[HELP]ODIN Stock Firmware Flash Issue. Virgin GT-I9300 - Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I'm having real issues trying to get a stock ROM on my Virgin Mobile S3 (GT-I9300) and I'm hoping you guys can help me. I've looked absolutely everywhere for a solution but so far nothing has worked.
OK so a little history about the problem:
Using phone as normal, and then randomly turns off. Turn it back on and I get the two Samsung splash screens loop booting constantly. I boot into recovery mode and do a factory reset - same problem. Clear the cache - same problem. Send phone back to Virgin and they tell me I've rooted and installed a custom ROM which I absolutely have not but they have a screenshot with the custom counter showing '1'.
I've no idea how this is possible, but I would have remembered if I'd installed a custom ROM. Anyway, they send it back because I'm not going to fork out £100 for them to flash it.
So...lots of research later, I download the latest Odin (3.09), find the most likely stock ROM that will work with my phone (Carrier is Virgin Mobile UK). I find this ROM on SamMobile: I9300XXUGMK6_I9300OXAGMK6_BTU. Cannot for the life of me find an actual Virgin rom so this apparently should be fine as it's a generic EU build.
Fine, so I apply it using the AP selection in Odin, connect phone, it goes through and applies fine "PASS" etc.. and phone reboots automatically.
Now, it just sits at the Samsung splash screen (the static white text) and doesn't go any further. I've left it upwards of 10 minutes but no dice. So look online and find threads that suggest booting to recovery and doing a factory reset will do the trick. So try that (Power+volume up+home) and same problem - static splash screen. Balls.
So now I don't know what to do. I either need to try an actual Virgin ROM which doesn't seem to exist(?!) or my phone is truely bricked and I'll finally have a good reason to destroy the thing.
Can anyone let me know what the next steps should be? I would be eternally grateful.
Thanks in advance.

I found the s3 to be a pain when doing a reset. Basically do it twice. Wipe, flash, wipe then boot. As far as I know btu is correct but virmin mobile used to rent their airspace from tmobile who are now half ee. Such a minefield..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

shivadow said:
I found the s3 to be a pain when doing a reset. Basically do it twice. Wipe, flash, wipe then boot. As far as I know btu is correct but virmin mobile used to rent their airspace from tmobile who are now half ee. Such a minefield..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say 'wipe' do you mean factory reset via recovery mode? Because I'm not able to access that. All I can get to is Download Manager to use with Odin...

I thought you said you could access recovery and you had cleared cache. In that case you are buggered. If it goes through the flashing phase and reboots but you still cannot get into recovery then you have 3 options..
1. Flash another rom but no lower than 4.3. Carrier shouldn't matter.
2. Full on flash with pit file (dangerous and can perma brick).
3. Return the phone under warranty and state that the flash counter also clocks official flashes too, samsung should know this as they make the phone.. staff need training if they say otherwise.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

Try the rescue firmware from general forum, follow the instructions exactly as it includes a pit.
It sounds like nand failure, so it's possible that you won't be able to fix it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

I thought you said you could access recovery and you had cleared cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apologies for not being clearer, before sending it back to Virgin for the warranty repair I could access the recovery mode fine, when I got it back I couldn't - whether that was caused by the flashing of the firmware or something Virgin did I don't know unfortunately.
Try the rescue firmware from general forum, follow the instructions exactly as it includes a pit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the tip - I've flashed the stock recovery and I can now get into recovery mode! Looks slightly different but I can now access the factory reset/wipe cache options so that's some improvement.
I'm just downloading the stock international ROM as per this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/general/fix-s3-to-factory-unroot-stock-recovery-t2323847 but it's going to take a few hours. Thanks so much for your advice so far i'll report back once the download completes.

No joy
I can however get into download mode and recovery mode now. Is there anything else I can try? Is it possible I can get a custom recovery image on there and flash it with something other than the stock rom?
I've got a feeling you're correct and it could be a hardware fault. Virgin say I can pay £100 to get it fixed, if they have to replace the entire phone that would prove it wasn't 'tampering' that caused it so I could potentially get my money back I guess, if I complained. I think that might be my only option now.

