Hello,
I reciently rooted my samsung galaxy s2. I tried a few roms so i could get used to the system or restoring etc. However i encountered a problem whilst having a peek at an alpha jellybean rom, where i noticed that my CWM app on the phone had vanished? I attempted the restore using the 3 button combo and found that i kept recieveing E: can't mount/ E: can't cache messages whilst on the restore screen. i could find my latest restore on my sd card however it wouldnt restore. I believe the CWM was removed from my phone which caused it to not work. I was then stuck in a bootloop. no matter what i done, boot to a stock rom via odin, try the different CF roms i and try to put CWM back on to the phone? I read a post on here from someone who had the same problem, who was told it looked as though there is a problem with the partitions. i followed a tutorial and used odin to put Latona 20110114.pit on the phone. it said i would get a blank screen once this has done and i needed to remove then place the battery back in the phone then put it into download again. This didnt happen!! I done as instructed and now my phone wont go into recovery mode, download mode or even boot loop. I fear i have completely bricked my phone so i am trying to use oneclick heimdall to sort it however my PC keeps saying i need admin rights to install it which i have.
Can someone please help me out. I am new to this so please go easy on me.
many thanks
If you have no signs of life from the phone, it's probably cactus.
You might as well try a jig (but unlikely to work; still try one tho). Only option is service centre & hope they can't tell/don't care you've been messing with it & fix it under warranty or JTAG repair by a 3rd party repairer, at your cost obviously; will be cheaper than having Samsung/an authorised repairer fix it if they refuse warranty service which they're quite within their rights to do.
edinsam said:
i followed a tutorial and used odin to put Latona 20110114.pit on the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First result of searching suggests that's meant for the I9003. Good job.
HA
Hello,
Awe well then. never mind eh, whats done is done! Its totally bricked so i thought i would chance my luck by sending it back to O2 for repair. I was reading the only other way to get the phone running again was to take it to bits and hook it up for some stock flashing. so heres hopping they sort it!
lesson learnt!!!
It's fixed. I think the 3 way recovery rom worked.
Hi all, I have been searching for hours and have made numerous attempts to fix this on my own. And have concluded i might have to send it to Samsung for a motherboard replacement.
Scenario:
S3 stuck on first boot screen.
Can't get into OS/ROM.
Can get into Recovery/Download Mode.
Phone cant mount /sdcard/ nor can it mount /efs/ -- aka nothing on internal storage is accessible.
How? -- Well I dont know. My battery was at 1% last night when I woke up and screen was frozen and my phone was hot so I pulled out battery. Let it cool and charge it. Next thing I find out is its just stuck.
What I've tried -- I wiped data and cache and restored a backup, as usual if something goes wrong. But then i noticed it couldnt mount sdcard. I flashed stock ROM from odin. Stock recovery said it couldnt mount efs.. which meant its soft bricked. I do not have a efs backup. I tried to flash the 3 part ROM and every possible fix... but no luck.
So what i need help with:
1.) Is there a way to reset flash counter in Download mode (its at 1) without Triangle Away? Because I cant even get into OS. Cant send it back or it'll void warranty.
2.) I figure the issue would go away if I somehow restore an efs backup? If thats the case would anyone be willing to help me out, just need to borrow the efs backup to get into OS and use Triangle Away. Ill just delete the efs folder and rebrick it after resetting my count. Idk how I may rebrick but do you guys think it may work? I mean I do not need anyone on here to give me their backup as I know its important. I could just find another device nearby if no ones willing to help.
I am stumped. Any advice or suggestion is appreciated. I know I shouldve backed up but I really dont know why it happened. Sigh.
Oh and its an international quad core S3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi All,
I thought I’d share this as I’ve been pulling my hair out with trying to find answers to this, and sending it to old Sammy was the next option.
After trying everything on every forum, trying the QPST method, trying to use someone else's efs folder (which changed the serial as well) and every other complicated as hell method everyone had suggested, nothing worked expect his which I’ve not found mentioned anywhere as a solution to this (or any other) problem
In the Samsung Kies application under "Tools" there is "Firmware Upgrade and Initialisation,"
With your device unplugged (it will say not available for this model if its plugged in, don't plug it in until it tells you to when in download mode) select this and run the what it tells you to do,
After this is finished you will have a completely fresh install of the latest officially released firmware (for your original build eg. carrier branded) with original serial number and imei number :laugh:
It’s really silly how simple this is yet has not been mentioned or attempted by anyone else, or if it has, not mentioned by anyone else.
