Hi Guys,
I have hard bricked my SGS2 I9100 as .pit file flash failed. Now there is no download/recovery/normal boot. It is completely dead, not detected on any PC by USB/Odin. It gets hot and there is slight vibration while charging. There is no response for USB Jig.
Samsung service center told there is motherboard issue and they don't repair it, they straight away replace it for $150 which I am unwilling to spend now.The phone has gone through the hands of many good technicians but all dismissed the chance of repair saying its an major hardware issue and components are out of stock/ unwilling to do it.
A repairman said he tried to JTAG it but from what he says is that eMMc chip didn't respond to Riff Box. I am not sure whether he correctly tried it on a Riff Box or any other box.
My questions are,
Q1) Should I once again try to JTAG it through other source ? Can any one tell me what's difference does it make to either JTAG it on Riff Box/Medusa/Z3X/GPG & Other Boxes ?
Q2) Does replacing the eMMc flash chip & power IC with new one increases the chances to revive the phone ?
Q3) If I were to replace the IC's from where could I buy it in "India" or should I buy it from aliexpress.com ?
Q4) Are the below IC models correct for I9100:
eMMc Flash IC: KMVYL000LM-B503 or KLMCG8GE2A-A001 (I am unable to
find this chip KLMCG8GE2A-A001 to buy if it is for I9100) source: mobiletechvideos.com
Power IC: MAX8997
Q5) Is there any other method apart from replacing IC's/JTAGGING through which I can repair my I9100 ?
Awaiting your responses. :fingers-crossed:
Long story short - replace the motherboard or buy a new phone.You already tried everything.
Only a few people had successfully replaced the eMMC chip.As it's very hard to do.Resoldering these kind of chips is simply impractical.
TheImpossibleEnemy said:
Long story short - replace the motherboard or buy a new phone.You already tried everything.
Only a few people had successfully replaced the eMMC chip.As it's very hard to do.Resoldering these kind of chips is simply impractical.
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I agree to your point. But still I want to take a chance with the eMMc/Power IC replacement option. At my end I am looking for a proficient technician who can do precision soldering, what I want from this forum is, has IC replacement worked for any one of you guys and if yes can you mention the detailed steps for the same. Because on GSM Hosting forums a lot of guys have replaced the IC's and got their S2 working. But because of technical issue of minimum 10 post for a new thread I cannot ask there. This forum is my only hope to find proper solution to my problem.
You won't see anyone post those steps because I've never seen anyone on here post they've had someone do this repair successfully. I've seen a number of people post here (particularly over the past 6 mths & particularly in some countries) that they've been offered this fix, but not a single one has posted & said they had it done & it was successful.
Why ? Because no tech with any competence would attempt this for a couple of reasons:-
1) It would be a pain in the arse to try. It would be very fiddly/take a long time. Small electronics these days is mostly 'modular' & replacement of tiny parts just doesn't happen anymore; 'boards' are replaced because it's quicker/easier for the tech, and cheaper for the customer. Even if these fixes were possible, you'd pay more than what a motherboard replacement would cost. And even then you're probably relying on someone with questionable technical ability telling you it is possible when people who really know what they're doing & talking about just wouldn't bother.
2) You have no way of knowing yourself whether you're being told the truth about this 'power IC' nonsense actually being the problem. What happens if you try this fix, only to find out the NAND is actually corrupted (which it is 99.999999999999999999999999% of the time; you are not the exception here); this means you pay for the fix which has no chance of working, and then you pay again for a motherboard replacement or new phone.
By all means sit in this thread for months & months with a non-working phone waiting for the information you're after to be posted, but it never will be for the reasons I've mentioned. If it was me, I'd want my phone working ASAP because I need a phone.
MistahBungle said:
You won't see anyone post those steps because I've never seen anyone on here post they've had someone do this repair successfully. I've seen a number of people post here (particularly over the past 6 mths & particularly in some countries) that they've been offered this fix, but not a single one has posted & said they had it done & it was successful.
