[Q] Bought an S4 on eBay, can't update. Why? - Verizon Samsung Galaxy S 4

I recently bought an S4 on eBay, and the phone activated and is working perfectly fine minus one thing: it won't update. The update downloads and starts to install, but about ten seconds into the install the "falling Android" logo appears, indicating that something went wrong. Upon reboot it tells me the software update was unsuccessful.
I don't know if the phone is currently or was previously rooted. Could this have something to do with the failed update? If so, how would I go about getting the phone back to stock? I have previous experience with rooting Android devices, but never anything in the Galaxy family. Also, because this is my girlfriend's phone, it doesn't need to be rooted, only upgraded.
If it has nothing to do with it being rooted, what's the problem here, and how do I fix it?

Sportsmaniac13 said:
I recently bought an S4 on eBay, and the phone activated and is working perfectly fine minus one thing: it won't update. The update downloads and starts to install, but about ten seconds into the install the "falling Android" logo appears, indicating that something went wrong. Upon reboot it tells me the software update was unsuccessful.
I don't know if the phone is currently or was previously rooted. Could this have something to do with the failed update? If so, how would I go about getting the phone back to stock? I have previous experience with rooting Android devices, but never anything in the Galaxy family. Also, because this is my girlfriend's phone, it doesn't need to be rooted, only upgraded.
If it has nothing to do with it being rooted, what's the problem here, and how do I fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you know how to get into download mode, get there and tell me what it says in the upper right hand corner.
If it's been rooted and has a high flash count it might prevent the upgrade.
If there is a custom recovery installed it would prevent it as well. You can check on that by turning the phone off then holding power and volume up until it says REBOOTING RECOVERY in blue letters at the top. Once it boots into recovery see if it's the stock recovery or a custom one.

Skipjacks said:
If you know how to get into download mode, get there and tell me what it says in the upper right hand corner.
If it's been rooted and has a high flash count it might prevent the upgrade.
If there is a custom recovery installed it would prevent it as well. You can check on that by turning the phone off then holding power and volume up until it says REBOOTING RECOVERY in blue letters at the top. Once it boots into recovery see if it's the stock recovery or a custom one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not quite certain what you're referring to when you say "download mode". Do you mean just starting the download of the update?
As for the recovery, it looks stock to me. It's titled "Android system recovery <3e>".

Sportsmaniac13 said:
I'm not quite certain what you're referring to when you say "download mode". Do you mean just starting the download of the update?
As for the recovery, it looks stock to me. It's titled "Android system recovery <3e>".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Power off again, hold power and volume DOWN this time until it says ENTERING DOWNLOAD (or something like that).
In the upper left corner there will be a bunch of tiny writing.

Skipjacks said:
Power off again, hold power and volume DOWN this time until it says ENTERING DOWNLOAD (or something like that).
In the upper left corner there will be a bunch of tiny writing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, after doing that the top-left says this:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SCH-I545
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
CSB-OEM_CONFIG_LSB: 0x30
WRITE PROTECTION: Enable
Also, I just emailed the guy I bought the phone from, and he informed that that it was indeed rooted, but he flashed it back to stock before selling the phone. He suggested to wipe the cache, but after trying that in recovery the error logo came up again.

Sportsmaniac13 said:
Okay, after doing that the top-left says this:
ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME: SCH-I545
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Official
CSB-OEM_CONFIG_LSB: 0x30
WRITE PROTECTION: Enable
Also, I just emailed the guy I bought the phone from, and he informed that that it was indeed rooted, but he flashed it back to stock before selling the phone. He suggested to wipe the cache, but after trying that in recovery the error logo came up again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have the Verizon version of the S4. This is a forum for the international version.
Version may have tweaked the software update to require you to do something else. I think you are best off asking this question in the Verizon S4 forum.
It's not that I don't want to help you, but without knowledge of what Verizon might have done I'm just shooting in the dark. The users on the Verizon forum might have an immediate answer for you as this might be a common problem with a simple fix for all I know.
Here's the link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-verizon/help

Skipjacks said:
You have the Verizon version of the S4. This is a forum for the international version.
Version may have tweaked the software update to require you to do something else. I think you are best off asking this question in the Verizon S4 forum.
It's not that I don't want to help you, but without knowledge of what Verizon might have done I'm just shooting in the dark. The users on the Verizon forum might have an immediate answer for you as this might be a common problem with a simple fix for all I know.
Here's the link...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-verizon/help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay. Thanks for the help anyways, I appreciate it.

