Hello,
I wrote the most essential parts in bold so that you'll know the parts to skip if you don't want the details.
I've been having this weird problem with my phone. I dropped my phone, the bottom left side of the screen cracked a little and as a result, the phone lost it's network connectivity. My first thought was that the sim card had dislodged but it was fine. Then I opened the case to check if any connectors were out of their place. As expected, the usb connector assembly's (or whatever it is called. basically the component that the usb port is attached to) connector was halfway up, so i placed it back and turned it on and it still didn't fix the problem.
Then trying to find out if I'll be able to see any clues, I went to the settings page and realised both the imei and the baseband is gone.
I searched and searched and most of the time my problem seems to be fixable through rooting and repairing the efs files. Though this solution applies to phones that had software problems, not a physical damage. I tried it anyway but all I got is a rooted android with no imei now.
So the question is, does anyone have any experience in a situation like this? Physical damage causing the imei to disappear? Or is there anything you'd like to suggest?
Thanks in advance
This is weird.This may sound implausible,but I think your efs somehow got corrupted in this accident.Restore an efs backup if you have one.It won't hurt.This will rule out any possible efs problems.
TheImpossibleEnemy said:
This is weird.This may sound implausible,but I think your efs somehow got corrupted in this accident.Restore an efs backup if you have one.It won't hurt.This will rule out any possible efs problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you for the reply, when i first upgraded my phone to 4.1.2, i should have created a backup by using adb just because i can. if I can locate the file maybe that could solve.
do you think there is any chance that I actually caused a permanent physical damage to the board or a component which could permanently reduce my phone to an expensive mp3 player?
sinabey said:
do you think there is any chance that I actually caused a permanent physical damage to the board or a component which could permanently reduce my phone to an expensive mp3 player?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen an instance of this in the 2.5 yrs I've been here, but it's definitely possible. Put it this way, seems like too much of a coincidence it would go away immediately after you drop it, assuming you hadn't modded it in any way shortly before you dropped it (flashed a rom/modem/kernel/whatever).
Only way you're going to rule this in/out for certain is to take it to a mobile repair shop for diagnosis.
Edit - What specific model are we talking about ?
As you said that usb flex connector got loose then maybe this connector or its socket on mainboard got damaged.
It's a mystery to me how did your imei/baseband etc disappeared.
As @MistahBungle suggested,if you can't fix it by yourself,go for professional diagnostics.
thanks for the replies.
the model is I9100 and the ssn is i9100GSMH.
yes it was not modded at all actually. and as it seems the backup files on my computer are 0 bytes. unless the .ab files are just headers pointing to the actual backup content then it means that the backup process went wrong and i did not notice at the time. though the header hypothesis is unlikely because it would at least be some bytes if not zero...
i was hoping that this was something that is known to happen with a solution, but i guess my only option right now it so take it to the service. which i was avoiding, because here it almost costs much as just buying a working second hand one. but at least i can get the diagnosis. i'll post the result up here after I have it looked, in case it happens to anyone else.
did you looked for backups in phone's internal and external sdcards too?
Related
Hi,
I wasn't doing anything special with the phone, but it was acting weird - didn't allow me to make calls, hang them up in the middle, and restarted the phone, until it didn't turn on again.
It's now completely black, connecting to charger doesn't do anything either.
I tried different batteries, didn't help.
update:
After putting the battery in and trying to turn it on, even though nothing is visible - the phone gets warmer after few minutes.
I'm pretty sure it's not the screen because I would've hear the opening sound and feel the vibration..
Please help!
Thank you
Nobody here can help you with a hardware issue, you should know that having been here for as long as you have. Service centre or local mobile repair shop for diagnosis.
I already saw posts here with the same problem and some suggestions to solutions from other users.
Thought somebody here might try to give an idea so I'll know better when I go to the repair center.
Does it boot in recovery (home+ volume up+power) then wipe data factory reset if it boots in download mode(home+vol down+power) the download stock tar and flash it via odin otherwise hardware issue
Sent from my C6502 using xda app-developers app
^^^^
'until it didn't turn on again. It's now completely black, connecting to charger doesn't do anything either'
Why won't people read OP/threads before sprouting nonsense on here.