Ok I just booted into recovery mode and I was greeted with this error:
Any ideas what this could mean?

crispin85 said:
Ok I just booted into recovery mode and I was greeted with this error:
Any ideas what this could mean?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I say this to people who have this sort of problem but I mention the dreaded word and they tend to ignore it but will tell you what to try anyway.
Install Kies 3 for android 4.3 (there I said it Kies) on the top menu bar click Tools then Firmware Upgrade and Installation
Follow the on screen instructions, this process will wipe the phone and install the most up to date original carrier / phone firmware, after this the phone should work and you can then root, flash roms etc , it may work for you so try it, don't just dismiss it because it refers to the use of Kies

ag4751 said:
I say this to people who have this sort of problem but I mention the dreaded word and they tend to ignore it but will tell you what to try anyway.
Install Kies 3 for android 4.3 (there I said it Kies) on the top menu bar click Tools then Firmware Upgrade and Installation
Follow the on screen instructions, this process will wipe the phone and install the most up to date original carrier / phone firmware, after this the phone should work and you can then root, flash roms etc , it may work for you so try it, don't just dismiss it because it refers to the use of Kies
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately I've already tried Kies, and it doesn't recognise the device when in recovery mode.

crispin85 said:
Unfortunately I've already tried Kies, and it doesn't recognise the device when in recovery mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you are using the USB cable supplied with the phone and it is connected direct to your PC USB port, ideally the ones on the back but don't connect through any multi USB port connectors.
The USB cables and how you connect can make a difference

Related

[Q] My GS2 does not work

I would like help from forum members.
After doing a root using the original firmware version, available here in the forum, my GS2 stopped working.
The device connects, the splash comes from Samsung (the one where the yellow triangle appears), but after that the screen goes black and nothing appears. Imagine turning on your PC but not booting in windows!
I can access the download mode and recovery mode. But nothing I do solves. I've tried putting other firmware versions but not resolved.
The Odin recognizes the device, the Kies not.
Another problem is that I do not know what was the original version of the firmware, but I know that the device was a French version, if that helps.
Flash a stock rom via Odin .
Stock Roms .and csc
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1075278
jje
I tried that. It did not work. I used the XWKK2, XXKI4, and XWKI4 XWKK5. None of them worked. I can flash them as I explained in the first post, but does not work.
Service centre is your next step .
jje
So I'm fu*&$#
I'm outside the country of purchase origin and do not have the invoice.
Tabgyn said:
So I'm fu*&$#
I'm outside the country of purchase origin and do not have the invoice.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try booting to recovery and clearing data / cache ?
Yes,I tried.
I would try to install a custom rom for CWM, but can not access the sdcard to copy the files.
Tabgyn said:
Yes,I tried.
I would try to install a custom rom for CWM, but can not access the sdcard to copy the files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well if you can't get it to work in any known way and you dont want to spend money to get it fixed , I'd say soft-brick it by enabling repartition in Odin and get a jig , then try again. You only lose 3-5$ that way. Don't get me wrong , it's the last thing you should try. What you probably should do is to take it to service.
I bought the usb jig must be delivered within 7 days.
But the jig is used to enter the download mode and reset the counter, right?
I can enter the download mode and recovery mode, I can even install any firmware version (official/CF). But none of that worked.
I believe it is with some corrupted file that is not connected to the firmware.
Or not!
gr4ndm4st3r_bl4ck said:
Well if you can't get it to work in any known way and you dont want to spend money to get it fixed , I'd say soft-brick it by enabling repartition in Odin and get a jig , then try again. You only lose 3-5$ that way. Don't get me wrong , it's the last thing you should try. What you probably should do is to take it to service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never tick repartition. You won't be able to bring it back that way. You can try soft bricking by unplugging the phone while flashing wih Odin but i still don't recommend it if you aren't able to boot even after flashing multiple roms. Service center would be your best bet
Sent from my GT-I9100
akusokuzan said:
Service center would be your best bet
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What I said.
gr4ndm4st3r_bl4ck said:
What I said.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the message was directed to op rather than to you. I read and understood what you said, maybe my message just came out wrong.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Is your phone branded? Is it I9100G?
Well I don't know.
I get this: http://www.ebay.com/itm/190579058236?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
Thats a UK phone .GT-I9100LKAXEU
Clean phone Boot to recovery .
Mounts and storage FORMAT data cache system and sd card . Remove battery .
Download mode via ODIN flash stock rom as per instructions .
jje
steps:
Wipe / Factory Reset
Wipe Cache
Mounts and FORMAT data cache storage system and SD card? How do I do this?
remove battery
download Mode
Flash stock rom
I'm sorry, I'm noob
Just giving some feedback if another user go through the same problem, did the flash with the firm XWKK5 and my gs2 returned to work.
Thank you all for your help.

