9100t yellow triangle - Galaxy S II Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hey folks, just a minor problem on my device and hoping someone would help. I have the i9100t and installed the i9100t Israel jb rom. Installed speedmod kernal no issues but when I reboot the device it keeps coming up with a yellow triangle every time it starts up so I download triangle away but says "could not locate magic loader" not supported or something. Is there another program or something to get rid of this triangle cause it's kinda annoying, cheers.

It's really not safe to mess with the bootloader. You'll see this triangle during boot only, and for your own safety, don't touch this. (If any given app breaks your bootloader, you CANNOT recover this device. Download mode won't work. Here's a big, red warning in the first post about this.)

Dragoon Aethis said:
It's really not safe to mess with the bootloader. You'll see this triangle during boot only, and for your own safety, don't touch this. (If any given app breaks your bootloader, you CANNOT recover this device. Download mode won't work. Here's a big, red warning in the first post about this.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay thanks for the precaution. But I didn't mess with the bootloader, I just flashed speedrom kernel then the triangle appeared. I can live with it cause I only see it when the phone boots up but would be nice if I could get rid of it. Triangle away doesn't work cause I use the i9100t rom so was just wondering if there was an alternative.

The I9100T rom shouldn't be a reason for TA not working, there's nothing special in the rom that would prevent it from working; apart from very slight difference in power output of radio, the I9100 & I9100T are exactly the same phone, and the only difference firmware-wise (slight) is the modems (I had a I9100T on Voda for 2 yrs).
Have you asked in the TA thread on here ? (Search for it). Also, a few other ways you might be able to attack this, and bear in mind there is risk of turning your phone into a paperweight involved here (And frankly, for the sake of a warning triangle at boot, why risk it ? I mean, who honestly sits there staring at their phone as it boots ?):-
*You should be able to find the 'old' bootloader if you search for it, if you flash it, you'll be able to reset the flash counter & get rid of the triangle with a jig. However, this may render your current rom unbootable (bootloop), which you'd need to fix by flashing the 'new' bootloader (again, easily found by searching) and flashing a bootloader is the most risky flash you can do.
Not so much because the actual flashing of the bootloader is risky as such, there's no more risk so far as the flash itself is concerned. It's just that if the flash goes bad (which is a very small risk with every single flash), you won't be recovering it. It's not like flashing a wrong kernel that ends up in a bootloop which you fix by flashing the right kernel or a stock rom & you live happily ever after.
It will be a service centre or bin job.
*Maybe try flashing the 3 part stock rom linked to in Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in General (this will wipe your phone), then flash a JB a stock rom for your carrier & try TA again ? May not make any difference, but if it means that much to you...
Again, given the hassles to do this, you seriously need to ask yourself is it worth it just to get rid of something you see for two seconds when the phone boots & is purely cosmetic. And also bear in mind using TA is not without risk, though 'complications' arising from its use are rather rare, they're not completely unheard of. My take on using TA has always been (across several devices) 'Try it once, if it works smoothly first time all good, if there's any drama whatsoever, don't risk it a second time, etc'.

MistahBungle said:
The I9100T rom shouldn't be a reason for TA not working, there's nothing special in the rom that would prevent it from working; apart from very slight difference in power output of radio, the I9100 & I9100T are exactly the same phone, and the only difference firmware-wise (slight) is the modems (I had a I9100T on Voda for 2 yrs).
Have you asked in the TA thread on here ? (Search for it). Also, a few other ways you might be able to attack this, and bear in mind there is risk of turning your phone into a paperweight involved here (And frankly, for the sake of a warning triangle at boot, why risk it ? I mean, who honestly sits there staring at their phone as it boots ?):-
*You should be able to find the 'old' bootloader if you search for it, if you flash it, you'll be able to reset the flash counter & get rid of the triangle with a jig. However, this may render your current rom unbootable (bootloop), which you'd need to fix by flashing the 'new' bootloader (again, easily found by searching) and flashing a bootloader is the most risky flash you can do.
Not so much because the actual flashing of the bootloader is risky as such, there's no more risk so far as the flash itself is concerned. It's just that if the flash goes bad (which is a very small risk with every single flash), you won't be recovering it. It's not like flashing a wrong kernel that ends up in a bootloop which you fix by flashing the right kernel or a stock rom & you live happily ever after.
It will be a service centre or bin job.
*Maybe try flashing the 3 part stock rom linked to in Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in General (this will wipe your phone), then flash a JB a stock rom for your carrier & try TA again ? May not make any difference, but if it means that much to you...
Again, given the hassles to do this, you seriously need to ask yourself is it worth it just to get rid of something you see for two seconds when the phone boots & is purely cosmetic. And also bear in mind using TA is not without risk, though 'complications' arising from its use are rather rare, they're not completely unheard of. My take on using TA has always been (across several devices) 'Try it once, if it works smoothly first time all good, if there's any drama whatsoever, don't risk it a second time, etc'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's very odd, mine was originally either Telstra or voda so it shouldn't make a difference. It's probably the updated firmware which isn't supported as yet by triangle away. Probably isn't worth the hassle by downgrading the firmware or downgrading the bootloader, which poses a minor risk of hard bricking.It's only for a second each boot and it isn't really too bothersome.

