Posted so that people don't need to keep posting if they are bricked.
What is a brick?
A "brick" is a term used to identify when a device has failed and becomes about
as useful as a brick. Bricks also come in two forms, soft brick and hard brick. Which
Will be covered later on.
What causes a brick?
Many things can cause a brick. A bootloader flash
going wrong, ROM flashes failing, the eMMC bug,
hardware failing etc. But just because you're bricked,
doesn't mean you can't resurrect it.
Soft bricks
Soft bricks are the most common bricks of all,
they usually occur when a ROM/Kernel flash goes wrong
and results in an incomplete filesystem. When
this happens you cannot boot in to Android, instead
you will get either A) A bootloop or
B) Hanging at the Samsung splash screen.
Recovering from soft bricks
Recovery from soft bricks aren't usually a difficult task.
First you must find out if you can access recovery or download mode.
If you can, you can use either one of those tools to start the flash
again and hope it completes. If it fails again you can decide if there
is an issue with either the phone or your flashing method and
work with the community on resolving your issue.
Hard bricks
Hard bricks are horrible. They are the hardest to
overcome and are the most dangerous and are usually caused by:
A) A bad bootloader flash leading to corruption
B) The eMMC brickbug destroyed your chip leaving you with a dead
device.
If A) occurs, you would need to perform a JTAG resurrection
on it, you can either do this yourself or your phone can be taken
in to an independent repair shop to have them do it. They will
likely flash the bootloader again through the JTAG interface
and revive your phone.
If B) occurs then I'm sorry, but you're done for. The chip is damaged.
You may get lucky with the brickbug and only have your /data partition
corrupt, if this happens you can find custom PIT files (partition table)
to work around the corrupt sectors of the chip. You will lose
some storage space, but at least you get your phone back. The
other side of the brickbug is the phone no longer powers on at all,
in this case, you need a new phone/motherboard.
Avoiding the eMMC bug
Not all of the SII phones were affected by this bug,
but without downloading an app to check, there is no way
of telling so it is better to just play it safe by default.
The bug is caused due to a particular erase command
used in the ICS (4.0.x) kernels and recoveries. So it is,
in essence, best to avoid ANY ROM based on ICS.
In saying this, avoid Firefox OS until a safe kernel
is released for it.
There's no such thing a 'soft brick'. A bricked phone is one that doesn't boot. At all. And is not recoverable by normal means (I.E a JTAG or motherboard replacement/some other kind of hardware fix). If the phone bootloops & recovery or download mode are available, unless the NAND is stuffed, it ain't bricked.
MistahBungle said:
There's no such thing a 'soft brick'. A bricked phone is one that doesn't boot. At all. And is not recoverable by normal means (I.E a JTAG or motherboard replacement/some other kind of hardware fix). If the phone bootloops & recovery or download mode are available, unless the NAND is stuffed, it ain't bricked.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Soft brick = Recoverable without professional intervention.
Hard brick = Not recoverable. A paperweight.
Just do a search engine search on "soft bricks" .
http://www.techychat.com/2013/04/08/soft-brick-vs-hard-brick-vs-broken/
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2258628
http://tutorialfor-android.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/how-to-fix-soft-brick-on-android.html
http://androidfannetwork.com/2013/05/02/fix-your-soft-bricked-att-samsung-galaxy-s4/
Still no such thing?
Lol.....smartypants.........can you edit the bit about "you need a new phone".
You only need a new motherboard.....not the whole phone lol.
theunderling said:
Lol.....smartypants.........can you edit the bit about "you need a new phone".
You only need a new motherboard.....not the whole phone lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure I will do, however usually a new mobo costs roughly the same as a new device.
It depends how you go about it.You could theoretically sell your phone as unbootable on ebay,and use the money to buy a 2nd hand working phone,and end up paying a £20 difference.
Or you could be lucky and get a working motherboard for free off me lol.
Samsungs motherboards are a ripoff,and as time goes on they will become worthless....which serves everyone right involved with the distribution of them lol.
theunderling said:
It depends how you go about it.You could theoretically sell your phone as unbootable on ebay,and use the money to buy a 2nd hand working phone,and end up paying a £20 difference.
Or you could be lucky and get a working motherboard for free off me lol.
Samsungs motherboards are a ripoff,and as time goes on they will become worthless....which serves everyone right involved with the distribution of them lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah that's true. I've updated the OP nonetheless.