I crap you not…
Thanks,
[edit:] just as a note, I got into this problem by not backing up the efs, the world would be a much nicer place if everyone just backed up their efs :laugh:
This has been posted before and does not work in many cases .
Although the method can be useful to restore to original firmware .
jje
Yes, flashing a stock rom will sometimes fix the problem of the efs folder not being mounted or read. It won't fix a corrupt partition or damaged files.
The stock rom you flashed didn't contain any efs data so it isn't any substitute for a backup, you were very lucky it worked.
To my tests this work only when efs is completely empty while upgrade if not it doesn't work
sent from the state where Marijuana is NOT illegal !
Same problem
hello guys,
Well I'm to tell the story of how my aunt damaged apparently her phone
At first the phone is a samsung galaxy S3 from movistar (locked), and she bought a freaking iphone 5 to give the S3 to his husband and there it starts the problem he's in another company so she goes to a store to unlock the phone, the guys on the store supposedly unlocked the phone. So when she arrives home, she puts the sim into the phone and SORPRISE it says emergency calls only and not registered in network. After a week she calls me and hands me over the phone.
My surprise was when I put it in recovery mode, it says flash count 3, and then i did all these terrible things with thephone.
1) Flash it to a stock movistar rom 4.1.2.
2) Sorprise the IMEI sayd null.
3) Searching in the web, found the ariza patch, and I patched it without saving the efs (big mistake).
4) The phone imei's became 0049.
5) So I flash it back to the rom they put in the store and the imei went back I make sure it was the one on the back of the phone.
6) I still stuck in the emergency call not registered in the network thing.
7) Now I rooted the phone erased the whole content of the efs directory (this time with a back up).
8) Did the tutorial thing with samsung kies and I'm back with the movistar rom with the 0049 IMEI.
I don't what to do at this point besides going to samsung and send it to repair I really hope they can fix it at a low price.
Sorry for my english, I'm trying to improve it.
Best Regards
Andy Serrato... the spaniard
Start by reading the stickied faqs and guides EFS/IMEI sticky for one or just pay for a repair .
Galaxy S3(GT-I9300) having the same problem! HELP HELP HEEEELP PLEASE!!
Very unfortunately. this didn't solve my problem, the phone's Serial number is still that auto generated junk, and the EMEI is 00499901640000 as before. I had 4.1.2 on my S3 and Kies has updated it to 4.3 without resolving the issue!
can anyone give an idea on how to surely resolve this issue please. its about 3 months now ever since my phone got screwed up!
Pay for a repair
Perfect
I cannot believe this worked, but it did.
I messed up somehow by trying to flash the wrong cwm.tar file (for i9305) I needed i9300 of course and odin stopped halfway and got stuck, i then pulled the cable out and everything got very messy,.. i kept getting lots of errors etc. i somehow managed to install an old cm11 rom which worked lovely. BUT I had no baseband, no imei, no network, no number, nothing, #*06# or whatever it is, wouldn't work. nothing.
I then started to figure out how the efs filesystem worked, then foundout kies has an emergency thing where i guess they look into there database what your imei was when the phone was built. this would not work because I was using a custom rom (i think) but then I stumbled upon this post. thank goodness!!!!!
It's just restarted and internet, signal, imei is back, baseband version is back. all in order.
however, i think i was also very lucky, but for those of you who are in the position i was in, but this doesn't work, I do think there are ways to get an old efs going again and modify it to your "should be" imei,
if anyone needs an IMEI, I can give you one from a phone i had stolen in vietnam, (not sure its even legal to give it out but whatever)
thank you
Nev
EFS recovery
DonkeyDuck said:
Hi All,
I thought I’d share this as I’ve been pulling my hair out with trying to find answers to this, and sending it to old Sammy was the next option.
After trying everything on every forum, trying the QPST method, trying to use someone else's efs folder (which changed the serial as well) and every other complicated as hell method everyone had suggested, nothing worked expect his which I’ve not found mentioned anywhere as a solution to this (or any other) problem
In the Samsung Kies application under "Tools" there is "Firmware Upgrade and Initialisation,"
With your device unplugged (it will say not available for this model if its plugged in, don't plug it in until it tells you to when in download mode) select this and run the what it tells you to do,
After this is finished you will have a completely fresh install of the latest officially released firmware (for your original build eg. carrier branded) with original serial number and imei number :laugh:
It’s really silly how simple this is yet has not been mentioned or attempted by anyone else, or if it has, not mentioned by anyone else.