Related

Hardbrick S3

Hello
I am totally new to android, i just bought my s3 couple of days ago.
There are still some questions where i cant find the answers.
I just rooted my phone, odin, cwm, super SU no problem, i did a nandroid backup just in case. Backed up some apps with titanium backup.
I thought about backing up my efs. But i cant find the option in cwm.
Now i read something about bricking. And apparently there are soft and hardbricks. So softbricks are the bricks, which wouldnt let you start android but let you access the recovery mode right ?? And hard bricks are the bricks where the phone doesnt respond to anything.
I want to know what causes which brick. Is it true that the s3 has a separate partition only for the download mode, which makes it really hard to hardbrick since you cant mess with this partition? And why do some people still encounter hardbricks, when for example the flash custom roms ?
Shadowspsp said:
Hello
I am totally new to android, i just bought my s3 couple of days ago.
There are still some questions where i cant find the answers.
I just rooted my phone, odin, cwm, super SU no problem, i did a nandroid backup just in case. Backed up some apps with titanium backup.
I thought about backing up my efs.
But i cant find the option in cwm.
>>>>
Nitrality app on the market many custom roms do an auto backup of EFS .
Now i read something about bricking. And apparently there are soft and hardbricks. So softbricks are the bricks, which wouldnt let you start android but let you access the recovery mode right ?? And hard bricks are the bricks where the phone doesnt respond to anything.
I want to know what causes which brick. Is it true that the s3 has a separate partition only for the download mode, which makes it really hard to hardbrick since you cant mess with this partition? And why do some people still encounter hardbricks, when for example the flash custom roms ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Softbrick generally firmware or files conflict but more usual is not following the instructions . Mostly recoverable by recovery mode or download mode .
Hardbrick no recovery and no download mode often a NAND problem
Cause is mostly users totally ignoring the instructions and flashing the wrong firmware for the phone or messing with PIT files .
Custom rom it should be almost impossible to hard brick a phone by flashing one
However it becomes more common as more and more users want an instant fix and refuse to read the instructions and its beyond them to read the custom rom thread for known faults fixes etc .
jje
Shadowspsp said:
Hello
I am totally new to android, i just bought my s3 couple of days ago.
There are still some questions where i cant find the answers.
I just rooted my phone, odin, cwm, super SU no problem, i did a nandroid backup just in case. Backed up some apps with titanium backup.
I thought about backing up my efs. But i cant find the option in cwm.
Now i read something about bricking. And apparently there are soft and hardbricks. So softbricks are the bricks, which wouldnt let you start android but let you access the recovery mode right ?? And hard bricks are the bricks where the phone doesnt respond to anything.
I want to know what causes which brick. Is it true that the s3 has a separate partition only for the download mode, which makes it really hard to hardbrick since you cant mess with this partition? And why do some people still encounter hardbricks, when for example the flash custom roms ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I mess around with my android phones a lot but never had a soft or hard brick. My old nexus one had a soft brick after repartitioning the internal memory. The only hard brick I heard of with the S3 was someone who flashed a wrong firmware on his us/canadian version of the S3 (flashed rom which was intended for the international version). Others than that you need to really try hard to hard-brick your phone I guess
Shadowspsp said:
Hello
I am totally new to android, i just bought my s3 couple of days ago.
There are still some questions where i cant find the answers.
I just rooted my phone, odin, cwm, super SU no problem, i did a nandroid backup just in case. Backed up some apps with titanium backup.
I thought about backing up my efs. But i cant find the option in cwm.
Now i read something about bricking. And apparently there are soft and hardbricks. So softbricks are the bricks, which wouldnt let you start android but let you access the recovery mode right ?? And hard bricks are the bricks where the phone doesnt respond to anything.
I want to know what causes which brick. Is it true that the s3 has a separate partition only for the download mode, which makes it really hard to hardbrick since you cant mess with this partition? And why do some people still encounter hardbricks, when for example the flash custom roms ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Install Rom Toolbox from Google Play to backup you EFS folder, it will make 2 files (1 .img and 1 .tar file). Store both files on to your pc for safekeeping.
JJEgan said:
Softbrick generally firmware or files conflict but more usual is not following the instructions . Mostly recoverable by recovery mode or download mode .
Hardbrick no recovery and no download mode often a NAND problem
Cause is mostly users totally ignoring the instructions and flashing the wrong firmware for the phone or messing with PIT files .
Custom rom it should be almost impossible to hard brick a phone by flashing one
However it becomes more common as more and more users want an instant fix and refuse to read the instructions and its beyond them to read the custom rom thread for known faults fixes etc .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks !
There is one thing i still dont really get, you said some users flash a wrong rom for their phone can cause a hardbrick.
This root method simply installs ClockworkMod Recovery to the recovery partition and installs Superuser zip file, very safe to do. *With Galaxy S2, recovery partition was part of the kernel and was a bit dangerous but with Galaxy S3, Samsung has made recovery parition separate from the kernel, making it much safer just like how Galaxy Nexus works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So why does flashing a wrong rom cause a hardbrick, does installing a custom rom changes files in this separate partition? If the recovery partition is untouched, doesnt it mean you can always access recovery mode even if you flashed some junk onto your phone?
Shadowspsp said:
Thanks !
There is one thing i still dont really get, you said some users flash a wrong rom for their phone can cause a hardbrick.
So why does flashing a wrong rom cause a hardbrick, does installing a custom rom changes files in this separate partition? If the recovery partition is untouched, doesnt it mean you can always access recovery mode even if you flashed some junk onto your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, if people flash the wrong PIT file it messes up the partitions on the phone and they are no longer accessible. That is called a hard brick. Can only be fixed in a service center. In post 4 is info about backup of the EFS folder.
Shadowspsp said:
Thanks !
There is one thing i still dont really get, you said some users flash a wrong rom for their phone can cause a hardbrick.
So why does flashing a wrong rom cause a hardbrick, does installing a custom rom changes files in this separate partition? If the recovery partition is untouched, doesnt it mean you can always access recovery mode even if you flashed some junk onto your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wrong rom its usually flashing non SGS3 firmware or flashing SGS3 firmware on USA version.
Taking firmware from another forum and flashing it in error .
As said very very hard to hard brick this phone .
jje
Shadowspsp said:
I want to know what causes which brick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only real type of brick is hardbrick. the expression soft brick was invented for situations where you cannot access recovery but are able to restore access to recovery with download mode, or some sort of trick.
If something goes wrong, you can end up with either type of brick. There is no way to predict what will happen if you give the phone a reason to brick, really. In general the main causes for bricking are:
1) Flashing stuff that is not right for your exact phone model
A mistake that has been made by a number of USA SGS3 users, who wanted a ROM made for the international model. Unfortunately the result was usually; Bricked, as in hard brick. To prevent this is is smart to familiarize yourself with the manufacturer version number (in our case GT-i9300 or GT-i9300T) with all phones you ever want to flash anything on, and check if the code corresponds.
It's the same **** in every model range. Flash something for another version and you're in trouble.
2) Corrupted downloads
Sometimes http file transfer doesn't get the files you want to flash across error-free. Usually, this will only give weird errors, for instance a bootloop. Sometimes you may end up with softbrick. If you have a really bad day; Brick. To prevent this it is very important to look for the MD5 checksum of each file, and check if the file is still exactly the same at your end. There is a free app in the market that allows you to do this while booted in android, so you can easily check it right after any download is finished.
3) Powerloss while flashing
Again, usually you can revert to working order with download mode. Still it is very risky. To minimise the chance for this to happen, make sure you only start flashing with your battery at least about half full, and have the battery installed complete with cover, etc. Some people use 30% as the limit. It depends a bit on the size of the ROM you want to backup and/or flash. Backing up and flashing one of those nice 700MB samsung roms might eat into your battery quite a bit.
There may be more reasons but these are afaik the 3 main ones. All easily preventable.
Flashing ROMs for years and found it safe to do so.
Until last week...
there is another hardbrick which I actually experienced on my second device, a Galaxy S2:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1756242
http://www.xda-developers.com/android/hard-brick-bug-on-galaxy-s-ii-and-note-leaked-ics-kernels/
Unsafe kernels/libraries on newer ICS-Roms are obviously able to destroy the system partitions, including the bootmanager, so a hardwarechange is necessary to revive the phone.
Until now, no information available, if our S3 is immune against this one. Several other devices are affected!