OP - There's been one poster on here who seems to think this issue might be solvable by replacing the 'power IC' (whatever that is) on the motherboard, but the normal fix (if you want it fixed guaranteed) is to replace the motherboard. Reason being, if there's more than one component dead on the motherboard, you're going to pay twice - once for the individual component replacement which doesn't fix the problem, and again to replace the motherboard which will fix the problem.
Better to do it right first time.
Went to the service center
I gave it to the service center, they said it's a serious short circuit and they're probably going to have to "JTAG it".
I asked them if there is any way to save my information before they do that, they said no.
My question is to you - do you agree? Or can you think of a way to backup the phone before that?
Isn't there a way to read the memory using an external device and back it up?
I need a quick reply.
Thank you
Nope, if you don't have it backed up, no chance. Although, there's a very slim chance a company that specialises in recovery of data from dead hard drives might be able to. Expect this to be very expensive if it is at all possible.
Also, there's a fair chance a JTAG won't work as well, it's quite possible only a motherboard replacement will fix it. But you might be lucky.
Thank you for your quick reply
Another update
Hi,
There's another update - they now say they need to replace "power component".
Google search didn't find anything called "power component".
They also said that replacing that component will cause the data to be lose.
What do you think?
Thanks
Hello every-xdadeveloper-one~ here i would like to ask questions about my S2 GT-i9100g
My phone is dead. No download mode, recovery mode, usb connection, odin recognition, kies detection, charging, turning on, nada. Meaning in whatever it is, it is not responding to anything.
I would like to ask some professional help here in xda; what has happened to my phone? Is it the emmc? power supply failure? or anything related to it? i really need to know any related things that i'll be dealing with before going to the last step, service repair. it is working fine, i have rooted, unrooted, cyanogenmod and stock, cwm and stock, but none of this has given any problems until one day when it is charging, it suddenly turned off forever.
Please tell me any related things of what has happened.
note: i used a few PIT files when flashing before this, and i'm not sure which is which for the mobo. and few months back before the s2 is totally dead, it keeps on turning off by itself even when full battery, but still workable.
Probably the EMMC, but without having the phone in front of us with the tools to diagnose it, nobody here can tell you this for certain. Fix will be motherboard replacement (assuming you intend to keep this phone & not get a new one).
Take it to a Samsung service centre (more expensive option), or source a 2nd hand motherboard online & either swap the boards yourself, or pay a local mobile repair shop to do it (cheaper option).
Well i just bought a phone from amazon and got it monday it had half battery when i got it so i put it on the charger A hour later it was dead so dead that it wont even charge i tryed diffeent plugs different chargers still nothing what could it be ???
^^^
What model; I.E sticker on the phone chassis under the battery, what does it say ?
I guess it is :crying: Heard there is a workaround that maybe the balls beneath the emmc is like problematic? Maybe i need to reheat it a few seconds and cool it instantly to MAYBE get it able to turn back on? Changing a new board is not an option as important work flowcharts are in the internal storage. I guess service repair of the emmc is needed. Hmmm.
Is it possible that wrong PIT files be the culprit that made all this?
You won't be recovering any data regardless of how you proceed.
You can't 'repair' the EMMC, and it's not feasible to just replace the EMMC (and even if it was, your stuff is on there which means you lose it anyway), replacement of the board is how you proceed. Even if it was possible to replace just the EMMC, you'd probably end up paying 3-4 times the cost of having the entire board replaced due to the cost of labour (swapping a board takes 10 minutes).
If a PIT was the problem, the problem would have occurred immediately after the PIT flash I.E you would have flashed the PIT, and the phone wouldn't have booted immediately after. It's a simple case of component failure, which happens with all electronics all the time. I'm always surprised by how people on here seem to find this incredible. Stuff breaks, simple really.
