This may turn out a bit long...
My s2 has been playing up in one way or another for a few months now such as freezing, turning itself off and kept going into drive mode by itself then last week all my messages deleted and I couldn't send or receive any more and then the next day it turned itself off and I can't get it back on properly. It turns on, goes onto the Samsung Galaxy S2 screen then onto the O2 welcome screen then to the screen with the flashing S then just goes between that and the O2 screen over and over again. Been looking for help the last few days and the main thing I could find was to go into recovery mode and restore it but I can't do that because my home key doesn't work. So nor could I do the second thing I read could help which was to go into download mode and flash it. I didn't even know anything about recovery mode, download mode, flashing, rom, odin or anything else until last week. My phone is exactly as I bought it. I then read about a usb jig which would force it into download mode which I got today and it didn't do anything. I actually couldn't care less about the phone, I would love to just smash it to bits! BUT is there any chance I will ever be able to do anything get it back on just once so I can get my photos and videos off it? I've connected it to the computer but it comes up as an Android Modem so that I can't get the files off that way and it won't connect through Kies either. I know sending it to be repaired would end up with it coming back totally wiped so no point doing that. I normally wouldn't be so bothered it's just there's pictures of my daughter's first birthday and holiday and videos of her first steps. Is there anything else that can be done? Thanks.
There's a 0.000001% chance the phone will boot normally & your stuff will be intact if you can get into download mode & flash a one part stock rom. The more likely scenario is you'll need to flash a 3 part rom which will wipe the device.
You could try ADB to get into download mode, but you're going to need to be motivated to learn how to use it (plenty of tutorials on XDA/elsewhere; search). If that doesn't work for whatever reason, try fixing the home button.
Being a former betting man though, I don't like your chances of recovering data.
MistahBungle said:
There's a 0.000001% chance the phone will boot normally & your stuff will be intact if you can get into download mode & flash a one part stock rom. The more likely scenario is you'll need to flash a 3 part rom which will wipe the device.
You could try ADB to get into download mode, but you're going to need to be motivated to learn how to use it (plenty of tutorials on XDA/elsewhere; search). If that doesn't work for whatever reason, try fixing the home button.
Being a former betting man though, I don't like your chances of recovering data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for replying. I don't have a clue what a one part or three part rom are sorry! Doesn't look good then. I'm so annoyed. I had planned to sort through my files and get them backed up last weekend because I knew this would end up happening and the stupid phone died on Thursday! I don't think fixing my home button would help because the volume button didn't work much either, it's a wreck to be honest! Had a quick look at ADB, looks complicated but I'll have a proper look later on as a final hope otherwise I'll just have to accept my files are gone for good
Just an update...tried to get into download mode with adb but it doesn't find my phone. Is this because it only comes up as an android modem by any chance? Think I may have to give up hope. At least I will learn from this and back things up a lot more often!
Related
EDIT : I am now offering a $100 reward via PayPal to anyone that can offer me a solution to this problem. If you do not have a PayPal account, I will mail you a check for $100. Those are my only methods for payment. I am 100% serious about this by the way. From what I'm told, Nandroid backups are stored on the internal SD card, so even once the replacement phone arrives, I could not restore the nandroid backups on the (currently) broken phone over to the new one. I absolutely HAVE to get to those backups, and it is well worth $100 to me. NOTE : to be eligible for the reward, you MUST read the entire thread. I have already exhausted many common solutions to problems like this one, and am getting tired of getting offered the same advice over and over. If you fail to read the thread and offer me a solution that I have already attempted, I will not give you the $100 reward, even if you later are the one that comes up with the solution to my problem.
Please delete my other threads, I can't edit the title on them and they are outdated now.
This is my situation in a nutshell.
Downloaded Obsidian v2, wiped and flashed it. (this is my girlfriend's phone) - she did not like 2.2, so I wiped data/cache and attempted to restore the nandroid backup I had made. After hanging on 'restoring data' for 30 minutes I rebooted the phone, and now I'm here. The phone boots to the Vibrant logo only, I can get absolutely no other logos to show up no matter what I do. I realize now that I needed to flash a 2.1 kernel prior to restoring the Nandroid backup, but on my Droid, when I restore a nandroid backup that includes the kernel, so I did not know this step was necessary.