Related
I've got a very definite hard brick situation going on. A few weeks ago I was using my phone, browsing Tapatalk and downloading something with the Dropbox app, and the phone went completely unresponsive (screen on but frozen, no response to any touches), came back after a few seconds, then froze completely. I powered off and tried to reboot, it hung on the boot animation. Not a bootloop, just hanging there. I powered off again and booted into CWM and tried to restore from my backup. It threw a couple errors which unfortunately I don't remember much about, and honestly, I can't remember now if they came up before or after I started the restore. It started restoring, but got hung up restoring system. After waiting what seemed like forever but was probably more like 10 minutes I very hesitantly powered off and went back into recovery, this time attempting to reflash the rom I was using. More or less the same thing, it started but just hung up during the install. I powered off again, intending to put my phone into download mode and try to flash something via Odin, but the poor guy had had enough and wouldn't even power back on. I left it charging overnight, but it never came back on and I've since bought a new phone. However, if it seems to anyone that it would be worthwhile to try a jig or jtag service, I wouldn't mind keeping this phone as a spare. Truth is, I actually miss it.
I was running WanamLite 12.5, which is XWLPX, 4.0.4, with SpeedMod K3-32. I had tried out a couple of what were then pretty much new JB leaks just before the bricking, I know I tried out Omega and Disaster, but I only kept them on for a few hours each time. All of the kernels I've used since 4.0.4 have been considered "safe".
Anyway, again, based on what I've described does anyone think there's a chance of unbricking my phone without replacing the motherboard?
shockwaverider said:
I've got a very definite hard brick situation going on....
Anyway, again, based on what I've described does anyone think there's a chance of unbricking my phone without replacing the motherboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Firstly, there is no such thing as a "hard brick" for same reason there is no such thing as a "soft brick". There is just "bricked" and no in between, your device is either bricked or it isnt.
What n00bs call "soft bricked" is just when they cant figure out how to get system to boot. Your device is bricked when it wont power on or if it powers on you cant use download/recovery to flash working rom/kernel.
In your case it sounds like you have had a hardware failure and thus will need to get the part fixed/replaced or maybe whole board. To answer your question though, yes you should first try a USB jig to see if you can get device to wake up in download mode and then try again to flash kernel ready for restoring backup or flashing new rom. If this fails then you will need to get it fixed.
TheATHEiST said:
Firstly, there is no such thing as a "hard brick" for same reason there is no such thing as a "soft brick". There is just "bricked" and no in between, your device is either bricked or it isnt.
What n00bs call "soft bricked" is just when they cant figure out how to get system to boot. Your device is bricked when it wont power on or if it powers on you cant use download/recovery to flash working rom/kernel.
In your case it sounds like you have had a hardware failure and thus will need to get the part fixed/replaced or maybe whole board. To answer your question though, yes you should first try a USB jig to see if you can get device to wake up in download mode and then try again to flash kernel ready for restoring backup or flashing new rom. If this fails then you will need to get it fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yada yada yada I've heard some developers use "unbrick". Go tell 'em there's no such a thing.
And stop worrying about semantics.
Thanks for the replies. I understand that a so-called "soft brick" isn't really a brick per se, but when even articles in the XDA portal throw around the terms "soft" and "hard" bricks, I would say that the genie is out of the bottle and these terms have, for better or worse, entered the common parlance. I do, however, appreciate the input and quite possibly this is simply a hardware issue, although I will, when time allows, try to wake the phone up with a jig.
gastonw said:
yada yada yada I've heard some developers use "unbrick". Go tell 'em there's no such a thing.
And stop worrying about semantics.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
BS!
If thats the case link me one single post where any respected dev refers to a system boot issue as a "soft brick".
The only conceivable time they would refer to that is simply to try and help a n00b and it was quicker to refer to it in that way then to explain things.
You can only "unbrick" if your device is "bricked" and having a rom or kernel issue resulting in a system not booting is not "bricked", Its as simple as that.
Firstly, I want to make it clear that I cannot reset the flash counter due to the "emmc brick bug". My phone won't accept any flash via Odin etc at all (hangs at NAND write start). I've tried many times with different cables, computers, software versions.
So my phone is pretty much useless but I still have warranty. The point of this thread is really how could I maximize my chances of getting Samsung to do a replacement?