Reverting to Stock Issue Inquiry

Hi am obviously new to these forums but not new to Android/Samsung development so I had custom roms installed on my I777 so I needed to revert back to stock in which I flashed a leak which apparently changed the pit so I was able to download all the stock files for Odin3 for my device in the Download Repository. My question is there any reason why my device just doesn't act as accurately as I though I remembered it being when it was stock. Is there any ultimately right process for flashing because most instructions including my own are all different, some say wipe cache and data first and battery pull then download mode Creepys says its not neccessary until after the flash as does ZedoMax. I've followed all of them and haven't understood why there is no ultimately right process if there is one at all using odin3 and one-click. And if this is the case what could possibly be going on with the force closes and hangups I'm getting? If someone is willing to take the time to help me with all these questions I'd greatly appreciate it.
Dunno if it'll help, but it won't hurt..
Boot into recovery and"fix permissions". *Should* help with the FC's - oh, and delete everything from your memory that you read on galaxys2root (zedomax). Whatever you've read from creepy, COMMIT to memory. The guy is ace!
Clay
Team Pirate
Sent from my PINK SGH-I777
clay101eve said:
Dunno if it'll help, but it won't hurt..
Boot into recovery and"fix permissions". *Should* help with the FC's - oh, and delete everything from your memory that you read on galaxys2root (zedomax). Whatever you've read from creepy, COMMIT to memory. The guy is ace!
Clay
Team Pirate
Sent from my PINK SGH-I777
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't see the option for fix permissions first of all is that a cwm option? Also I know creepy is one of the best but what's wrong with gs2root? And I appreciate the help but which process is the ultimate right way? Do you flash pit,PDA,modem all together or is that incorrect?
GalaxyHackster85 said:
I don't see the option for fix permissions first of all is that a cwm option? Also I know creepy is one of the best but what's wrong with gs2root? And I appreciate the help but which process is the ultimate right way? Do you flash pit,PDA,modem all together or is that incorrect?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't remember for sure, but I don't think fix permissions in available in stock 3e recovery. It should be available in just about any custom recovery.
GalaxyS2Root, and it's owner who goes by the screen name zedomax, is a strictly commercial endeavour, designed to make money but not necessarily designed to help people. I think zedomax is a developer, but I'm not sure how good he is. Many of the offerings on that web site, and presumably on his dozens of other web sites for other phones, cause problems for folks, bricking phones, and other things. Further, he takes the work of developers here and posts their work on his sites without giving any attribution or remuneration. He's spread way too thin keeping up with all his various sites, and/or he just doesn't seem to care if his offerings cause problems. We've had so many people come to this forum with various problems due to GalaxyS2Root that when the name is mentioned, everyone is on it right away.
I would only use the pit to repartition on the I777 when everything else fails. It can be a help, but you should be sure that you are going to have a successful flash before you use it, since it repartitions the memory space of the phone.
Most firmware for the I777 has everything in one .tar file, which you put into the PDA slot. If you are flashing just a param.lfs or just a sbl.bin, then that goes into the PDA slot. You can also flash a modem at the same time as the rest of the firmware, using the Modem slot, but most firmware packages have the modem in them too.
So essentially the oneclicks are absolutely the only thing I need in order to ensure a 100% successful restocking? And if so am I always suppose to factory wipe/cache then battery pull (3e recovery doesn't have a power off option)? The reason why I ask so many questions is A. A lot of peoples data isn't accurate as you've stated and its better for me to have as much data as possible when potentially getting into these things. And B. I've been flashing my S2 like a madman with OCD because as soon as I'd get a force close or any sort of hiccup happened I assumed it was because I flashed it wrong when in fact I was just following some of the directions that I've aqquired from here or GS2Root and so far everything has flashed with the same results but as its been forever since my phone was purchased so I can recall if these are just the normal hiccups that come with the inconsistancy of android. So to me I'm just trying to.make sure that I'm doing things absolutely correct.
There is lots of material here to read. You can learn a lot about your phone by spending some time reading.
creepyncrawly said:
There is lots of material here to read. You can learn a lot about your phone by spending some time reading.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you are absolutely correct and I have your guide bookmarked but with so many people having different takes on how to return to stock can you point me in a direction that's the completely right way of flashing your pit and attempt software. Or is your guide with one click the most surefire way to do it? Like I said before I'm a bit OCD when it comes to my phone so whenever I get a little hiccup I can't tell if those are just normal for I777 software or is it something I've done wrong which I probably haven't but it still worries me.
If you havn't done something absolutely ignorant, i.e. flash firmware for a different phone, then you should just use my guide with the linked one-click downloader. That package does not contain bootloaders or param.lfs. Those (the bootloaders and param) will always be good, and not needing replaced, if you only flash firmware from these forums and never flash leaked firmware (which usually contains bootloaders.) There should never, ever be a reason to use a pit file. As I said before, the phone has to be pretty seriously screwed before you need to repartition, and then it should be the absolutely last thing you try.