Pretty sure I have ruined my phone.

Got the Galaxy S3 on the 3 network in the UK, all was fine & dandy then found out about how the phone was updated & basically 3 sit twiddling their thumbs on it. Went looking for a solution, found a nice simple flash the phone with Odin, use proper Samsung firmware, thought that will do the trick for me.
Unfortunately I did exactly as I was told (didn't go down the root, well, route as there were too many options and I was lost as to wether I was using the right stuff) People swore by the flash to samsung firmware, did that last night, was perfect. Only thing left was the change csc thing, to select BTU but the option wasnt there...was told to download another firmware.......the phone returned with a "unfortunately, the process android.acore has stopped" message, was told to to a reset.......then got "unfortunately, messaging has stopped". Have flashed a few times now to no avail, I can no longer text, is my phone basically broken beyond repair?
Not ruined, but it sounds like you have clobbered some system files. Read up on rooting. Hopefully you can Root and then install a custom recovery like CWM then install a custom ROM.
It would have been better to have made a backup via recovery before you started flashing stuff.
Flash stock ROM and start again
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Or even factory reset .
But its a bad flash probably could be a corrupt download or wrong firmware .
jje
seems like u didnt follow the instructions and u could have even bricked your device all that i can say is factory reset or flash a new rom
SilvFlashProd said:
Not ruined, but it sounds like you have clobbered some system files. Read up on rooting. Hopefully you can Root and then install a custom recovery like CWM then install a custom ROM.
It would have been better to have made a backup via recovery before you started flashing stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
(s)he is having issues just fixing a stock rom misflash and you recommend a custom ROM? Even root was too complicated
I've flashed past phones to death and even still following instructions exactly, they don't always work as they should. Yeah they have cool features and yeah me or you can probably manage to fix any issues they throw up, but they are definitely not for everyone.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
bkr32 said:
seems like u didnt follow the instructions and u could have even bricked your device all that i can say is factory reset or flash a new rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bull****...his problems have nothing to do with a brick. Don't scare him.
i'd defo try a factory, cache and dalvik reset first before flashing again, you'l loose all your data but it may fix the problems you are experiencing.. Boot into recovery mode to do that.
Thanks for all the replies. I have flashed with Odin 3.04 & have found out 3.07 is out...could this be where it all went wrong? I tried following the rooting stuff but found so many variations & in my head (technology challenged when it comes to this) it was all going over my head. I did do the factory reset & reflash with a stock software (the latest I believe) but I don't know if it is a network thing which knackerec me, in CSC I have sales code saying H3G with no options to select BTU. If I post a screenshot of my settings (about device) would that help someone steer me in the right direction as a possible starting point.
My phone appears to be no longer 3 branded, but it should be locked to the 3 network in the uk.
I had the same issue with my Three branded phone. What i did was flash the rom with the PDA button ticked in Odin and then flashed it again with the same file but ticked the CSC icon instead of the PDA and it worked and then let me select BTU from the menu. Give it a try and report back, i'm 99% sure it'll work.
BTW you'll lose the HD voice by flashing it. I still havent found and easy way to get it back working.
bonzai1888 said:
Thanks for all the replies. I have flashed with Odin 3.04 & have found out 3.07 is out...could this be where it all went wrong?
No very unlikely i still use 1.30
I tried following the rooting stuff but found so many variations & in my head
One method works and is easy .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1695238
Stock UK
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JJEgan said:
bonzai1888 said:
Thanks for all the replies. I have flashed with Odin 3.04 & have found out 3.07 is out...could this be where it all went wrong?
No very unlikely i still use 1.30
I tried following the rooting stuff but found so many variations & in my head