Sportsmaniac13 said:
Okay. Thanks for the help anyways, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, you've been moved to the Verizon forum.
The OTA failing quickly as you describe usually means that one of the files that the OTA is trying to update has been modified.
What you should do is figure out what build your phone is running (Settings, More, About phone, then look at "Build number").
That will tell you what you need to flash to restore the phone to stock, hopefully with a no-wipe image.

Thanks for all your help guys. I finally solved the issue, so I figured I'd post how I did it in case anyone else runs into something similar.
I actually updated the phone through Verizon Software Upgrade Assistant. I'm assuming that through doing this I flashed the phone back to stock. Once this was over, the phone notified me of another update, and this time everything went smoothly. The phone is now completely stock and completely up-to-date.
So if anyone has a similar problem, give Verizon Software Upgrade Assistant a shot.

Related

[Q] Help rooted for wrong ota

Hi all,
Im new to the forum and did some searching but cant find the info i need. I tried rooting my verizon note 2 to casuals one click and didnt realize i had updated to android 4.3 prior. So it tried to root 4.1.2. Now my phone has the yellow triangle and says "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again." I tried kies and kies 3 and neither one recognizes my phone.The only way to shut the phone off is to pull the battery.When i reinstall the battery i have a brief window to volume down+home+power and it takes me to odin. I saw this problem in the forums for roms but couldnt find anything on rooting.Please tell me i can fix this and go back to stock, and i didnt lock my phone up for good.I know im an idiot and i didnt back up anything. Ive learned my lesson and will do more research before attempting this again.I also realized there is no root for 4.3 yet. My phone was stock before i tried all this. Its the verizon sch-1605.Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
gilitin99 said:
Hi all,
Im new to the forum and did some searching but cant find the info i need. I tried rooting my verizon note 2 to casuals one click and didnt realize i had updated to android 4.3 prior. So it tried to root 4.1.2. Now my phone has the yellow triangle and says "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again." I tried kies and kies 3 and neither one recognizes my phone.The only way to shut the phone off is to pull the battery.When i reinstall the battery i have a brief window to volume down+home+power and it takes me to odin. I saw this problem in the forums for roms but couldnt find anything on rooting.Please tell me i can fix this and go back to stock, and i didnt lock my phone up for good.I know im an idiot and i didnt back up anything. Ive learned my lesson and will do more research before attempting this again.I also realized there is no root for 4.3 yet. My phone was stock before i tried all this. Its the verizon sch-1605.Any help is much appreciated. Thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Couple of things:
- if you've received the 4.3 update, your bootloader is locked and (currently) un-touchable. Don't try to flash, well, anything.
- if you've received the 4.3 update, you've also received Samsung's odius KNOX technology. If you do try to flash anything most things (especially recoveries), you'll trip the KNOX counter and invalidate your warranty (I believe it also means you can't use your phone in enterprise setups that use KNOX)
The good news is that you can restore your phone to working order! You'll need to install the Verizon Software Upgrade Assistant. XDA member scoobysnack posted a link to download the software, though you can also get it from any functioning Verizon Samsung smartphone that's plugged into a computer.
After you've installed the software, turn your phone on and plug it into the computer. Run the software and select the tab on the left column titled 'Repair'. Click on the repair button near the right side and sit back & wait. The software will download the 4.3 OTA and install it. Like ODIN, it is imperative that you not unplug your phone during this process.
If you have trouble getting the software to recognize your phone, it may help to put it into download mode. I had to go through this myself (I foolishly forgot about the bootloader issue and tried to flash a recovery. Sigh).
You can achieve root for 4.3, but there are some serious concerns about Kingo, the software the provides root. XDA doesn't allow links to them due to unanswered questions about privacy concerns due to unusual traffic capture going between the software and (apparently) servers in China
thanks so much. ill try it in the morning when i get off work.
Also when i was in odin and plugged my phone in, the software on the pc didnt recognize my phone either. Is that something i should worry about. I guess the box was supposed to turn green but never did.Many thanks
ok so i got home today and tried downloading verizon software update from the link you gave and it wont open the program. Ive tried on 2 different computers. so i called verizon tech to see if they have it cause i can only find it on the website described eariler, and they said they dont have it. Its only in your phone. Well i cant access my phone to get it and im stumped. They said to go into a verizon store and they should be able to fix it. What are my options? I dont have any data on the phone i need to save so can i just go back to a previous version or wipe it out? Or do i have to do a custom rom? Thanks in advance.
gilitin99 said:
ok so i got home today and tried downloading verizon software update from the link you gave and it wont open the program. Ive tried on 2 different computers. so i called verizon tech to see if they have it cause i can only find it on the website described eariler, and they said they dont have it. Its only in your phone. Well i cant access my phone to get it and im stumped. They said to go into a verizon store and they should be able to fix it. What are my options? I dont have any data on the phone i need to save so can i just go back to a previous version or wipe it out? Or do i have to do a custom rom? Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you go into ODIN mode (turn off your phone, power on using POWER+HOME+VOL-DOWN), do you a line that reads 'KNOX WARRANTY VOID'? It would be in the upper left corner under 'SYSTEM STATUS'.
I ask because if you don't have that line, you didn't upgrade to 4.3 and your bootloader is NOT locked. You should be able to flash to 4.1.2 from ODIN and go from there (CASUAL to unlock & root, et cetera).
If you do have that line, then your only option is the VZW Software assistant. I'm uploading it now and I'll send you a link via PM. Please keep in mind that if you use the VZW Software assistant, whether your bootloader is currently locked or not, it most definitely will be locked after using it. If you're already locked, no harm done, but I'd make sure first.