The only possible very rough chance you have of recovering any data is a company who specialises in recovery of data from dead HDD's, they may be able to help, though very unlikely. If they are able to help, expect this to be very expensive. I have not seen a single post from anyone who has contacted one of these companies & been able to recover data from a phone in this state in the over 2 yrs I've been here.
Thank you for the info. Now i guess the only choice to do, is to repair(replace the mobo), or go buy a brand new s2(or higher models). I will check if there is any way to retrieve the data inside, and i dont mind the cost. :good:
My Amaze was connected via USB to my Ubuntu laptop and I was testing a game I was working on. Suddenly, my computer could not recognize my device and, my device and charging light was off (the battery was at ~94%). I have 3 batteries, and none of them work when trying to power on the device. My device was S-OFF, SuperCID, rooted, and running Android Revolution ROM HD. I was using a Samsung cable if that makes a difference. I tried booting with Power+Vol. Down but that did not work. I figure it is a hardware problem, but it seems odd that it would do this all of a sudden. Can anybody confirm what is wrong with it, and maybe a possible fix? Thanks!
Edit: I get the QHUSB_DLOAD driver message.
Anyone? Please help!
Sorry, your phone is almost bricked. Flash chip bug makes large chunks of the entire flash unreadable. It's more likely to happen if you issue a trim command or format a partition in the wrong way. (Well, it's the right way for flash, but our chip can get borked.) Mine just happened when I was copying a bunch of data over.
You corrupted something fairly early in the boot process but not the earliest thing. Search for fixes for the qhusb and you'll find a couple things. They didn't work for me, but might for you. Even if you fix it, it might re-brick itself after a bit of usage.
ezdi said:
Sorry, your phone is almost bricked. Flash chip bug makes large chunks of the entire flash unreadable. It's more likely to happen if you issue a trim command or format a partition in the wrong way. (Well, it's the right way for flash, but our chip can get borked.) Mine just happened when I was copying a bunch of data over.
You corrupted something fairly early in the boot process but not the earliest thing. Search for fixes for the qhusb and you'll find a couple things. They didn't work for me, but might for you. Even if you fix it, it might re-brick itself after a bit of usage.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for your response! You logic seems to be correct as I wasn't messing with any critical files. Please update your post if you find a solution!
Did you find the post(s) I was talking about? They may work for you. It basically involves trying to rewrite the bootloader.
I ended up punting and trying to desolder the MMC chip so I could try to get my data off it. Unfortunately, it's epoxied on so it got very damaged even though I was using a pretty good hot-air reflow station, so I haven't tried soldering it to a SD-card reader.
ezdi said:
Did you find the post(s) I was talking about? They may work for you. It basically involves trying to rewrite the bootloader.
I ended up punting and trying to desolder the MMC chip so I could try to get my data off it. Unfortunately, it's epoxied on so it got very damaged even though I was using a pretty good hot-air reflow station, so I haven't tried soldering it to a SD-card reader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have tried that numerous times to rewrite the bootloader, but to no avail. Can you post a picture, and do you think a JTAG would work?
cowboy1995 said:
I have tried that numerous times to rewrite the bootloader, but to no avail. Can you post a picture, and do you think a JTAG would work?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Picture of the board? I think I have it around somewhere. If I can find it, sure.
In theory it should work, but I don't think anyone has publicly mapped out the pins for it and I didn't feel like trying to figure out the software side of things to connect it to the generic JTAG adapters I have access to. It's possible that one of the phone-centric JTAG makers has an adapter board, but I'm not willing to spend $bank on a phone worth barely anything.
I thought that I am really smart and can easily repair S2. I ended up with two broken S2s and I thought I can make from them one working unit. One had a fried motherboard and another one had a broken screen. So what I did is flipped the motherboard to the device with intact screen. The device that I obtained works, however it lost IMEA. I tried almost everything like flashing kernels Roms and some methods to restore IMEA. Still it says Baseband unknown and no IMEA. Did I do something wrong? Is there still hope? Or I will have Galaxy player only. Any thoughts are appreciated.
anubius said:
I thought that I am really smart and can easily repair S2. I ended up with two broken S2s and I thought I can make from them one working unit. One had a fried motherboard and another one had a broken screen. So what I did is flipped the motherboard to the device with intact screen. The device that I obtained works, however it lost IMEA. I tried almost everything like flashing kernels Roms and some methods to restore IMEA. Still it says Baseband unknown and no IMEA. Did I do something wrong? Is there still hope? Or I will have Galaxy player only. Any thoughts are appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What you thinking? The IMEI is reset every time you remove the battery to buffer and removed the motherboard, for obvious safety reasons.