One method works and is easy .
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1695238
Stock UK
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646610
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The link for the stock you posted is what I used....didn't root as I said, but appeared to work perfectly. Then I lost access to kies & was told I needed to use csc to tick the BTU option & that would work, except I didnt & still don't have that option. Was given another link to apparently the same stock that had "multi csc options" & that when I got the Samsung acore error & I did a factory reset after about 30 minutes of trying to get into the options, then the messaging stopped working & I found out how to do te factory reset using te vol button home power thing. Is there a specific 3 firmware where I can get my phone branded again & take it from there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
djstevie said:
I had the same issue with my Three branded phone. What i did was flash the rom with the PDA button ticked in Odin and then flashed it again with the same file but ticked the CSC icon instead of the PDA and it worked and then let me select BTU from the menu. Give it a try and report back, i'm 99% sure it'll work.
BTW you'll lose the HD voice by flashing it. I still havent found and easy way to get it back working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I try this, what Rom did you use, was it the one in link after you?
What do you want .
Wait for updates via Kies and OTA or join XDA and flash Stock Samsung rom as released ???
Me no Kies and no OTA on my phone
Stock LG9 or leaked Jelly Bean .
jje
JJEgan said:
What do you want .
Wait for updates via Kies and OTA or join XDA and flash Stock Samsung rom as released ???
Me no Kies and no OTA on my phone
Stock LG9 or leaked Jelly Bean .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am happy flashing on release, please understand this is all new. If losing kies is not an issue coz I can just flash then cool. I thought kies was an essential part of the updating. I can use my phone fine just now (using go SMS Pro) but would like it back to fully working phone which would be sweet.
Nothing good is wrong with your phone. It's not even a brick yet. Flash a cwm recovery and then re trying using check rom.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
None of these guys no what there talking about. You've bricked your phone and you won't be able to fix it. Best thing to do is cut your loss and sell it. I'll be generous and give you £50 pounds for it. That's right a fresh £50 note right now, hard cash delivered right to your door step, no questions asked!
Honestly though try flashing the original 3 firmware, it should be in the firmware thread I believe.
P.S You've not bricked your phone, no where near it so don't worry about it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
avocco said:
None of these guys no what there talking about. You've bricked your phone and you won't be able to fix it. Best thing to do is cut your loss and sell it. I'll be generous and give you £50 pounds for it. That's right a fresh £50 note right now, hard cash delivered right to your door step, no questions asked!
Honestly though try flashing the original 3 firmware, it should be in the firmware thread I believe.
P.S You've not bricked your phone, no where near it so don't worry about it.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks...I was giving up again to be honest as once again I was left not knowing what to do. I thought this would be the easiest place to ask but it was ending up in riddles, which is why I gave up on rooting it in the first place.
bonzai1888 said:
Thanks...I was giving up again to be honest as once again I was left not knowing what to do. I thought this would be the easiest place to ask but it was ending up in riddles, which is why I gave up on rooting it in the first place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm on 3 UK same happened to me when I unbranded. Don't panic your phone is fine. Turn off phone then hold power + home + volume up. Let go when you see the Android man. Wipe factory reset and dalvik cache you will lose everything. Then reboot. Don't bother letting it boot back up, just hold power + home + volume down. Then flash unbranded rom via odin. Once done and booted type *#272*yourimei# and you should now have option of btu.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
bonzai1888 said:
If I try this, what Rom did you use, was it the one in link after you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was the latest UK unbranded rom in the first page.