I crap you not…
Thanks,
[edit:] just as a note, I got into this problem by not backing up the efs, the world would be a much nicer place if everyone just backed up their efs :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WOW! This worked! I had been struggling for 3 months with my Note 2. Been flashing rom after rom and got stuck in boot cycle. Actually broke down and brought phone to a cell repair shop. She said it just needed a new battery. $50 later got my phone back. She had put stock AT&T rom on it but lo and behold, my sim card didn't work and my IMEI was null. I brought it back and she had it for a week and then said there was a hardware problem AND my USB port wasn't working and it would cost more to fix than it was worth, so she gave it back to me no charge. So I spent next months trying other roms. reading up on EFS folder, even learned some ADB stuff. To no avail. And BTW, my usb port seems to work fine. Finally this afternoon after Turkey Dinner, I stumbled across your forum message. And 15 minutes later I was downloading a repair and the son of a gun fixed everything. I verified it with a Sim card - perfect ! Apparently Samsung has a database of phone serial numbers and what IMEI code goes with them. Fanatastic! Thank you. I will be writing a serious neg review of that cell phone repair place soon.
kangerX said:
To my tests this work only when efs is completely empty while upgrade if not it doesn't work
sent from the state where Marijuana is NOT illegal !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried the method posted in the thread ..... but EFS didn't recovered ........ so i decided to follow your procedure
like making empty EFS folder.... so how can i do that ...and if so will it work .....as someone here mentioned that Download firmware package doesn't contains any EFS contains .... help me out :good:
DonkeyDuck said:
Hi All,
I thought I’d share this as I’ve been pulling my hair out with trying to find answers to this, and sending it to old Sammy was the next option.
After trying everything on every forum, trying the QPST method, trying to use someone else's efs folder (which changed the serial as well) and every other complicated as hell method everyone had suggested, nothing worked expect his which I’ve not found mentioned anywhere as a solution to this (or any other) problem
In the Samsung Kies application under "Tools" there is "Firmware Upgrade and Initialisation,"
With your device unplugged (it will say not available for this model if its plugged in, don't plug it in until it tells you to when in download mode) select this and run the what it tells you to do,
After this is finished you will have a completely fresh install of the latest officially released firmware (for your original build eg. carrier branded) with original serial number and imei number :laugh:
It’s really silly how simple this is yet has not been mentioned or attempted by anyone else, or if it has, not mentioned by anyone else.
I crap you not…
Thanks,
[edit:] just as a note, I got into this problem by not backing up the efs, the world would be a much nicer place if everyone just backed up their efs :laugh:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i love u so much right now,.. worked like a charm,.. and after thjat i was able to unlock my phone,... thanks so much i would love to give u 10000 thanks
I cant get past entering my model number,, I read it right from under the battery and it still keeps telling me to enter the model number. G550T1 doesnt change from G550T1 no matter how many times you type it... I give up.. If I could just get a twrp backup for mine I may be able to fix it. It's metropcs! flashing to the T-Mobile twrp backup by mistake thinking it was the metropcs one is what got me in this situation... Should have paid better attention...
UPDATE: It took my numbers and I'm trying it now, wish me luck
Well I got it to take my model number and did the whole software thing. Everything is all back to stock but it didnt fix the problem.. Still no net work and says theres no sim card.
Which shop samsung
Which shop samsung or repair shop bro.
Please tell.?????? me I am facing too problem.
stwischu said:
WOW! This worked! I had been struggling for 3 months with my Note 2. Been flashing rom after rom and got stuck in boot cycle. Actually broke down and brought phone to a cell repair shop. She said it just needed a new battery. $50 later got my phone back. She had put stock AT&T rom on it but lo and behold, my sim card didn't work and my IMEI was null. I brought it back and she had it for a week and then said there was a hardware problem AND my USB port wasn't working and it would cost more to fix than it was worth, so she gave it back to me no charge. So I spent next months trying other roms. reading up on EFS folder, even learned some ADB stuff. To no avail. And BTW, my usb port seems to work fine. Finally this afternoon after Turkey Dinner, I stumbled across your forum message. And 15 minutes later I was downloading a repair and the son of a gun fixed everything. I verified it with a Sim card - perfect ! Apparently Samsung has a database of phone serial numbers and what IMEI code goes with them. Fanatastic! Thank you. I will be writing a serious neg review of that cell phone repair place soon.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hey guys thanks for any help. here is my problem.