[Q] Galaxy S3 i9300 stuck at odin mode, not going to recovery mode either

Hey, so I was trying to flash my friend's s3, and apparently, I did something wrong which got me stuck up at odin mode.
Initially, I could hold the vol up + home + power button to go to recovery, but now, even that won't work as it would just show me
Samsung's logo and a red exclamation mark on top left corner.
I've downloaded the firmware stock and tried to flash it using odin however it just won't work.
It says "NAND Write Start!!!" and it just stops there (stuck forever). It should (as I know it) show a progress bar on my android and
on it's interface to tell how much it has been done, but as soon as I start, the progress bar instantly fills up (on my android, the blue line)
and its just stuck there.
I've tried to take out the battery, clear cache/reset factory, take out sd and sim. But it simply won't work.
It's just stuck on "Downloading....do not turn of target!!!"
I cannot even get the flash counter to reset (I don't know how, since I can only open up odin mode)
counter: 4
binary: yes
Currently, I don't even know if it's suppose to be charging or the battery is just draining out.
Region for this phone is Turkey.
Yes I've also unrooted the phone using KingoRoot (previously, when it could go into recovery) but no luck.
Note: I have searched other threads on this forum but I cannot get anywhere around even close to fix my device.
It's soft-bricked (I assume, of course it is).
Any idea how to fix this?
Odin Screenshot (since it's my first post, it won't allow me to post outside links, sigh,):
http: // i.imgur .com/eBVZ3NN . png
^^ Just been stuck there....
Meanwhile on my android, it just shows a full-blue progress bar. And that downloading do not turn of target.
UPDATE:
THE PROBLEM HAS BEEN RESOLVED. I DOWNLOADED A CUSTOM FIRMWARE, (LUCKILY, CLOCKWORK MOD WORKED, JUST HAD TO WAIT AFTER GOING TO RECOVER)
FLASHED IT THROUGH THERE, WAITED FOR IT TO INSTALL, RESTART. BAM.
Did the 'something wrong' include flashing a firmware for another model?
What does the model number in download mode read?
You can try the rescue firmware, search general forum,.
Yeah, wrong firmware I suppose
boomboomer said:
Did the 'something wrong' include flashing a firmware for another model?
What does the model number in download mode read?
You can try the rescue firmware, search general forum,.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was seeing this tutorial on how to install KitKat (4.4.4) on Galaxy S3. I must've made a mistake while trying to do so.
In other words, yes, flashing a firmware for another model.
You have a hard brick, sorry.
Yeah, no.
boomboomer said:
You have a hard brick, sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I don't lol. The problem has been solved anyway.
Im' glad to see you didn't give up on this, and came back to let us know what was wrong
I know this could be seen as off-topic, but the reality of devices becoming bricked isn't really possible luckily, it just takes longer to get around sometimes. If the item is worth fixing, then I always say keep at it, because I've never had an android device stay stuck so far. The only thing that really went nuts and refused to work, were 2 of the Iconia A500 tablets that lost access to their memory - but this is a common hardware fault as the RAM chips break away and need reflowing before you can even format the internal memory (it cant even see the SD cards either because the RAM comes and goes - same idea as plugging/unplugging a USB drive in Windows/Linux - it just doesn't know what to believe lol).
Great forum by the way, there's so much great information on here I get lost reading