And inform yourself before you do any actual flashing. You should know exactly what you are doing to your phone, and also know what the remedy is before you do it. That way, you can avoid doing something stupid. If you really want to learn about your phone, read at least a little bit from the forums here every day for a few months, get involved in the discussions, and before you know it, you'll be one of the helpers.
Thank you so much for all of your prompt replies, I have been using the data from this site for quite some years now but never ran into any issues which required me to create an account (although I have wanted to), but for s**ts and giggles let me just say that due to the few hiccups I encountered and not knowing what would have caused them I have already flashed the pit and repartitioned as well as flashed the oneclick w/ bootloaders and param. Now asside from the few force closes that I ran into and the one time I bricked it and brought it back to fully functional is there any harm to the flashing of those tools that I've already done so far. Is there any negative side effects of what I've done that I may not be seeing or is it a case of well "there in the repository so theyre safe as long as I've flashed them correctly". And if so are these few force closes just everyday hiccups that every version of Android experiences and that I'm just overthinking it and it's just been a case of my ocd kicking me in the ass?
The danger in using those files is in the flashing. If a flash is inadvertantly interrupted or goes bad, then it can hard brick the phone. Once the flash is complete and successful, then you're fine. There are no side effects.
Force closes, and other anomalies can be caused by conflicting data is the system and data partitions. They can also be the result of bugs in the firmware distribution or in any of the various applications. To eliminate the first cause, following all the best proceedures when flashing such as wiping first, etc eliminates the possibility that the fc's are caused by improper proceedure.
With proper installation proceedure, and with a stable firmware, and with robust applications, you should experience little to no fc's.
creepyncrawly said:
The danger in using those files is in the flashing. If a flash is inadvertantly interrupted or goes bad, then it can hard brick the phone. Once the flash is complete and successful, then you're fine. There are no side effects.
Force closes, and other anomalies can be caused by conflicting data is the system and data partitions. They can also be the result of bugs in the firmware distribution or in any of the various applications. To eliminate the first cause, following all the best proceedures when flashing such as wiping first, etc eliminates the possibility that the fc's are caused by improper proceedure.
With proper installation proceedure, and with a stable firmware, and with robust applications, you should experience little to no fc's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i did zedo then s2 unlock then aokp then siyah kernal change forgot to do triangle away then tryed a ota update messed up rom cwm messed up then i just did zedo again to get cwm again then i did aokp again then ran triangle away then i return to stock backup after root then odin flash for stock non root then i took stock and did ota update to 2.3.6 i dont think we will ever get 2.3.7 because google wallet is on 2.3.7 and we cant have it correctly .....on reboot it hangs so i did 3e wipe and cache delete reboot all has been good since batt has been outragously long on uckk7 but after ota update it shows as uckk6 i used a non rooted file maybe u used a rooted return to stock file ?anyway file i used was I777UCKH7-CL503881-No-BL as stated just used pda slot .....idk after all the custom roms theres a distinct feeling in knowing your stock again but have the ability to go and do it all over again i honestly just miss the torch feature and the easy brightness slider on the pulldown
im getting h+ but it doesnt seem like true h+ speed and i also lose h+ while holding the phone im waiting for this to change with tmobile and thier 1900mhz i hope it does or ill be looking into whats going on with the modem maybe
colorsharpkid said:
i did zedo then s2 unlock then aokp then siyah kernal change forgot to do triangle away then tryed a ota update messed up rom cwm messed up then i just did zedo again to get cwm again then i did aokp again then ran triangle away then i return to stock backup after root then odin flash for stock non root then i took stock and did ota update to 2.3.6 i dont think we will ever get 2.3.7 because google wallet is on 2.3.7 and we cant have it correctly .....on reboot it hangs so i did 3e wipe and cache delete reboot all has been good since batt has been outragously long on uckk7 but after ota update it shows as uckk6 i used a non rooted file maybe u used a rooted return to stock file ?anyway file i used was I777UCKH7-CL503881-No-BL as stated just used pda slot .....idk after all the custom roms theres a distinct feeling in knowing your stock again but have the ability to go and do it all over again i honestly just miss the torch feature and the easy brightness slider on the pulldown
im getting h+ but it doesnt seem like true h+ speed and i also lose h+ while holding the phone im waiting for this to change with tmobile and thier 1900mhz i hope it does or ill be looking into whats going on with the modem maybe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, I have no idea what you just said, or what you're asking.
qwertyaas said:
Honestly, I have no idea what you just said, or what you're asking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me either, sometimes punctuation goes a long way
Sent from team Pirate! Using Tapatalk 2
colorsharpkid said:
i flashed zedo then used s2 unlock. then i flashed aokp and siyah kernel. I forgot to do triangle away (because I used zedo) and then tried an ota update. This messed up my rom because I couldn't access cwm. then i flashed zedo again to get cwm back. After that i flashed aokp again and ran triangle away.