i got an s3 i9300T to fix for sister in law. she apparently went in to telstra and got told that if it was her fault she would have ot pay for the repairs and she needed a phone while its away so she just payed of the contract. not sure what she exactly wants except for her data back.
upon taking a quick look it had a familiar screen. the computer triangle phone screen. im like sweet easy fix with an odin flash.
i installed a 4.0.4 version of telstra software(will look what one later) and it magically booted im like sweet. then encounter the sim lock. had to wait a day for the information so i left it over night on charge. (she wanted her contacts as well apparently but at the time i didn't know what she wanted really and i didnt just think to take out the sim.) ended up asking what she exeactly was wanting and phone was looking fine. tryed to update through kies and apparetly wasnt not able to be done on that android version. i left it another day and noticed that it was stuck on that boot logo/splash screen. i noticed i can still get in to recovery and download so i tryed to reflash same software. unsuccessful half way i tryed to use a 4.1.2 version that would not get pasts a tz** (replace starts with letters i cant remember atm) i suggested to just keep in on wanrrenty as odin hasnt counted anything yet. but they seam more for data recovery. should i try something iive tryed again or not tryed. or just try flashing recovery and trying to get the data off that way?
as i cant access stock recovery atm and its back to the computer triangle?
i know i dragged on sorry hope i explained correctly.
sorry fail to understand the post and your problem.
If its SDS you cannot recover data but you can fix with a new motherboard .
as far as i can tell i cant get the device too boot or accept new firmware, and it looks to be the sds problem but im not sure.. i think ill try and install a custom recovery and see if i cant mount it and get the data back.
Ok, first of all, I take full responsibility and made some really stupid mistakes. I consider myself an experienced Android user and have been flashing ROMs and radios since the OG Droid.
I am, however, new to Samsung/Touchwiz, and made an error I'm trying to determine if I can repair.
I have not flashed any custom ROMs on the Note 2, but I was unlocked/rooted with CASUAL. I was having some issues with my proximity sensor and my capacitive button lights, and decided to ODIN back to stock. Here is where I screwed up, I think. Instead of flashing like normal, I think I want a completely clean slate, and I checked Nand Erase. I know, please don't bash me, the brick sitting on the table is punishment enough. I was thinking of erasing backups, as in Nandroid (Nand) backups.
Well, everything flashed as normal and the phone bootlooped. No biggie, booted into Recovery, and it gave the warning it couldn't mount the /data partition. I did a factory reset from stock recovery, and everything seemed fine. The phone booted correctly, but it wouldn't activate on Verizon. It finally allowed me to skip set up, and I found the dreaded "Unknown" IMEI.
No, I didn't have a back up of the IMEI. I began reading and studying on ways to fix this, and it seemed simple enough, but I couldn't get QPST to recognize my phone so I could repair the IMEI. The computer could see it on COM5, but QPST kept saying No Phone.
I tried a few other methods, including EFS Professional and NV Item Reader/Writer. But everything said it couldn't communicate with the phone. I made sure I had it in the correct mode in the Phone Util hidden menu, checked USB cables, ports, and drivers a hundred times, with no joy.
Then on a whim, I checked my /efs folder with ES File Explorer, and the contents are empty. Not sure how I erased all the contents, but now I'm pretty sure I'm screwed.
I wanted you to know my steps, before I started asking questions.
1. If I can get another working Note 2, is it possible to use a copy of that phone's /efs folder on mine? If I can get QPST to work, I could then use it to inject the correct IMEI back into the folder.
2. Is there anyway anyone here could upload their /efs folder so I can try it?
3. Any suggestions on QPST and getting it to recognize my phone?
4. Am I just completely hardbricked and out of luck?
Thank you.
I know there are other similar threads, and I have searched...a lot. I'm just trying to figure out if I'm missing anything.
Also, I've found some IMEI repair services online that will fix a missing or corrupt IMEI for about $25 plus shipping. Does anyone know of a reputable repair service for this issue? I'm getting somewhat desperate to get this fixed. I'd be willing to pay someone here to fix it as well if you have the know-how and equipment.
Thank you.
Hi,
There are success stories on this issue in xda...would suggest you to read xda articles on this issue.
Thanks,
Nikhil Dhand
[email protected]
Hope your problem is solved
Thanks,
Nikhil Dhand
Email/chat: [email protected]