I have downloaded Odin but I have NEVER used it, so I am completely lost there as well. As far as I know, I simply need to download Odin, and then follow one of the many methods to access download mode. I have tried about 15 different methods of holding the buttons on the phone, plugging in the USB cable at the right time, etc. etc. etc. None of the methods work. The phone boots up to the Vibrant logo each and every time, no matter what. I downloaded and installed the Kies software so the drivers should be installed.
What do I do now? The phone is not hardware locked because I've used the buttons to access recovery many times. Is there a step I'm missing when it comes to Odin or do I just download it and open it? PLEASE give me instructions as if I am a child, because obviously whatever I'm doing is not working. PLEASE no vague instructions. I do not know how to use adb, odin, or basically how to do anything at all with this phone. I am a Droid user, and after I get her phone back to the way it was I will never attempt to hack it again. Thank you.
edit : also, yes I have pulled the SD card/SIM card.
I'm ready to give up on this.. is it possible to return this phone to T Mobile for a replacement, and if so, will her nandroid backups and titanium backup info be stored on her SD card? Then I could just root her new phone and restore the nandroid backup and be done with it. I promise, once I find some kind of solution, I am never hacking a Vibrant again. Far too complicated to hack non-stock google phones.
use Odin 1.3 or maybe higher
velocity92c said:
I'm ready to give up on this.. is it possible to return this phone to T Mobile for a replacement, and if so, will her nandroid backups and titanium backup info be stored on her SD card? Then I could just root her new phone and restore the nandroid backup and be done with it. I promise, once I find some kind of solution, I am never hacking a Vibrant again. Far too complicated to hack non-stock google phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm at work but do a search for odin 1.3 which worked for me. There is a thread that had all the files you need to get the phone back to stock kernel and all. If you haven't resolved the problem by tomorrow I'll try to find the thread for you or post the files if I can from my computer.
I'm already using 1.3 and I've already downloaded the all in one pack of files I need. Still can't get past the Vibrant screen to use Odin. I'm guessing since nobody has responded back with a way to fix this that I'm hosed, so can I take the phone to a TMO store and get a new one?
Download Mode
velocity92c said:
I'm already using 1.3 and I've already downloaded the all in one pack of files I need. Still can't get past the Vibrant screen to use Odin. I'm guessing since nobody has responded back with a way to fix this that I'm hosed, so can I take the phone to a TMO store and get a new one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried turning the phone off then while holding the volume down button only, have odin running and plug in the usb cable to the phone? It should power on into download mode like that.
Email me [email protected]
The best phone in the world
I have literally tried every possible combination of holding down buttons, powering up, usb cable in, out, etc. etc. I searched the forum and tried at least 30n different "surefire" methods. Odin always sits there and does nothing, and the phone just goes to the vibrant screen.
jaliscojorge said:
Have you tried turning the phone off then while holding the volume down button only, have odin running and plug in the usb cable to the phone? It should power on into download mode like that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to build an extremely ghetto Jig, which is just a 301kohm resistor going across pins 4 and 5 of a microusb plug. It sounds hard but its really not that bad, and unfortunately its the only way to get your phone into downloader mode if its hardware locked, like mine is.
As mentioned previously the phone is not hardware locked. I've accesssed recovery several times with the standard methods. Just got back from Tmobile and it will be a week before the new phone gets here. There has to be a way to fix this. Someone please help?
This is pretty weird because if the phone is not hardware locked, there's no reason that you can't get into download mode.
Just to be clear, so are you saying when you hold vol up + vol down ONLY, you will get vibrant screen?
Or when you hold volup + vol down THEN plug in the usb, it goes to Vibrant screen?