I then did a return to stock backup after root and an odin flash for stock non root. While on stock i did an ota update to 2.3.6. (some nonsense about 2.3.7 and Google wallet)
.....on reboot it hangs so i did 3e recovery wipe and wiped cache. Reboot has been good since. My batt has been outragously long on uckk7!! But, after an ota update it shows as uckk6 i used a non rooted file, maybe I should have used a rooted return to stock file?
Anyway, the file i used was I777UCKH7-CL503881-No-BL as stated and i just used pda slot .....idk, after all the custom roms theres a distinct feeling in knowing your stock again but have the ability to go and flash custom ROMs all over again. i honestly just miss the torch feature and the easy brightness slider on the pulldown.
im getting h+ but it doesnt seem like true h+ speed and i also lose h+ while holding the phone. im waiting for this to change with tmobile and thier 1900mhz i hope it does or ill be looking into whats going on with the modem maybe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fixed... I think. And "zedo" refers to the sh;t zedomax has on gs2root.
Clay
Team Pirate
Sent from my Buttery Pink SGH-i777
Ok thats where I'm a bit concerned because I ran into an issue before where I was going to do a flash and it choked up on me (mind you it was a pit and tar flash repartition) and it bricked on me but I was able to reflash the same process again once the pc was ok again. I also had on flash that was the 2.3.5 leak but flashed over that and it was fine. Now with that said the phone flashed well, and now it runs generally like it should have in the first place. But my question is did that fluke flash do anything negative to the device behind the scenes that will never be ok again?
creepyncrawly said:
The danger in using those files is in the flashing. If a flash is inadvertantly interrupted or goes bad, then it can hard brick the phone. Once the flash is complete and successful, then you're fine. There are no side effects.
Force closes, and other anomalies can be caused by conflicting data is the system and data partitions. They can also be the result of bugs in the firmware distribution or in any of the various applications. To eliminate the first cause, following all the best proceedures when flashing such as wiping first, etc eliminates the possibility that the fc's are caused by improper proceedure.
With proper installation proceedure, and with a stable firmware, and with robust applications, you should experience little to no fc's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thats where I'm a bit concerned because I ran into an issue before where I was going to do a flash and it choked up on me (mind you it was a pit and tar flash repartition) and it bricked on me but I was able to reflash the same process again once the pc was ok again. I also had on flash that was the 2.3.5 leak but flashed over that and it was fine. Now with that said the phone flashed well, and now it runs generally like it should have in the first place. But my question is did that fluke flash do anything negative to the device behind the scenes that will never be ok again?
Sorry for double post but I wanted to make sure my questions are targeting creepy seeing as this thread is getting a bit off topic.
GalaxyHackster85 said:
Ok thats where I'm a bit concerned because I ran into an issue before where I was going to do a flash and it choked up on me (mind you it was a pit and tar flash repartition) and it bricked on me but I was able to reflash the same process again once the pc was ok again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, that would be fine. Someone with dev experience could look into partition sizes on the phone, and see what actually happened. As long as the firmware is functioning correctly, then I would assume the partition sizes are correct.
I also had on flash that was the 2.3.5 leak but flashed over that and it was fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess you didn't get a crippled bootloader. That was the main problem with some of the leaks.
Now with that said the phone flashed well, and now it runs generally like it should have in the first place. But my question is did that fluke flash do anything negative to the device behind the scenes that will never be ok again?
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Click to collapse
I don't know how to look behind the scenes... but I would think your phone is fine.
creepyncrawly said:
As far as I know, that would be fine. Someone with dev experience could look into partition sizes on the phone, and see what actually happened. As long as the firmware is functioning correctly, then I would assume the partition sizes are correct.
I guess you didn't get a crippled bootloader. That was the main problem with some of the leaks.
I don't know how to look behind the scenes... but I would think your phone is fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK great info and definitely a relief but just out.of curiousity what are the repercussions of a bad bootloader flash or an improper pit flash? And how would we know that whatever pit or bootloaders flashed weren't for our phone or are corrupted data?
creepyncrawly said:
As far as I know, that would be fine. Someone with dev experience could look into partition sizes on the phone, and see what actually happened. As long as the firmware is functioning correctly, then I would assume the partition sizes are correct.
I guess you didn't get a crippled bootloader. That was the main problem with some of the leaks.
I don't know how to look behind the scenes... but I would think your phone is fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And trust me I absolutely appreciate all the responses the answer to my last question is all I needed to know to truly understand how the i777 works and functions and I commend you for that. I felt that trying to find all these answers would have been trying to find a needle in a haystack.
Also regarding the repartioning I just wanted to make sure that everything is correct in terms of space. My device is showing only 1.89gb of "Device Memory" at the bout of the "Storage" screen is this normal I though it was higher before but I cant quite remember.