To the experts out there, what state would I have to put my phone in JUST ENOUGH so that it is impossible for the tech to see the flash counter (hence voiding warranty)?
Background story: I was using my phone one day (never rooted it) and it suddenly froze, I power off and power on and bam... bricked. So I tried to flash and fix it, however... did not turn out great. So I wasn't screwing around with any flashing just bad hardware, I hope this is a good enough reason for a replacement.
So essentially you want to defraud Samsung ? You voided your warranty the moment you increased the flash counter.
Hey guys
1) Restarted my phone today using CM10.1 from a very recent nightly (within the past week).
2) On restart, phone froze and got kernel panic.
3) Restarted into CWM and tried to do a restore to an earlier backup I had made.
4) Half-way through the restore, I got ANOTHER kernel panic (never had that before)...
5) Only things I could do with the phone after that was enter download mode...nothing else...couldn't enter recovery mode anymore.
6) Went into download mode and flashed this CWM-Recovery (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1118693) and followed the instructions to the letter.
7) Odin 3.07 hung on NAND Write Start
8) Tried using Odin 1.3, and it seemed to flash correctly. It says completed no errors.
Phone will now not even start and is completely unresponsive...pressing any combination of buttons will not start the phone, and the phone is not recognized in Odin anymore...did I just hard brick it? Any other ideas?
Thanks,
Elliott
Service centre. Although if you can have someone who does JTAG's have a look at it to determine whether it can be JTAG'd without you giving them any money up front (I.E you only pay them if it can be JTAG'd), try that first.
Thanks that's what I thought.
Also, try a jig if you can get one. In all likelihood won't work, but stranger things have happened & you have nothing to lose.
Yeah thanks that's what I plan on doing. Any idea what I did wrong, though? I don't want it to happen again if I get it working with a jig.
Impossible to say. Not sure why you flashed that nondescript kernel/recovery in that situation tho given it probably wouldn't have worked even if the flash had been successful (You would probably have ended up with bootloop given recovery was obviously 'broken'). I would have flashed stock with Odin (And that's certainly what I tell people in your situation on here to do because it normally works).
But flashing recovery rather than a stock rom probably didn't break your phone, put it that way, so you didn't do anything 'wrong' per se. Just remember if you get into a similar situation again, go back to stock via Odin & start again (re-root your phone/restore a backup, flash your custom rom/kernel again, etc).
If the jig works (and don't get your hopes up or anything, we're talking a 1 in 10,000 chance, and that's probably being generous), flash stock with Odin (you wont have much choice).
Well...brought it to a JTAG specialist today and he couldn't fix it either...says it's very rare and he's had 5 out of 80 S2's like this happen without being able to fix them...
Bummer. Motherboard replacement in that case. If the phone's under warranty, take it to a service centre & say as little as possible. You might blag it for a warranty fix. No warranty ? You can still have a new motherboard put in by a service centre (more expensive option usually), or you can source a 2nd hand MB from a 'donor' phone (one with a broken screen that's otherwise OK, etc) & either swap it in yourself or pay a local mobile repair shop to do it (usually cheaper option).
@ OP By following what you flashed I noticed the date, we're talking about a 2 years old thread, a lot have changed since.
Not sure that was what bricked your device but I get that panic mode.
The other thing that it comes to mind is nand corruption, which has been quite common these days with people running custom.
I'm with bungle there, the best recovery package is going back to stock and start fresh.
I, on the other hand, wouldn't accept the situation you are on, I would spend a whole week trying to get that phone to boot again, whether a second opinion on a jtag, a new jig, another battery or any other thread on here at xda.
If the device gets hot near the rear camera and it won't even charge nor get warm around that area dismiss what I just said and proceed with the mobo replacement bungle suggested.
And of course, if you did something else to your device and didn't share it please, come clean so others don't freak out by reading this.
Sent from...this is not even my S2
Hey
Nothing else was done to the device...just what I stated exactly.
I caved today and bought a BNIB S3 because I couldn't go without a phone anymore...
Thanks for the help, guys
Elliott
Hey guys been searching for hours and hours and I really need someone to tell me whether I should keep trying to just throw my phone in the can
Somehow my GT-i9100 locked up while running and app and when I took the battery out and restarted it was stuck on the Samsung Logo.