[Q] Galaxy Note 2

Hello all,
A friend of mine has a galaxy note 2 from AT&T. I'm not clear as to what exactly he did but he says he had it unlocked and had custom firmware on his phone and the phone did an update on its own and locked up, but by looking up on the Internet all signs point to a soft brick. The phone only turns on and displays firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again. My dumb as volunteered to help him as I thought how hard could this be? Anyway Kies failed to help. Secondly I followed the instructions on here as far as downloading Odin, downloaded stock firmware, downloaded Samsung drivers. I plug it in a all appears good in Odin. Mp5 file checks OK and once it starts running there is even a progress bar on the phone showing its downloading but once it gets to the end it fails every time. The screen on the phone displays
Odin Mode
Product name sgh-I317
Current Binary Samsung official
Current status: custom
Knox warranty void: 1
RP SWREV: A3
SW REV: invalid magic string
Any help would be appreciate I've almost had it with attempting to help. He apparently didn't know what he was doing now I obviously don't know what I'm doing.
Thatguycurt said:
Hello all,
A friend of mine has a galaxy note 2 from AT&T. I'm not clear as to what exactly he did but he says he had it unlocked and had custom firmware on his phone and the phone did an update on its own and locked up, but by looking up on the Internet all signs point to a soft brick. The phone only turns on and displays firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again. My dumb as volunteered to help him as I thought how hard could this be? Anyway Kies failed to help. Secondly I followed the instructions on here as far as downloading Odin, downloaded stock firmware, downloaded Samsung drivers. I plug it in a all appears good in Odin. Mp5 file checks OK and once it starts running there is even a progress bar on the phone showing its downloading but once it gets to the end it fails every time. The screen on the phone displays
Odin Mode
Product name sgh-I317
Current Binary Samsung official
Current status: custom
Knox warranty void: 1
RP SWREV: A3
SW REV: invalid magic string
Any help would be appreciate I've almost had it with attempting to help. He apparently didn't know what he was doing now I obviously don't know what I'm doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you are trying to install a version of the firmware that is older than the one that was on there. What is the build version that you are trying? What step is it failing at in Odin? I'd recommend getting the newest version of 4.4.2 to avoid the risk of trying to downgrade.
Odin fails right at the end. I see a green progress bar on the phone as well as on my pc screen. I'm at work right now so I'm not too sure as to exactly what or where it fails. What firmware do you recommend I attempt to place on it? Thanks for your reply also, I appreciate it.
Thatguycurt said:
Odin fails right at the end. I see a green progress bar on the phone as well as on my pc screen. I'm at work right now so I'm not too sure as to exactly what or where it fails. What firmware do you recommend I attempt to place on it? Thanks for your reply also, I appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal.../rom-att-i317-ucucne5-mj4-stock-odex-t2802189
es0tericcha0s said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/gal.../rom-att-i317-ucucne5-mj4-stock-odex-t2802189
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which one do I pick?
Ok...update....
After using Odin to put this firmware on AT&T UCUCNE5 i317 Stock ODIN Note 2 the phone actually rebooted when finished and seemed like everything was normal. However it shows Samsung Keyboard has unfortunately stopped working every ten to fifteen seconds and will not stop. I tried clearing data and cache of the Samsung keyboard app and that did not work. I tried factory and data reset of the phone as well as wipe partition cache and none of that worked. Any suggestions?? I couldn't do anything so I
managed to use a Bluetooth keyboard to go to play store and download new keyboard app but I'm using my google account for that and I personally don't want him having my account on his phone.
I apologize for all the troubles, I'm trying to help him out and didn't realize I was in over my head with no experience on this.
Thatguycurt said:
Ok...update....
After using Odin to put this firmware on AT&T UCUCNE5 i317 Stock ODIN Note 2 the phone actually rebooted when finished and seemed like everything was normal. However it shows Samsung Keyboard has unfortunately stopped working every ten to fifteen seconds and will not stop. I tried clearing data and cache of the Samsung keyboard app and that did not work. I tried factory and data reset of the phone as well as wipe partition cache and none of that worked. Any suggestions?? I couldn't do anything so I
managed to use a Bluetooth keyboard to go to play store and download new keyboard app but I'm using my google account for that and I personally don't want him having my account on his phone.
I apologize for all the troubles, I'm trying to help him out and didn't realize I was in over my head with no experience on this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You'll need to install a custom recovery, use that to wipe the system partition and data reset again then immediately reboot to Download Mode and reinstall the NE5 update.
You sir have been very helpful and I can't thank you enough. I was clueless coming into this thinking I could help my friend effortlessly but that was not the case. I've never had the intentions of rooting a phone or placing a custom mod on one but honestly now I'd like to try it lol!! With your help and this website I was able to fix his phone. I can't thank you guys enough. You're awesome!!!