Why ? Because no tech with any competence would attempt this for a couple of reasons:-
1) It would be a pain in the arse to try. It would be very fiddly/take a long time. Small electronics these days is mostly 'modular' & replacement of tiny parts just doesn't happen anymore; 'boards' are replaced because it's quicker/easier for the tech, and cheaper for the customer. Even if these fixes were possible, you'd pay more than what a motherboard replacement would cost. And even then you're probably relying on someone with questionable technical ability telling you it is possible when people who really know what they're doing & talking about just wouldn't bother.
2) You have no way of knowing yourself whether you're being told the truth about this 'power IC' nonsense actually being the problem. What happens if you try this fix, only to find out the NAND is actually corrupted (which it is 99.999999999999999999999999% of the time; you are not the exception here); this means you pay for the fix which has no chance of working, and then you pay again for a motherboard replacement or new phone.
By all means sit in this thread for months & months with a non-working phone waiting for the information you're after to be posted, but it never will be for the reasons I've mentioned. If it was me, I'd want my phone working ASAP because I need a phone.
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Anyways.. I have given my phone for eMMc replacement let us see what it turns out to be. Thanks for your input Mistah. Will post back once I get my phone.
One more thing MistahBungle, as you have mentioned NAND corruption thats the exact issue I faced in Odin, does it means the flash chip is dying or as I read it its stuffed beyond recovery.. what exactly is NAND corruption and is there any solution for it apart from mobo change ?
Arjune said:
Anyways.. I have given my phone for eMMc replacement let us see what it turns out to be. Thanks for your input Mistah. Will post back once I get my phone.
One more thing MistahBungle, as you have mentioned NAND corruption thats the exact issue I faced in Odin, does it means the flash chip is dying or as I read it its stuffed beyond recovery.. what exactly is NAND corruption and is there any solution for it apart from mobo change ?
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It means the chip has been 'scrambled' due to a bad flash, which means nothing can be written to or read from the chip anymore, which is why your phone won't boot, the (for the sake of simplicity, the tech version is available with a Google or XDA search) 'pre-boot' stuff/OS/etc lives on it, without that = dead phone.
Only solution is to replace it, and as we've said, replacing just that chip isn't feasible, so the whole board is replaced.
Related
I'm curious as to what tools certified Samsung techs use to fix my phone if I send it in? Do they have specialized HW interfaces, or do they mainly rely on software tools that I could operate myself?
Update:
JTAG devices can write directly to memory, and I guess that can be used to resurrect a dead phone
What?! Nobody has anything to add to this? No known tools beside Odin and JTAG?
Unless you get a Samsung repair tech on here, you're only going to get guesswork.
Here's mine -- All incoming phones get stripped. Boards and other electronics go one way, plastic another. Plastic gets sorted, cleaned, bad bits chucked and replaced. Boards go through an automated tester (JTAG, testpoints on the boards, etc). New firmware goes in via JTAG. If that isn't enough to fix it, the board is trash -- maybe stripped for parts, likely just sent to an outside recycler. Any good parts go in a pool of parts for building refurbs and you get a refurb shipped back with your IMEI flashed into it.
Authoritative answer? Nope, just a hunch.
Guesswork or not - thank you all the same.
The local Service Center here are working also only with the Recovery-Mode / Download Menu and the still known things - maybe here from the Board ? ...
If I have had the SW bricked Vibrant, I have make a lot of calls through Germany: everyone told me, that they have not a JTAG and/or USB-JIG (what is this ? was the a lot of time the question) and they only working with the Recovery Menu. If they can not received this Menu, they send the phone to Samsung.
Hey guys, sorry for another topic, however I actually do know what is wrong with my phone and know it needs to be JTAG repaired..
however... I was wondering if anyone knew the root cause of this (no pun intended).. I was flashing JellyBam v5.0 (custom [email protected]~) and mid installation, phone froze, powered down and is now bricked. Any reason why it would do that mid install? Battery was 95%+
cheers
rsr1 said:
Hey guys, sorry for another topic, however I actually do know what is wrong with my phone and know it needs to be JTAG repaired..
however... I was wondering if anyone knew the root cause of this (no pun intended).. I was flashing JellyBam v5.0 (custom [email protected]~) and mid installation, phone froze, powered down and is now bricked. Any reason why it would do that mid install? Battery was 95%+
cheers
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Please state more details. Rom, kernel, modem, odin, cwm, etc
He did. Regardless, none of that info would be relevant/useful in this case anyway, phone's borked.