Scared to flash ROMs to my S3 now

Hi all,
I have had my S3 since July '12 and in true Android style rooted it and started flashing ROM's left right and centre. Eventually I stuck on Omega, mainly because I got bored of continually flashing a ROM, installing my fave apps, restoring backups from Titanium, setting up my settings etc...
Christmas eve came and, having some time off work, I decided to start flashing some new ROM's...
Jump forward a few hours.... Tried CM10... liked it but wanted more of the Google/stock bits and pieces back so went to flash another ROM off XDA.
All of a sudden the phone goes off. Phone hard bricked. Wouldn't turn on, wouldn't charge... I shat myself.
I got a little brave and RMA'd to Samsung hoping that if its hard bricked they'll just swap the system board or whatever, and thankfully, a few weeks later and I have my phone back. Yay me!
First thing phone does when I connect to my home Wifi, OTA. Only a small update, and wasn't really paying attention as I was still setting up the phone.
Left it stock for a week and then decided I needed root. Rooted phone using the Samsung S3 all in on toolkit v7 from the XDA boards. All well.
So now I'm a little gun shy of flashing my phone, especially after reading a note in Christiano Matos' ROM thread for crDroid v11 about flashing various Bootloaders; and admittedly not properly understanding it as it seems a little Google-translate jumbled up.
Also http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/samsung-galaxy-s3-sudden-death-security-flaw-fixed-in-uk-50010094/ makes me a little nervous...
Is the 'hard brick' a hardware fault (and as such I wouldn't link it to any software or ROM I installed and something I'd hope my replacement phone wouldn't suffer twice) or a software issue that can be exploited (in which case which update is it that fixes it and do all decent ROM's include this update)?
And finally, what ROM do people suggest? I want to get rid of the Samsung bloat and have a nice speedy UI with plenty of battery life.
(ignore the FoxHound banner in my sig!!)
Post from crDroid thread:
Quote:
- SAMSUNG APPARENTLY SUDDEN DEATH PREVENT: AS YOU GUYS KNOW SOME S3 I9300 IS SUFFERING WITH A WEIRD BUG THAT SIMPLY ENDS IN SUDDEN DEATH .
USE WITH LAST STOCK, PERSEUS, BOEFFLA OR YANK55.LU KERNELS AND PHILZ RECOVERY.
THIS LATEST FIRMWARE XXELLA COMES WITH NEW BOOTLOADER APPARENTLY THAT FIX THIS BUG. THE BAD NEWS IS: THIS BOOTLOADER CAN ONLY BE INSTALLED THROUGH ODIN PACKAGE. BUT WE DON'T WANT THIS, RIGHT?
FLASHING THIS BOOTLOADER BECOME UNABLE TO GET BACK TO THE OLD ONE. BINARY COUNTER CAN'T BE RESETED (STAY ALWAYS WITH 1 COUNT).
HERE IS A LINK WITH BOOTLOADER FILES. ONLY FLASH IT WITH ODIN PC AND PUT IN PDA FIELD.
If you're scared then just don't do it.
I highly doubt your brick had anything to do with flashing ROMs, just Samsung ****ing up on the hardware front again.
You don't really need to flash any new bootloaders etc. because if it breaks like it did before,you know what's going to happen - Samsung will fix your phone, and that's it.
If you don't like the stock Samsung firmware, try CM10.1. Read about bugs etc. before you start crying about things not working though, because it still isn't, and most probably never will be 100% stable.
bortak said:
If you're scared then just don't do it.
I highly doubt your brick had anything to do with flashing ROMs, just Samsung ****ing up on the hardware front again.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly what I thought, until I hardbricked my cousins S2 on the weekend. Never ever thought it could happen. Seems like Samsung is releasing firmware/kernels on the S2 that can hardbrick a phone whenever any sort of wipe is performed in cwm recovery.
Sticky from the S2 forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=36947154
Anyway, this is the last thing I wanted to hear. Fingers crossed it was just a one off and not actually related to flashing.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
well, basically if you don't touch BOOTLOADER staff , it should be highly unlikely to brick devices , except in the case they released problematic firmware as once i bricked my Nexus S with problematic bootloader released by Google... damn it ...
only thing concerns me about S3 is SDS , but i have installed patched recovery and kernel i think i can breath a little easier now ... but still don't like taking ticking bomb around my pocket... it really sucks...
Seems like Samsung is releasing firmware/kernels on the S2 that can hardbrick a phone whenever any sort of wipe is performed in cwm recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are referring to the brickbug in _leaked_ firmware builds. All official releases by Samsung are not affected.
Also the bug is not only triggered by CWM but by every major operation when a kernel with the MMC_CAP_ERASE flag set.
but still don't like taking ticking bomb around my pocket... it really sucks...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Afaik the problem was related to a ****-up in the SSD's wear leveling - so if it is fixed it is fixed =)
Btw, just because it is _now_ impossible to reset the flash counter does not mean it will never be. Samsung does not use eFuse's so there is always a hidden switch that can be reset =)
For CM10 - I never expected the full functionality that Samsung's own firmware had, or at least not the polish and extra apps that are bundled but to be honest, I can live without SVoice, kies etc.
I have read the thread on SDS and have checked my phone with eMMC check (and also advised three others who I work with to check their S3's too), and I have also updated recovery (TWRP) to latest version so I should have some protection... shouldnt I?
I think I will stick with stock for now, see what comes in the future, and what Samsung release through OTA etc. (BTW phone was bought outright by me so is UK Unlocked, no branding).
Dear @OP.
Feel free to answer all your questions by yourself. I'd recommend you to stop being lazy, move your ass and read a few things, starting from here as it triggered your attention.
Furthermore, personally I would recommend you to read carefully this to avoid your threads being locked.
In relation to above, I'd like to recommend you visiting this section of XDA Froums, if you want to use something customized. If not, feel free to use this top secret trick to find Stock ROMS here on XDA....
Wow! Who knew! Consider me put in my place... [edit]
Now I will go and beat myself with a wet towel tied in a knot at the end.
If you want to flash the ELLA firmware then flash it but if you need to get bacck to an older bootloader to reset you counter with Triangle Away then flash the CWM Zip below in recovery.Its an oldr bootloader thats CWM flashable.Perfectly safe as Ive flashed it myself.The SDS problem will be in all i9300 models that have the emmc 0xf1 revision chip.You can check it with this app.Doesnt matter if it says you are safe or not as it wrongly checks for the error.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sIm5ldC52aW5hZ3JlLmFuZHJvaWQuZW1tY19jaGVjayJd
Flash an official firmware and then a custom kernel with the SDS patch fix.Im using yank555
cooza said:
If you want to flash the ELLA firmware then flash it but if you need to get bacck to an older bootloader to reset you counter with Triangle Away then flash the CWM Zip below in recovery.Its an oldr bootloader thats CWM flashable.Perfectly safe as Ive flashed it myself.The SDS problem will be in all i9300 models that have the emmc 0xf1 revision chip.You can check it with this app.Doesnt matter if it says you are safe or not as it wrongly checks for the error.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sIm5ldC52aW5hZ3JlLmFuZHJvaWQuZW1tY19jaGVjayJd
Flash an official firmware and then a custom kernel with the SDS patch fix.Im using yank555
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for that Cooza; one thing there I didn't know; you can flash a 3rd party kernel to a stock firmware.
cooza said:
If you want to flash the ELLA firmware then flash it but if you need to get bacck to an older bootloader to reset you counter with Triangle Away then flash the CWM Zip below in recovery.Its an oldr bootloader thats CWM flashable.Perfectly safe as Ive flashed it myself.The SDS problem will be in all i9300 models that have the emmc 0xf1 revision chip.You can check it with this app.Doesnt matter if it says you are safe or not as it wrongly checks for the error.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/...sIm5ldC52aW5hZ3JlLmFuZHJvaWQuZW1tY19jaGVjayJd
Flash an official firmware and then a custom kernel with the SDS patch fix.Im using yank555
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kind sir,you can reset the counter on the new bootloader as long as you are running stock kernel and stock recovery! last night i flashed trough modile odin the stock kernel and the stock recovery over philz recovery ,and after i used triangle away without any problems!
bottom line short,with the new bootloader you cannot reset the counter while you are runing custom kernel and/or custom recovery!