You need to be in download mode to use Odin, not recovery mode. Have you ever gotten into download mode via hardware? Was 'usb debugging' enabled? If so, go into download mode and follow Eugene's Froyo that doesn't brick.
I don't know how I can be anymore clear that the phone is not HWL and I cannot access download mode. I'm not trying to be an ass, it's just a very frustrating situation. I know you need to be in download mode to use Odin. I cannot get to download mode or this would be a cinch.
And to the poster before ^ this one, the phone goes to the Vibrant screen regardless of what button combination I press, or whether or not I hit any buttons at all. I've literally tried every combination possible, many many times.
I'm ready to throw this phone out the window. I have a hard time believing I am the only one to ever have this issue. It seems as though the answer to most problems is download mode + Odin but that does me no good.
Is there literally nothing else I can try?
From what I understand email thegreat520 he is supposed to be the guy to talk to I've heard it from a few posts
Still flashing
I know it can be frustrating, but excuse me for starting with the basics...
have you followed this youtube guide? I put it in the sticky because it was very helpful in my opinion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnY7P14JSWQ
Here is another way I have not seen before:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E9LYLoK1Qog
and why not post another
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqxearzXrVY
I had the same issue search my post I used a froyo Rom when the phone 1st came out I download then something went wrong will flashing a new Rom I tried and tried odin did not work bc NO download mode I had got my phone the day it came out I just sent it back to tmobile pm ill explain how
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Same issue
Used download mode many times, then did the same exact thing you did with the obsidian ROM. Now i cant get into download mode at all.
The method that worked 100% of the time previously (holding both volume buttons and then plugging the phone in while odin is runing) does not work. Tried a bunch of different methods and nothing.
There has to be a way to get around this.
OP, please try the method in the general sticky. It seems to fix the HWL issue.
WOW!
Without even plugging anything in, I:
1) Turned phone off
2) Held Vol. Down + Home button + Power
And that got me into download mode. I will proceed to try flashing back to stock now.
I have tried all the methods in the videos, and the issue is not related to the phone being HWL. It is not HWL. I have used the buttons to access the modes before. So please give me something unique to try besides a button combination, because none of them work. Am I literally the only one in the world that has ever had this problem before? I will paypal someone 50 bucks if they can help me fix this and that's not a lie. Her new phone won't be here for weeks and she is currently without a phone. Maybe I'm doing SOMETHING wrong but it is definitely not a button combination. I have literally tried them all, including with the USB cable in and out, and plugging it in at certain times during the process. Don't you normally get a charging icon when you plug the phone into the computer? All I get is the vibrant screen. Even if the phone is off, if I plug it into a computer without hitting any buttons, it turns on and goes to the vibrant screen. 50 dollars via paypal. You can't beat that. If you don't have paypal I will mail you a check, and no this is not a joke.
So I'm pretty much screwed huh? Can someone tell me if nandroid backups are stored on the SD card on the Vibrant? I will just wait til the new phone gets here and put the old SD card in the new phone and restore it if so.
hi everybody, I'm new in customizing my android phone and this time I tried to update my GT-S5570 to Gingerbread 2.3.4 from samfirmware.com using ODIN
the only problem is that I'm not a patient person and after 13 minutes of staying in step 2 (QCSLIB or something like this) of the process I closed ODIN, unplugged my phone, took out the battery and tried to restart the process, but didn't succeed because the phone wouldn't boot, neither download mode, nor recovery mode, nor normal boot..
I'm desperate cause I'm about to leave the country in about 3 days and I can't take it to the customers service center, cause the whole process would take a week or two
so my question is: is there any way I can make my phone work myself or maybe just to get it somehow in recovery mode so I can wipe all data? I'm not eager in updating to Gingerbread or changing the Stock ROM, I just want to use it!!
thanks for the quick response forum.. would somebody be nice enough to give me even a yes/no answer? thank you very much!
since you are bricked, your phone doesnt work anymore
and btw this site is not here for customer support. you cannot expect to get an answer right away
If your phone is unable to entre download mode and be recognised by odin then theres no way youll get it back.Ive had similar problems with not booting but if at least it can boot into download mode you can reflash via odin.If your not a patient person then click start and go and have a cup of tea and relax for a bit.Better than losing your phone.