@OP - Honestly, that's impossible to say. Something hardware related in the phone, something simple like the battery contacts not making a proper connection, something on the PC side even (temporary issue with the connection b/w the PC & phone) ? The possibilities are endless.
Have it looked at by a JTAG repairer & if that can't be done, maybe try and source a motherboard from a donor phone (broken screen or whatever). That will be the cheaper option than having Samsung replace the MB if it can't be JTAG'd, even if you pay a local mobile repair shop to install the 'new' MB (if you're not confident enough to DIY).
seanwong98 said:
Please state more details. Rom, kernel, modem, odin, cwm, etc
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MistahBungle said:
He did. Regardless, none of that info would be relevant/useful in this case anyway, phone's borked.
@OP - Honestly, that's impossible to say. Something hardware related in the phone, something simple like the battery contacts not making a proper connection, something on the PC side even (temporary issue with the connection b/w the PC & phone) ? The possibilities are endless.
Have it looked at by a JTAG repairer & if that can't be done, maybe try and source a motherboard from a donor phone (broken screen or whatever). That will be the cheaper option than having Samsung replace the MB if it can't be JTAG'd, even if you pay a local mobile repair shop to install the 'new' MB (if you're not confident enough to DIY).
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Yeah you are right it could be anything happening within the phone without my knowledge, luckily phone was connected to mains when i was flashing using CWM so no problems there, but i don't think i will find the reason why it actually happened as you said the possibilities are endless
I'm trying to get in touch with a place that does JTAG repairs at the moment, however im just scared they say it can't be done. Havent really got the money to fork out for a new MB. I bought the phone second hand last year (april) where i was told it was only 3-4weeks old however had no old purchase details. Is there any way for me to check if the warranty is still valid or does it become void after resale? Thanks
There used to be an online warranty checker on one of Samsung's regional websites (can't remember which, maybe someone else does ?) where you could put the serial number in & get the warranty end date, but I recall people on here saying it either went away or didn't work anymore at some point last year.
But I doubt you'd get warranty service without the original receipt anyway, and even if you had it, I'm not sure the warranty is transferable beyond the original purchaser (Someone else please correct me if they know of cases where the warranty has been honoured regardless, I realise this might vary from country to country).
Unless the phone has physical damage as opposed to the NAND simply being scrambled beyond all recognition which normally happens when a flash goes wrong like that, you'd probably expect it to be JTAG'able.
If it's not, as I said in my PP, a board from a 'donor' phone would be much cheaper to both buy/have installed than paying a Samsung authorised repairer to put a new MB in (apparently they charge in the vicinity of half what a new phone would cost retail).
Edit - Re: getting a 'donor' phone for the MB, here's an example of what I'm talking about; no doubt you'll probably pick one up cheaper, just thought I'd give you an example of what to look for if you end up needing to go down that path.
rsr1 said:
-SNIP-
I'm trying to get in touch with a place that does JTAG repairs at the moment, however im just scared they say it can't be done. Havent really got the money to fork out for a new MB. I bought the phone second hand last year (april) where i was told it was only 3-4weeks old however had no old purchase details. Is there any way for me to check if the warranty is still valid or does it become void after resale? Thanks
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MistahBungle said:
There used to be an online warranty checker on one of Samsung's regional websites (can't remember which, maybe someone else does ?) where you could put the serial number in & get the warranty end date, but I recall people on here saying it either went away or didn't work anymore at some point last year.
But I doubt you'd get warranty service without the original receipt anyway, and even if you had it, I'm not sure the warranty is transferable beyond the original purchaser (Someone else please correct me if they know of cases where the warranty has been honoured regardless, I realise this might vary from country to country).
Unless the phone has physical damage as opposed to the NAND simply being scrambled beyond all recognition which normally happens when a flash goes wrong like that, you'd probably expect it to be JTAG'able.
If it's not, as I said in my PP, a board from a 'donor' phone would be much cheaper to both buy/have installed than paying a Samsung authorised repairer to put a new MB in (apparently they charge in the vicinity of half what a new phone would cost retail).
Edit - Re: getting a 'donor' phone for the MB, here's an example of what I'm talking about; no doubt you'll probably pick one up cheaper, just thought I'd give you an example of what to look for if you end up needing to go down that path.