[Q] Flash error - no backup

Hello,
I was able to root my SGSII GT-I9100T using Clockworkmod. I then proceeded to flash Android KitKat but during that procedure, my phone displayed an error with the emmc (or something like that) and the installation was aborted. I can get onto the Recovery screen but I can't get any further, i.e. I can't get to my apps, messages etc.
I do not have a backup of prior to the error in the flash. The top of the screen I am able to see says: CWM-based Recovery v6.0.1.2-Siyah. I have wiped my data and cache with no luck. Everytime I reboot, it goes back to the same screen.
Also, I am with Vodafone Australia, and they do not appear to have a downloadable stock ROM.
I want to get my phone back to prior to rooting, obviously with the default settings (but this doesn't matter).
What should I do? Am I able to repair it?
Yes, you're able to repair it easily. If you don't have any backup, doing a wipe from recovery (which can sometimes fix this) isn't an option for you because obviously you'll lose data if you wipe. I'm also thinking perhaps you've flashed the wrong version of Siyah; you could always re-read (or read) the Siyah threads on here to make doubly sure you've flashed the correct build for your Android version (I don't remember which is which, been ages since I've used Siyah), and if it is a case of you having flashed the wrong build, flashing the right build might well solve your problem & give you a rooted phone. You could also find the PhilZ thread on here, read it, and flash that which should also help you to achieve that aim.
But...if you really want to go back to where you were before you started...
Download a stock rom for Voda AU from Samfirmware (Doesn't matter which one, up to you. You'll need to sign up in order to do so), and flash it following the instructions in the thread titled 'Flash Stock firmware/ROM...' stickied near the top of Q&A.
If you're unable to get a successful Odin flash/or it fails for whatever reason, find Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' guide stickied in the General section & try the stuff in that thread, which should enable you to get through any issues & get a successful Odin flash which will take your phone back to the state it was in before you attempted to root it.
Normally flashing a one part stock rom like this won't involve data loss, but there are never any water-tight guarantees.
Edit - For future reference, if you ever decide to mod your phone even slightly, always back everything up before you do anything. Don't be like the 95% of people on here who do this & then end up in the **** because they didn't back stuff up. The reality is, if you're going to mod, stuff goes wrong eventually for everyone (as you've just found out).
Thank you, I will attempt to flash a stock from that website.
Just to clarify, I first installed CWM (not the Siyah version), and that was working fine. I was able to boot and do whatever. I then proceeded to flash an Android KitKat ROM but this resulted in an error. I then flashed Siyah (which may have made it worse) because from what I read at the time, it could have fixed my problem. So it must have been from the ROM, whether it be my phone being not compatible with it etc., rather than the wrong version of Siyah (although, as I said before, it could have made it worse).
Yep, rom incompatibility. Siyah stopped being developed with ICS, so won't work with KK roms; kernels need to be compatible with the Android version of the rom in question.
Doing what you did is no drama usually, worst case result is normally what happened to you I.E bootloop which won't go away without going back to stock, unless you get a bad flash. It's actually a good learning experience, because now you'll know how to recover if you flash stuff in future
I managed to flash the stock version and thankfully, my phone is back to 'normal'. Luckily I always had intentions on resetting it to factory settings. Indeed it has been a good learning experience :good: Thanks for your help, MistahBungle.
No worries. Glad you got it sorted