So I have the tab 10.1, rooted with clockwork mod. I did a system update through settings-about-software update. It took a couple of hours, powered off. Now it won't power back on. Can't get to recovery or anything. The only time I can even get an image on the screen is if I have it charging for about a half an hour it will show the "charging screen" little android dude and the battery. Have I bricked the device? or is there anything I can do. I kinda need this fixed asap. Mom has ALS and this is her only way to communicate with us.
Hard bricking a device usually means that it won't even respond to charging. Maybe do a search and figure out what your options are. I'm not too familiar with this particular tablet but I know there are many useful toolkits out there for many devices and one may help you.
Can you get into download mode?
Would this help?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYBs98R9rTs
If you can get into download mode and your computer is able to detect your tablet you can go ahead and follow the video to flash stock ROM and bootloader.
Doesn't work. Gave me an error msg about md5 sum not working. I used all the files provided too. Now another thing is that i CAN get into clockwork recovery mode too, but i forgot to create a backup of my stock. Is there any way i can get access to the "sdcard" so I can flash through that?
Never mind that last post, It worked. I just downloaded it. Worked like a charm. Thanks for the help
Glad to hear it
Sent from my SGH-T989
Hi, I've been browsing the forums for people's attempts to fix a problem. At first the phone just turned off and I was unable to turn it on because it was stuck in a boot loop. The rom I had running was an ICS stock rom from hk. During this time i was still able to get into download mode but unable to enter recovery. I have tried many times to get to recovery and then tried to flash with several stock roms too. Upon failing around 10 times I moved on to a custom rom.
This one here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/help/guide-26-12-flash-stock-firmware-rom-t2365701
The Jelly bean one here.
Upon failing from this too and unable to do anything but reset the phone and try again. I managed to turn it off... but now unable to turn it on in any way or get into download mode or recovery.
Is there anything I can try to do to get the phone to be working? What can I do?
Try a jig but understand it's very unlikely to get you into download mode. Service centre or local mobile repair shop for diagnosis (I also doubt it will be JTAG'able).
Edit - Also, search for KingRat's 'jump start' method where you try & boot the phone with just the charger/without the battery.
medow70 said:
Hi, I've been browsing the forums for people's attempts to fix a problem. At first the phone just turned off and I was unable to turn it on because it was stuck in a boot loop. The rom I had running was an ICS stock rom from hk. During this time i was still able to get into download mode but unable to enter recovery. I have tried many times to get to recovery and then tried to flash with several stock roms too. Upon failing around 10 times I moved on to a custom rom.
This one here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/help/guide-26-12-flash-stock-firmware-rom-t2365701
The Jelly bean one here.
Upon failing from this too and unable to do anything but reset the phone and try again. I managed to turn it off... but now unable to turn it on in any way or get into download mode or recovery.
Is there anything I can try to do to get the phone to be working? What can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't loose hope mate...
Try remove battery and insert charger (optional)...
Press voldown+home+power button then let someone (your mother, father, brother, sister, neighbor or friends) insert the battery for you while still pressing those 3 keys...
I hope it will enter to download mode again...and report back please...
Try to use an other battery, my original one is fuked up, it does nothing.
I bought a new one and it works
I tried plugging my charger to the phone and pressing the 3 buttons and then having someone plug the battery in for me, still wouldn't start up. Also tried it with another battery i have on hand, also no luck.
You know what the options are then. Ignore people making ridiculous suggestions which don't work. My aim is to be honest with people, tell them the truth, and have them either get their phones fixed or replaced as quickly as possible in this situation (let's face it, nobody likes to be without a phone), rather than fill them with false hope & waste their time.
I think I fried my mobo while trying to flash it cause it does head up the phone without showing anything. I am going to order parts on ebay. I got this confirmed by someone at a shop near where I live, however they won't replace the mobo for me even if i do find a working one.