I accessed the recovery menu and wiped cache...didn't work and the phone wouldn't be recognized by the computer nor would it charge when plugged to the wall outlet.
I decided to flash a new stock rom *Previously had the latest version of official ICS on my S2" and I proceeded to select the format/wipe to factory option.
It stayed there then it turned of and now it's a complete total brick! wtf.
I've read quite a bit and it has all the symptoms of an eMMC failure.
Is there any way I can save my phone? Will a jig work to force it into download mode?
I'm supposing the pit file fix requires the phone to boot in recovery.
If you can help me out I'll really appreciate it.
Thanks.
If you have no download mode or recovery/the phone won't boot at all, a jig is highly unlikely to do anything - but try one anyway given they only cost a few bucks. You might get lucky.
Likewise a JTAG more than likely won't be possible, if you can have someone who does JTAG's take a look at it on the basis of no payment unless a JTAG can be done, again you may as well try it.
Most likely fix is motherboard replacement - new one by Samsung service centre (most expensive option) or 2nd hand one by you/a local mobile repair shop (less expensive option).
If your phone was rooted at the time you did a wipe & the stock rom you were running was 4.0.4, then yes, it's probably the brickbug. But if your phone wasn't rooted and not running 4.0.4, then it could have been a whole host of things that caused it to brick (I can't help but feeling there's a bunch of info missing here).
MistahBungle said:
If you have no download mode or recovery/the phone won't boot at all, a jig is highly unlikely to do anything - but try one anyway given they only cost a few bucks. You might get lucky.
Likewise a JTAG more than likely won't be possible, if you can have someone who does JTAG's take a look at it on the basis of no payment unless a JTAG can be done, again you may as well try it.
Most likely fix is motherboard replacement - new one by Samsung service centre (most expensive option) or 2nd hand one by you/a local mobile repair shop (less expensive option).
If your phone was rooted at the time you did a wipe & the stock rom you were running was 4.0.4, then yes, it's probably the brickbug. But if your phone wasn't rooted and not running 4.0.4, then it could have been a whole host of things that caused it to brick (I can't help but feeling there's a bunch of info missing here).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Phone was not rooted, I forget if the last official ICS upgrade for the phone was 4.0.4 it may well be, but I did the wipe from the stock recovery menu. I honestly didn't expect it to brick this way I wasn't even modding it. But I'll try to get someone who jtags I love this damn phone.
Only one confirmed case of brickbug happening to someone wiping from stock recovery, you are not another case.
Cross your fingers it's JTAG'able, will be relatively cheap (tho manage your expectations, far more unlikely that JTAG is possible than likely) compared to the alternatives.
I have softbricked my phone many times and have fixed it too but never understood the concept of hard brick.
Flashing incompatible roms causes soft brick , so what causes hard brick? What precautions should be taken to not hard brick a device?
Bricked Device It's the actual "Brick" unlike soft brick which is not really a brick
is when Android phone isn't operation in anyway, since now it isn't fixable in any way, it is as good as a brick. So in that condition, it is called a "Bricked Device".
Soft Brick
When phones gets into bootloop or boots but ends up at fastboot or recovery. In these kind of situations, phone is fixable.
Differences
1. Soft Brick
- you can still turn your phone on but it doesnt really start (bootloop i think is a kind of soft brick. )
- this kind of brick can be fixed through softwares like flashtool.
2. Hard Brick
- you can't turn your phone on and it doesnt really start, you don't get any response from it.
- only rif jtag can save you if you get this kind of brick
Causes of a Brick -Hard Brick-
When a device is hard bricked, memory that contains drivers for the boot sequence has been erased or corrupted. Thus, the device quite literally doesn't know how to boot. Data has been erased that can only be manipulated during hardware assembly.
a very basic way to think of it is that a hard brick occurs when the base coding of the parts gets overridden/erased/corrupted. For example, the coding that tells the phone to boot when the physical power button is pressed no longer exists, therefore you cannot boot your phone. To my understanding, JTAG uses the ports on the MB and a controller box to manually inject the code into the phone to allow it to power on and flash the necessary files in order to recover.
i just did a copy and paste and collected them all in one post as they are enough to clearify the point
{REF}
Credits to all of the following great XDA members
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=32816510&postcount=10
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=40863475&postcount=4
https://forum.xda-developers.com/android/general/hard-brick-soft-brick-terminology-t3598335
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=31590899&postcount=3