Galaxy S2 softbricked... please help

No introductions here, just want to get straight to business... I don't mean to sound so impulsive but I've just been so annoyed by this and I just want a working phone again. I am running Stock Jelly Bean 4.1.2 on the carrier Vodafone (I have not rooted my phone). I have looked around the forums for answers but all of them don't seem to work for me.
This all started over a month ago when I was on Youtube and suddenly the touchscreen froze (the video was still playing) and the buttons were unresponsive. I pulled the battery out and put it back in after a few seconds. When I turned it back on it came to the 'Samsung' animation again and again (a boot loop).
Not knowing that the best option here want to go into recovery and do a factory reset, I went to recovery mode and wiped the cache partition. I rebooted the phone. But this time I was stuck on the 'Samsung Galaxy S2 GT-I9100' screen. I also found out that my recovery mode was not working. It would just have the android robot with a sphere in the middle for ages then it would reboot into the 'GT-I9100' screen. My download mode however, is still functional to this day.
As I've been told, as long as you have access to download mode, there is still hope for recovering your phone and putting it back to normal. So far I have tried:
Installing multiple stock JB ROM's such as the ROM's with LSW and MS2 on the end of the file. I have tried two versions of Odin (1.35 and 3.07) but with no results. The downloads of the ROM were no problem.The flash would be OK up until 'cache.img'. The flash would then freeze then proceed to say a big red 'FAIL'. Note that I have tried to do this on multiple computers while using different USB ports (mainport with no USB hub) for each flash. I have Kies installed but have killed all the processes and opened Odin as an administrator. I have used the original S2 cable that came with my phone and one other data cable, but still no results. I refuse to flash any PIT files because I don't like the risk associated with them. I have yet to flash these firmwares:
LSJ (JB leak), LSD, LSS, LS8, MS7
The drivers might be the problem so I might reinstall them but I don't know how...
Yesterday, I was told by a friend that he had the same problem before and all he did to simply fix this was to download the S2 Jeboo custom kernel (which has CMW with it). He also said rooting the phone would also fix it. I have attempted to flash said kernel with Odin 1.35 when it got stuck when the green bar was full. I pulled out the battery and the USB, put the battery back in and the USB (in a different port) and attempted to flash again. Nothing. I notice now that there is a yellow triangle below the 'GT-I9100' screen when I attempt to boot the phone and that my custom binary count has increased to 2. When I attempt to go into recovery mode the screen flashes twice and just stays in the 'GT-I9100' screen instead of the android robot from earlier.
That's it really. I hope someone can help me in this almost hopeless situation... I have typed about this before on another forum but I had no replies that would help me. I could go to a service centre but my warranty's gone and the yellow triangle might cause some problems. The information from xda-developers has always been solid and reliable... so can someone help me out
Same as everyone else in this situation - find Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in General, and go through the troubleshooting steps in a methodical manner until you get a successful stock flash, as this is the only way you're fixing it.
In your situation/given what you've already tried, I would be downloading the 3 part firmware (the 'leak' you referred to) linked to in the thread & flashing that first, which will wipe your phone & hopefully remove any remnants of what was previously on the phone which may be tripping you up.
This may not be successful first time, your flash may still barf as the one's you've tried so far have; in this case it's a matter of going through as many of the suggestions in the thread as many times as you need to until you meet success (including multiple PCs if necessary). When these are recoverable (and most are), they're often fixed by perseverance.
That thread is 'the bible' in these situations, and there isn't anything else which isn't in the thread that can be suggested in these situations, so you really do need to try absolutely every thing in that thread if you want your phone fixed.
MistahBungle said:
Same as everyone else in this situation - find Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in General, and go through the troubleshooting steps in a methodical manner until you get a successful stock flash, as this is the only way you're fixing it.
In your situation/given what you've already tried, I would be downloading the 3 part firmware (the 'leak' you referred to) linked to in the thread & flashing that first, which will wipe your phone & hopefully remove any remnants of what was previously on the phone which may be tripping you up.
This may not be successful first time, your flash may still barf as the one's you've tried so far have; in this case it's a matter of going through as many of the suggestions in the thread as many times as you need to until you meet success (including multiple PCs if necessary). When these are recoverable (and most are), they're often fixed by perseverance.
That thread is 'the bible' in these situations, and there isn't anything else which isn't in the thread that can be suggested in these situations, so you really do need to try absolutely every thing in that thread if you want your phone fixed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the quick reply, I will look into the guide in more detail and follow the instructions carefully. In regards to the flashing of the JB leak, will this fix the problem of being unable to access recovery mode? And is there any other firmwares you recommend flashing? I really don't want to wipe my phone, as I'm saving the flash of the JB leak as a last resort.
Given what you've already tried & the information you've provided, if I was in your situation I'd be starting with the leak. But that's up to you. If you don't want to do that, you'll need to go through everything in Hopper's thread methodically; eventually you'll get a successful stock flash (and you may end up having to flash the leak to fix it anyway).
Will the leak fix your problem ? Quite possibly, but possibly not. What it will do (if it works) is take you back to a stock setup, so you'll have access to stock recovery. You may end up with bootloop after the flash even though it's successful; in that case you boot into recovery & do a wipe/factory reset.
So far as what stock firmwares to flash, it doesn't matter; they're all essentially the same. The only important thing is you get a firmware on your phone/working. But if it was me in that situation, I'd be sticking with firmwares released by your carrier (flash one of these after the leak if you go down that path).
There isn't a lot else beyond what I've already told you & I can offer; we have that thread as 'the reference' in these situations, neither I nor anyone else here can offer you anything which isn't in that thread. It's the gold standard & covers this issue from every possible angle.

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