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I think you're right on that one, if i don't even have proof of purchase then I don't think warranty will be valid. Thanks anyway on that behalf. Yeah it is only that one issue nothing else is wrong physically so i am hoping for the best and do believe a JTAG should get me out of this situation without a problem (fingers crossed).
On the topic of a replacement motherboard thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction if JTAG fails. Buying a cheap phone as such is a great idea and taking a working motherboard for a lot cheaper than RRP is wonderful.
Thankyou very much for your input & help ::highfive:
I have the EXACT same problem...
the ivelstre
Simmyen said:
I have the EXACT same problem...
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It happened to both of us whilst installing JellyBam v5, so surely there must be a problem with the ROM? We encountered the exact same issue 100% and are both left in the same position now due to the ROM
rsr1 said:
It happened to both of us whilst installing JellyBam v5, so surely there must be a problem with the ROM? We encountered the exact same issue 100% and are both left in the same position now due to the ROM
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I have the exact same problem yeah, but i know a friend of mine who used the same ROM as we did.. it worked for him though
Always try a Jig before JTAG, no harm there.
If warrantu isn't voided, make sure it's really bricked so you can claim it with the "I was updating it via wifi and dropped dead" rutine.
No probs. Just sorry we couldn't be of more help. Best of luck (Hope it ends up being easily JTAG'able for you).
rsr1 said:
-SNIP-
Thankyou very much for your input & help ::highfive:
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Hello,
I searched through the forums for an answer and googled it too but did not find one. Basically my s3 (international) died a week back and I have given it to samsung. They agreed to replace the motherboard.
What I wanted to know is that will I have to take the same precautions after I receive the new motherboard as the people whose s3 has not died yet? As in making sure I have the patch installed in the custom roms and having the proper recoveries with the patch installed?
Or i wont face this issue again since it will be a hardware fix and can just flash away as I will?
Thank you and sorry if it was a stupid question!
I doubt it would happen again but can't say for certain, .....what I have seen is a lot of people getting a 32Gb MB replacement so you may get lucky! Check your storage on return.....I reckon the people that get this are lucky victims of the service centre not having any safe 16Gb motherboards, so they slap in a 32 to honor return times. Fingers crossed for ya
Check the emmc chip version when you get the replacement, if the version isn't the problem batch then you shouldn't be at risk of SDS. If the version is still the same then you'll need to ensure you only use patched recovery and ROMs.
So maybe the question from the title is a little bit unclear.
The problem that i had with my phone is that one day, i got a message that a new android version appeared(4.1.2)...and obviously i clicked to download it. After the download and install when it was time to enter in my new version, a screen where a password was required appeared, saying something that my phone is encrypted, and a pass is needed to make i work...Problem is that i didn't have a previous password...
So anyway i restarted the phone...and android didn't even brought me to that screen...it just wouldn't load...So i decided to take matters in my own hands (not the best decision i made that day)...
I searched online how to do that...i found about odin..installed it ...and then tried to install android...Problem is that odin gave me errors when trying to upload the kit or something (i was in download mode with the phone)..when odin gave errors i either disconected the cable from the phone, or in some cases i got pissed off and removed the battery...
My question is...could i have broken my phone permanently by doing that ? Like i don't know...in a way..that neither an expert could fix it?
Thanks
You can scramble the NAND so badly it has to be replaced if a flash goes bad/you flash something you shouldn't be flashing (or if you do dopey things like pull a USB cable in the middle of a flash), and the way that's done is by replacing the motherboard, so you can certainly cause damage that costs money to repair, but it can pretty much always be repaired one way or another.
I seriously doubt you could bork a phone completely beyond all repair via firmware/software & without physically damaging components.
No physical damage was made to the phone...
Assuming all the alien language things that you said ...so the worst case scenario...do you have any idea how much a new motherboard would cost?
Varies widely depending on country/how much labor costs in your country. Samsung don't sell new motherboards on their own, you can either pay an authorised service centre to put a new one in (most expensive option, you normally keep your existing IMEI), or you can get a 2nd hand board from a broken/'donor' phone (How much you'll pay for one again highly variable depending on how much someone wants for their busted phone, search eBay/Google) & either swap it into your phone yourself, or if you're not confident with that sort of thing pay a local mobile repair shop to swap the boards for you (least expensive option, your IMEI will change to that of the phone the board came from).