I do not think there are solutions, but now forgotten official assistance
-Marco said:
What you thinking? The IMEI is reset every time you remove the battery to buffer and removed the motherboard, for obvious safety reasons.
I do not think there are solutions, but now forgotten official assistance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So its unrepairable?
anubius said:
So its unrepairable?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, but it's very hard beacuse you've to repair ALL MOTHERBOARD and change the battery-in-motherboard (it's near of camera chip). :good:
Hello,
A couple of years ago, I dropped my samsung i9100 and instantly its imei disappeared. Since this was caused by a physical damage, none of the software based imei recovery tactics worked. I did not get it repaired because by the time this happened, a refurbished phone was already getting cheaper than a repair. Now, there is this useless piece of electronics that is only good for taking occasional pics at home and listening to music.
I know my way around with replacing components on several phones (iphones, especially i9100 after countless trials and such) and I can replace the logic board. There seems to be legitimate, cheap i9100 logic boards with components on aliexpress.com. But the thing is, once I replace the board, for all intents and purposes it'll be another device, using the old working components and the shell of my actual phone. with a different IMEI.
So, hypothetically speaking, if I buy a board, replace the broken one with it and somehow flash my old IMEI to it, would it be usable once again? I mean from the side of the carrier network. In addition to the technical feasibility, is this a legitimate solution?
I know phone repair by experience only, so I might be way off. Correct me if i'm wrong please.
Thanks in advance.
Recovering a lost IMEI isn't easy. There are guides to recover it but they may not necessarily work as expected or at all.
As about the hardware replacement - carriers can't know your hardware, they do know the model but there is no real way for them to get data about the hardware. I am not sure about the the recovered IMEI (if you manage to recover it), but I don't think so.
Hope that helped and I hope my information is correct, as that's what I know.
danielbe said:
Recovering a lost IMEI isn't easy. There are guides to recover it but they may not necessarily work as expected or at all.
As about the hardware replacement - carriers can't know your hardware, they do know the model but there is no real way for them to get data about the hardware. I am not sure about the the recovered IMEI (if you manage to recover it), but I don't think so.
Hope that helped and I hope my information is correct, as that's what I know.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks for the reply, you are right, recovery methods did not work at all. that's why i'm considering a logic board replacement.
the pieces of information I have are:
- phones are registered as their imei and the carrier knows the phone as their imei. so imei = phone (for the carrier)
- imei change (not recovery) is possible, if not easy
- i know my imei (it's written under the battery housing anyway)
so from what you say, i understand that if i can manage to get my old imei on the new logic board successfully, all it's fine and the phone will resurrect; assuming the new logic board is working well.
sinabey said:
thanks for the reply, you are right, recovery methods did not work at all. that's why i'm considering a logic board replacement.
the pieces of information I have are:
- phones are registered as their imei and the carrier knows the phone as their imei. so imei = phone (for the carrier)
- imei change (not recovery) is possible, if not easy
- i know my imei (it's written under the battery housing anyway)
so from what you say, i understand that if i can manage to get my old imei on the new logic board successfully, all it's fine and the phone will resurrect; assuming the new logic board is working well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just searched about an imei change and found a guide, seems actually easy, not sure if it works. (http://www.technostall.com/how-to-change-imei-number-android/)
I guess it might work.
danielbe said:
Just searched about an imei change and found a guide, seems actually easy, not sure if it works. (http://www.technostall.com/how-to-change-imei-number-android/)
I guess it might work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll go ahead and order a mainboard then and we'll see what happens.