Bricked i545 - "Device memory damaged"

This is my first post to a forum, so please bear with me...
So a few days ago, a friend of mine got a Verizon Samsung Galaxy S4 from someone, for free. He got it for free because the screen's glass is cracked a bit, and the phone is bricked; the previous owner didn't know what to do with it. I decided I would try to fix it, because if I do, I might be able to buy it off him and give it to my little sister, who currently has a dying iPhone 5C.
When I turn on the phone, it boots, showing the samsung logo, showing the red Verizon screen, and playing the boot tune. Then, just when you'd expect it to go to the OS, it shows a screen which at the top reads "Device memory damaged". Below that, it says "The data partition has been corrupted. You need to reset your phone to factory defaults. This will erase all your data." And below that is a button, which says "RESET PHONE". Tapping on it does nothing.
I have worked with android phones before (rooting, ROMs, locked bootloaders, bricked phones; even all these things on a Galaxy Gear smartwatch), and I know what the data partition is. I remembered that the recovery on samsung phones have an option to wipe the data partition. So I tried to access the recovery menu by holding Power, Home, and Vol+ when the phone is off. It doesn't work either . It shows the Andy robot laying on its back with a door open on its belly, with a warning icon popping out. So the recovery is dead...
I thought I could try to fix the recovery by flashing it with Odin :fingers-crossed:; Didn't work. It is blocked because the phone can't verify version . Then, after a little more research, I realized I might be able to fix the recovery by flashing a whole stock ROM. I don't know what firmware the phone is running, because I can't ask the previous owner. So I tried a few KitKat ones, and they were all rejected by the phone. Then I booted the phone back up, and I realized the RESET PHONE button acted like it was part of a Lollipop UI (There is a darker circle that extends from the part of the button where you tap). So I went back into download mode and tried to flash the 2 OTA versions of Lollipop (OC1 and OF1). The error this time was "SW REV. CHECK FAIL : fused : 8 , Binary : 6". This may or may not be the error I got before with the KitKat ROMs. I don't remember, and I'm not at my desktop to try the old ROMs.
After looking up this error, I found no exact results, but there were ones with a similar error. People said that it means a ROM is being flashed that is too old to pass the downgrade prevention system. I've been trying to flash what seems to be the latest firmware revision for this phone (OF1). Any ideas? Are the OSs I'm trying to flash somehow too new for the phone (even though I've tried all of the stock Lollipop ROMs. Should I give the phone back to my friend and tell him it's dead?
Thanks in advance!
I can't post images because I haven't posted here (or on any forum, for that matter) before.
Well, it seems really bad but you can try Samsung Smart Switch or Verizon Wireless Software Upgrade Assistant to repair the phone, else way JTag it's another option
Fuse 8 is OF1
Matthew M. said:
Fuse 8 is OF1
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the info. I tried flashing that version. Didn't work. I ended up taking my own broken S4 I had laying around, which had a smashed screen but a supposedly good Mainboard, and transferred the mainboard to my friend's bricked S4. Now it boots fully, and I made use of my old phone that was laying around.
BTW, do you know where or how you found out which version Fuse 8 represented? I'd like to learn more about this kind of stuff.
you probably needed to flash a lowship odin tar and repartition
Legitsu said:
you probably needed to flash a lowship odin tar and repartition
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, what do you mean by "lowship"? I did use a PIT file to repartition, which didn't work, possibly because the OS being flashed with it wasn't being accepted...
evanzolman said:
Sorry, what do you mean by "lowship"? I did use a PIT file to repartition, which didn't work, possibly because the OS being flashed with it wasn't being accepted...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
a normal odin tar will not fix a bad partition regardless of the .pit you need a tar that s a _user_Low_ship todo a full format odin was failing because the partitions where screwed and you weren't using the correct image
go to sammobile.com they have all the s4 all variants roms.
evanzolman said:
Thanks for the info. I tried flashing that version. Didn't work. I ended up taking my own broken S4 I had laying around, which had a smashed screen but a supposedly good Mainboard, and transferred the mainboard to my friend's bricked S4. Now it boots fully, and I made use of my old phone that was laying around.
BTW, do you know where or how you found out which version Fuse 8 represented? I'd like to learn more about this kind of stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am not aware of a definitive guide on the fuses. I found it by trial and error
Envoyé de mon SM-G903F en utilisant Tapatalk

Haaaalp! Another victim of the OTA update screwing my phone after debloat...possible to recover some files via recovery or download mode?

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

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