Edit - If what I said in my PP was 'alien', I'd suggest you shouldn't have been messing with your phone in the first place & should probably avoid same when you get it fixed as well.
Teshte said:
So maybe the question from the title is a little bit unclear.
The problem that i had with my phone is that one day, i got a message that a new android version appeared(4.1.2)...and obviously i clicked to download it. After the download and install when it was time to enter in my new version, a screen where a password was required appeared, saying something that my phone is encrypted, and a pass is needed to make i work...Problem is that i didn't have a previous password...
So anyway i restarted the phone...and android didn't even brought me to that screen...it just wouldn't load...So i decided to take matters in my own hands (not the best decision i made that day)...
I searched online how to do that...i found about odin..installed it ...and then tried to install android...Problem is that odin gave me errors when trying to upload the kit or something (i was in download mode with the phone)..when odin gave errors i either disconected the cable from the phone, or in some cases i got pissed off and removed the battery...
My question is...could i have broken my phone permanently by doing that ? Like i don't know...in a way..that neither an expert could fix it?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Long story short, Yes your device could be "Broken" in such a way that the only option is to replace the motherboard. You atleast tried reading and doing something, dude there are several thread regarding this matter try different strategies, try out your luck, ask questions, but don't get your hopes too high.
Sorry pal, I wish you the best of all the luck in this tiny planet of ours.
Edit : sorry I was too late, I actually started the reply almost after you posted it but I went away had a coffee then completed it.
Edit: lol to actually make a phone completely unrecoverable you might need a sledgehammer, no software related issue in the world can completely damage an electronic device(unless that software was related to triggering a nuke).
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda app-developers app
Ok, so I have done something incredibly stupid. I had been using Paranoid Android on my Galaxy S2 with no issues, then we got new phones in work so I moved to a company phone, Galaxy S4 and ported over my old number. I also used the external SD card I had bought for the S2 with the S4 (not planning to use the S2 again). When I was tidying up the SD card I noticed the zip files for paranoid android so deleted it without thinking.
Now, however, I want to give the old phone to my sister, but it wont turn on at all. I know the battery is fully charged, I have tried holding down vol+power+home etc. and nothing. Have I completely bricked it? Is there anything I can do?
I should add that I can access another unrooted Galaxy S2, is that any use? Could I flash a recovery to the external SD on that and then swap the card to the bricked phone?
So no download mode.Did you tried vol up+ho
me+power to access the recovery?
Your options are:-
1) A jig.
2) Possible JTAG; this is the cheapest/most stress-free option after #1 (which will cost a few bucks on little e big B), but....Don't get your hopes up it will work, many phones in this situation are not JTAG'able. If you can find someone who will attempt a JTAG for you & you only pay if it's successful, knock yourself out. I wouldn't be paying on the basis of it costing me money upfront whether it works or not though given the next (and overwhelmingly most likely option).
3) Motherboard replacement - irrespective of warranty status, a Samsung service centre should replace the board for you with a new one. This will be somewhat expensive. How expensive will normally be dependent on what phone techs charge for labour in your country.
You also have the option of sourcing a 2nd hand board (cheaper) online; I believe KeithRoss39's 'Replace USB board thread' in General has a list of online S2 parts suppliers to get you started, a Google search will yield others, and then taking the phone & board you've sourced to a local mobile repair shop (non-Samsung service centre) & paying them to swap the boards for you (assuming you don't have the necessary skills to do this yourself). This will be significantly cheaper than the new board option in most cases.
So, in summary, the enormously more likely fix (that will actually work) is #3, with #'s1 & #2 a lot less likely to succeed, though definitely still try #1 unless you're not fussed about spending the money to do #3 right away, and possibly try #2 with the caveat I mentioned.
Edit - Also/before you ask 'what happened/why did it crap itself', nobody here can give you any indication of that. There's obviously something major hardware-wise going on, and without the phone open in front of us, it's impossible to give you a meaningful answer to that question. And though it's a natural question to ask in this circumstance, it's kinda irrelevant - the phone has a hardware fault of some kind, it needs to be diagnosed by someone qualified & fixed. That's the best we can give you.