=) luckily this isn't my phone but my dad's who works at home and doesn't mind using an OLD OLD flip phone just for calls for the time being.
Side question, even if i replace the mobo and I get it booted but I still get stuck in the boot screen loop and unable to flash to any stock roms what can I do?
If you replace the motherboard you should fix it without further problems. New motherboard = new NAND, no more bootloop - unless you flash again & the flash is bad; you can't mitigate the risk of a bad flash, you can only do all the sensible things like making sure you're using a PC with reliable USB ports, that you're flashing the correct firmware for your device, that you're using an original Samsung USB cable. Basically, if you're careful, the risk with any given flash is very low.
So, fix the hardware problem, flash stock for your country/carrier once you've done that, and go from there.
Hello all...hoping to get some assistance with this thing. Long story short, debloated it due to horrid battery life and high heat. Everything was great until about a week ago when my settings app go renamed somehow. Tried fixing it but couldn't find the com.android.settings file with the correct signature for my phone (AT&T, US Model, unlocked, not rooted).
It's been working fine except no settings...so I backed up the usual stuff and had plans to do a factory reset this weekend. A few hours ago I picked it up and it went all wonky on me. Upon boot, it comes up to the lock screen and then the screen just starts turning on/off. I'm unable to bring up the passcode screen...but, am able to bring up the power menu by holding the power button. But, can't power down or get into safe mode that way. After about 5 seconds of doing this, it reboots. Rinse and repeat. Safe mode via buttons starts, but, does the same thing.
I am able to get into both recovery mode and download mode though. I can view logs/etc.
Normally, I'd just ***** and moan, then do the factory reset, However, I made one huge oversight when I backed up my data earlier this week and forgot to backup my notes. There's about a dozen of them, pages and pages long with all the medical details regarding my sons illness that I've been tracking for years. It's a nightmare dealing with different Dr's all the time so I've logged it all on the phone. Unfortunately, the best app I've found for it doesn't do cloud storage and keeps them saved as local txt files on the device.
Is there any hope I can somehow pull the files using recovery/download mode or utilize the logs to determine the errors and fix it enough to be able to get them? I'm fairly tech savvy and have ADB installed. I'm super ADD though and my head is just spinning trying to sort through all the possible posts regarding trying to do this...many being for older phones.
Absolute worst case, is there a legitimate service that would be able to do it?
Any help recovering my son's medical notes would be really really appreciated.
RiBBiTeDD said:
Hello all...hoping to get some assistance with this thing. Long story short, debloated it due to horrid battery life and high heat. Everything was great until about a week ago when my settings app go renamed somehow. Tried fixing it but couldn't find the com.android.settings file with the correct signature for my phone (AT&T, US Model, unlocked, not rooted).
It's been working fine except no settings...so I backed up the usual stuff and had plans to do a factory reset this weekend. A few hours ago I picked it up and it went all wonky on me. Upon boot, it comes up to the lock screen and then the screen just starts turning on/off. I'm unable to bring up the passcode screen...but, am able to bring up the power menu by holding the power button. But, can't power down or get into safe mode that way. After about 5 seconds of doing this, it reboots. Rinse and repeat. Safe mode via buttons starts, but, does the same thing.
I am able to get into both recovery mode and download mode though. I can view logs/etc.
Normally, I'd just ***** and moan, then do the factory reset, However, I made one huge oversight when I backed up my data earlier this week and forgot to backup my notes. There's about a dozen of them, pages and pages long with all the medical details regarding my sons illness that I've been tracking for years. It's a nightmare dealing with different Dr's all the time so I've logged it all on the phone. Unfortunately, the best app I've found for it doesn't do cloud storage and keeps them saved as local txt files on the device.
Is there any hope I can somehow pull the files using recovery/download mode or utilize the logs to determine the errors and fix it enough to be able to get them? I'm fairly tech savvy and have ADB installed. I'm super ADD though and my head is just spinning trying to sort through all the possible posts regarding trying to do this...many being for older phones.
