanimation and boot image are stock at&t, and the lockscreen is default....and I even checked the build.prop which should have been modified for the d3 camera and it wasn't modified, which led me to think that anything that involved root access didn't work when flashing the rom. Further proof for that idea is that after I flashed either rom, I lost root access and had to re-root my phone.
This is really weird, and it's starting to bug me because now my phone can't even be used as a phone
Thank you for your help.

[Q] Stuck in boot cycle...not a wcdma problem

I Have restorted to being the noob that signs up to ask a question...The other day I was driving (pre-root) and I look down to notice my phone had power cycled on its own. I thought it would come back one, boy I was wrong....
It spiralled into endless boot cycle. It would at first reboot get to the 4g screen and then back to the htc...over and over. I was able to get into Hboot, and atempt to do a factory reset that didnt help because it became a endless reboot that way as well.
Now before any of you say "why dont you warranty replace the phone" Im a VZW agent, alas we dont have a warranty on our phones when it comes to our concessions lines...
Now, at that point I said enough is enough and I delved into the world of rooting. I self taught everything within a few hours. I had my phone unlocked and ready to go. I picked Ineffabile (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1420513) to use as a rom, I followed the procedure to a T it installed correctly, but then when it came back on everything seemed to work fine...for about 5 minutes and then it happened agian a power cycle all over again. and again...and again. It now comes on works for about 5mins and then reboots.
Im at a complete loss at this point I have gone back into the SD card and deleted the ph98 file etc.... I just dont know what to do. I need this phone to work.
Any help is appreciated Thank you so much!
I know you said it's not the wcdma problem but will your phone stay booted with the back cover off?
Else I'd ruu back to stock. Could try the different radios and see if it helps.
If you want to try the older radios and are on the OTA you'll have to hexedit you mainver. There's a guide if you look.
older radios? Im still new to this so I applogize...
A couple weeks ago there was an OTA (over the air update) that updated the radios - what controls the calls part of your phone and can affect reception and other stuff, I don't know everything it does. So if you wanted to try the older ones there's a thread somewhere, I think by con247, that has the older ones.
Here's a couple guides to help you get familiar with rooting stuff:
http://androidforums.com/evo-3d-all-things-root/389787-beginners-guide-rooting-android-devices.html
http://androidforums.com/evo-4g-all-things-root/129648-quick-intro-rooting-those-new-rooting.html
You can try flashing the kernel again. Sometimes bootlooping is a kernel issue, although it doesn't seem to be the cause of your situation.
How about insurance? Do you have that? Can you still get it?
feralicious said:
A couple weeks ago there was an OTA (over the air update) that updated the radios - what controls the calls part of your phone and can affect reception and other stuff, I don't know everything it does. So if you wanted to try the older ones there's a thread somewhere, I think by con247, that has the older ones.
You can try flashing the kernel again. Sometimes bootlooping is a kernel issue, although it doesn't seem to be the cause of your situation.
How about insurance? Do you have that? Can you still get it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I dont have insurance =/ and cant get it either. Im trying to find the radios, and what kernal should I be flashing? because I cannot find the one that should match the rom im using.
What I dont understand is why the phone powers on, works for a few moments like nothing is wrong what so ever. Then freezes and reboots.
Oh, there's a new way of packing a ROM with a script that then installs the kernel so I guess it's all together now on Ineffabilis. Here's a link to the MikMik forum where they still have the stock rooted kernel as a separate download:
http://themikmik.com/showthread.php...-Beats-Tweaks-2-01-605-11&p=164906#post164906
Just take off the part of the name before PH98IMG.zip, put it on your external sd card. Do a battery pull, then reboot into bootloader by holding volume down + power. It will flash it and I think reboot. Then delete the PHzip file after that.
Don't know if it will help...
Oh... when you flashed Ineffabilis, did you restore any data from a backup? If yes, try flashing again and not restoring any data, just set up everything again manually. Also, if you restored any data from another phone's backup that could have caused problems. Basically you don't want to restore data from a different ROM.
feralicious said:
Oh, there's a new way of packing a ROM with a script that then installs the kernel so I guess it's all together now on Ineffabilis. Here's a link to the MikMik forum where they still have the stock rooted kernel as a separate download:
Just take off the part of the name before PH98IMG.zip, put it on your external sd card. Do a battery pull, then reboot into bootloader by holding volume down + power. It will flash it and I think reboot. Then delete the PHzip file after that.
Don't know if it will help...
Oh... when you flashed Ineffabilis, did you restore any data from a backup? If yes, try flashing again and not restoring any data, just set up everything again manually. Also, if you restored any data from another phone's backup that could have caused problems. Basically you don't want to restore data from a different ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a clean SD card, and I didnt create a backup because I couldnt get the phone past Hboot when it was doing boot cycles previous to the root. I re-ruu'd right now. And im starting from scratch. I used clockwork before, Im trying amon ra now.

Flashing touchwiz on touchwiz

So I did my first successful flash. And ended up going to my stock nandroid backup. I want to try a different Rom and don't like the hassle of re personalizing the phone and re downloading apps. I heard you don't need to do a factory reset of your staying with touchwiz.
The main question here is if there is a way to flash without changing anything or can I flash and somehow upload the way my phone was laid out before.
Anyone?
Bump
Get titanium back up for restoring apps. As far as everything else. It is a price we pay for flashing custom roms. Restoring any of that data can mess up the system and cause issues.
I got helium but do you need the pro version?
Doing it in this manner rarely saves time as "dirty" flashing typically causes more issues than the time saving possibility is worth. Same goes for OTA updates. They often cause problems. A reset is always recommended for best results as otherwise it'll be impossible to determine whether it was the install or the rom that is causing trouble. It rarely pays to cut corners in these matters. That being said, just make a nandroid backup and try it. Worst case, it glitches out and you have to re-install the rom the right way.

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