Extra edit - Actually, as well as trying to get into both 'modes' over and over and over as TheImpossibleEnemy excellently suggested, find Hopper8's 'Odin troubleshooting' thread stickied in General, and try the 'jump start' method where you try to boot the phone with just the charger/minus the battery detailed in his thread. Like #1 & #2, very unlikely to work, but given the alternative/money involved with that, you absolutely try it.
Thanks guys. Yes I ried vol up+home+power to access the recovery, no luck, no response from the phone. I won't be able to get resistors till after the weekend but I'll make a jig then and try that. As regards Options 2&3, the phone is very old now and I have a brand new one so I'm not willing to pay anything significant to get it sorted. I'm only bothered because a) my sisters phone broke so I was going to give her this for the time being and b) I'm worried I might have old photos on the phone I didn't backup
Unfortunately, unless you are able to get the phone to boot, you won't be recovering anything from it. Motherboard replacement means you get a new EMMC, and the only (very) remote possibility of extracting data from that without having the phone work somewhat normally, is a data recovery company which specialises in pulling data from dead HDD's. Fairly unlikely this is possible though (I've never seen anyone post they've been able to get this done in the 2.5 yrs I've been here), and if it is possible, expect it to be very expensive relative to the other fixes.
Crap, that's what I assumed. Thanks anyway. I'll try the jig after the weekend and post back here.
There's a thread in General which has people offering to share their jigs, take a look - there might be someone near you with one, which will might save you at least a couple days/a week/whatever waiting for a little e big B delivery.
Good luck.
Nobody near me unfortunately, but thanks. I wonder how difficult it would be to construct a working S2 from the two I have, one being bricked, and the other working but with a cracked screen. Might be an idea
switch the screens and that's it!:good:
The only problem with that one is it's most likely something on the MB has crapped itself; given the size of the components concerned, no tech worth their salt would attempt a fiddly replacement of individual components on the board given most electronics is 'modular' (everything is made up of 'boards') these days, and it takes no time/no stress for someone who knows what they're doing to simply swap a board.
Having said that, over the last 6-12 mths, we've seen threads/posts by people claiming they've been offered a fix where just the 'power IC' is replaced on the board. I've not seen a single person post & say they've had that repair done successfully in that time though, and you can easily end up with the situation where it's something else on the board that's buggered/as well, so you end up needing the board replaced anyway, or someone attempting the repair stuffs the board up because their soldering skills aren't up to scratch.
If the easy stuff you can try yourself doesn't work & you definitely want to keep the phone, replacing the board in the first instance is the (almost; assuming nothing else is wrong) guaranteed fix.
Edit - But yeah, you can definitely have a stab at trying the good screen on the dead phone on the good phone with the dead screen as per TheImpossibleEnemy's great suggestion. Doesn't get you your data, but it might just get you a working phone for pretty much nothing. Search for the service manuals on here (they've been posted from time to time here) or Google; these have full parts lists & diagrams/pics with run-throughs of the most common repairs (replacing screen is one of those from memory).
Great, thanks guys. I'm an electronic engineer so I'd be pretty handy at this stuff. Just wondering what the easier swap would be, moving mb from one phone to another, or screen from one to another.
Replacing the screen would be easier.
Really? I had a look over a guide for replacing the screen, and one for replacing motherboard. The motherboard replacement actually looked easier to me. Have you experience with doing this yourself?
Never had to
Just my opinion,because to access the mobo one would have to remove the screen first.
The choice is yours of course,as you are some kind of engineer,it should be easy for you to do it in both ways.
I'll take it apart later and see what looks easiest. Will update here
I have some experience with taking the S2 apart.
The way to take apart the phone is to take the back off of it......
This will reveal the circuitry on top of the screen and the circuitry fitted to the rear housing. You will be able to access the motherboard before you access the screen. Adding the *good* motherboard to the *good* screen will be the easiest option for you......
See my guide here....
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2335961
You'll find a link to a video that shows a step by step procedure for stripping an S2. You'll also find links for part suppliers......
Sent via my Markox/Gustavo_s powered KitKatted S2