Absolute worst case, is there a legitimate service that would be able to do it?
Any help recovering my son's medical notes would be really really appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Man, i'm so sorry to hear that :/
Sience you have access to recovery, did you try to wipe only cache partition and hit repair apps(also in recovery)?
I'm also using debloated device and i dont have any problems with it
nocio said:
Man, i'm so sorry to hear that :/
Sience you have access to recovery, did you try to wipe only cache partition and hit repair apps(also in recovery)?
I'm also using debloated device and i dont have any problems with it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah...that's the first thing I tried after safe mode failed. :\
There's quite a few folks reporting similar issues since the last OTA update a couple weeks ago.
Usually I delay until I get a chance to restore then allow it...this one didn't even give me a chance. I was using my phone when it popped up. No option to remind me later. When I tried to exit it counted down from 10, rebooted and installed.
RiBBiTeDD said:
Yeah...that's the first thing I tried after safe mode failed. :\
There's quite a few folks reporting similar issues since the last OTA update a couple weeks ago.
Usually I delay until I get a chance to restore then allow it...this one didn't even give me a chance. I was using my phone when it popped up. No option to remind me later. When I tried to exit it counted down from 10, rebooted and installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one idea, it may seem unusual but it may work.
Try to remove sim card and than boot device
nocio said:
I have one idea, it may seem unusual but it may work.
Try to remove sim card and than boot device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the idea. But, yeah, tried that to already...cleared cache and repaired apps afterwards too. Tried it with cable, tried a 2.0 cable too.
No dice.
The app repair works just fine and then it does the same thing when lock screen tries to appear.
RiBBiTeDD said:
Thanks for the idea. But, yeah, tried that to already...cleared cache and repaired apps afterwards too. Tried it with cable, tried a 2.0 cable too.
No dice.
The app repair works just fine and then it does the same thing when lock screen tries to appear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only thing that came to my mind is to download latest firmware for your device than flash it via odin
EDIT: but be carefull with that. Odin have box to untick factory reset but i didnt do that a loooooooooong time so i dont know if something is changed
nocio said:
Only thing that came to my mind is to download latest firmware for your device than flash it via odin
EDIT: but be carefull with that. Odin have box to untick factory reset but i didnt do that a loooooooooong time so i dont know if something is changed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I figured that'd be my last shot at it... I've read the horror stories of tripping Knox even with factory firmware.
Was just really hoping there was some way to yank the stuff using recovery or download modes.
RiBBiTeDD said:
Yeah, I figured that'd be my last shot at it... I've read the horror stories of tripping Knox even with factory firmware.
Was just really hoping there was some way to yank the stuff using recovery or download modes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that you can't trip Knox only when you flash official firmware over unlocked bootloader and custom ROM, but I'm not so sure.
Last time I did that is when I had Samsung Galaxy S2 and flashing official firmware over official firmware and that didn't trip the Knox counter
Does flashing genuine firmware trip knox?
Hi It's been a while since I bothered flashing firmware so I am not upto date with how things work now. My questions are I am currently on 02s version of firmware and would like to go samsungs version so I can take part in things like the one...
forum.xda-developers.com
Here you can see that flashing official firmware over official firmware(i'm guessing that you are not rooted) won't trip knox counter
nocio said:
Does flashing genuine firmware trip knox?
Hi It's been a while since I bothered flashing firmware so I am not upto date with how things work now. My questions are I am currently on 02s version of firmware and would like to go samsungs version so I can take part in things like the one...
forum.xda-developers.com
Here you can see that flashing official firmware over official firmware(i'm guessing that you are not rooted) won't trip knox counter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome! Thank you!
I was able to get the files...for others in the same boat, here's a link to what worked for me:
Help finding correct firmware and installing for AT&T SM-G991U.
Hello all...I'm a fellow victim of the OTA updates screwing us debloaters currently stuck in a boot-loop. I'm trying to recover my the past several years text notes containing all the medical details for my son's illness. Details on that can be...
forum.xda-developers.com