[Q] Non-Responsive Touchscree & ODIN Won't Flash

Ok, I flashed the experimental 4.2.1 update from temasek earlier. flashed his custom kernel. all worked fine.
Told me my SD Card was 'damaged', which I now understand just needed a fix which was provided. However I decided to just forget it and restore my nandroid backup i'd taken the previous night.
Checked the folder was there, which it was, so booted to CWM, did all the wipes and chose "restore". much to my horror, it failed to find any files.
stupid mistake part: i decided to flash the perseus kernel back over the top to see if the CWM would recognise my nandroid files and restore them
the screen just went mad - had blue lines all over the place, the samsung logo jumped about and the screen went off.
i booted back to CWM and found the touchscreen was unresponsive. everything else worked - buttons, CWM. The phone is also recognised in ODIN, so I grabbed the latest stock JB leak and flashed it. it flashed fine, but it was a middle eastern rom, which didn't help, and the touchscreen was still dead.
the PC still recognised it, so i coped the temasek files back on to see if i could re-flash those, which i did, but still no luck with the touchscreen.
flashed the JB leak again with ODIN, which worked. plugged it in to the PC and copied across a nandroid backup folder i'd taken earlier in the evening last night, since the other one seems to not work. rebooted and it still wouldn't find it.
Now i've got the latest stock rom for the uk but ODIN just won't flash anything - the phone is recognised, the MD5 sum on the rom checks out but i always get "Complete(Write) operation failed" error each time. I plug the phone in to the PC, and it recognises it just fine, but KIES is sitting on the "connecting" screen and not doing anything - i've reinstalled the latest drivers as well.
I'm starting to be resigned to the fact i've killed it, but if anyone has any ideas, i'd be hugely grateful - thankyou
touchscreen dead is getting more and more common. Not sure what is going on but if u cant flash anything from odin maybe u have dead mmc chip or something. Hopefully you resolve it or a trip to sammy service centre hopefully can fix under warranty for u
Edit close down all kies software whilst using odin
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium HD app
i dont have warranty as the phone was bought second hand.
i'm just on the phone to my insurance providers though for accidental damage ..it might mean i have to drop it downstairs though !
ooeerr .. rebooted my PC, reconnected to ODIN and it's flashing the UK Stock ROM i got .. fingers crossed. I really don't want to have to drop it downstairs. The insurers will want to inspect it and if there's a custom rom on it, it might get bounced
hankhandsome said:
Ok, I flashed the experimental 4.2.1 update from temasek earlier. flashed his custom kernel. all worked fine.
Told me my SD Card was 'damaged', which I now understand just needed a fix which was provided. However I decided to just forget it and restore my nandroid backup i'd taken the previous night.
Checked the folder was there, which it was, so booted to CWM, did all the wipes and chose "restore". much to my horror, it failed to find any files.
stupid mistake part: i decided to flash the perseus kernel back over the top to see if the CWM would recognise my nandroid files and restore them
the screen just went mad - had blue lines all over the place, the samsung logo jumped about and the screen went off.
i booted back to CWM and found the touchscreen was unresponsive. everything else worked - buttons, CWM. The phone is also recognised in ODIN, so I grabbed the latest stock JB leak and flashed it. it flashed fine, but it was a middle eastern rom, which didn't help, and the touchscreen was still dead.
the PC still recognised it, so i coped the temasek files back on to see if i could re-flash those, which i did, but still no luck with the touchscreen.
flashed the JB leak again with ODIN, which worked. plugged it in to the PC and copied across a nandroid backup folder i'd taken earlier in the evening last night, since the other one seems to not work. rebooted and it still wouldn't find it.
Now i've got the latest stock rom for the uk but ODIN just won't flash anything - the phone is recognised, the MD5 sum on the rom checks out but i always get "Complete(Write) operation failed" error each time. I plug the phone in to the PC, and it recognises it just fine, but KIES is sitting on the "connecting" screen and not doing anything - i've reinstalled the latest drivers as well.
I'm starting to be resigned to the fact i've killed it, but if anyone has any ideas, i'd be hugely grateful - thankyou
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunately your touchscreen died and your only option is to bring it for warranty because of the bad flash, if you have warranty i suggest follow my simple guide here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2074756
---------- Post added at 01:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------
hankhandsome said:
i dont have warranty as the phone was bought second hand.
i'm just on the phone to my insurance providers though for accidental damage ..it might mean i have to drop it downstairs though !
ooeerr .. rebooted my PC, reconnected to ODIN and it's flashing the UK Stock ROM i got .. fingers crossed. I really don't want to have to drop it downstairs. The insurers will want to inspect it and if there's a custom rom on it, it might get bounced
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still follow the guide so the insurance will not detect that you have been rooted before
chris151722 said:
still follow the guide so the insurance will not detect that you have been rooted before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'll see what i can do but it's now stuck in a bootloop after flashing the rom i grabbed earlier, so will try another one.
i might have to kill it stone dead if none of this works
each rom i try in ODIN never boots - just goes into a bootloop.
i suppose if the insurers do inspect it, they may well not be able to get to see the flash counter if they can't boot it up - so it'll have a stock, unrooted rom on it anyway, so does anyone think i'll be ok ?
hankhandsome said:
i'll see what i can do but it's now stuck in a bootloop after flashing the rom i grabbed earlier, so will try another one.
i might have to kill it stone dead if none of this works
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
after you flash stock firmware go to recovery try to factory reset
---------- Post added at 02:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:11 PM ----------
Ausboy 2011 said:
touchscreen dead is getting more and more common. Not sure what is going on but if u cant flash anything from odin maybe u have dead mmc chip or something. Hopefully you resolve it or a trip to sammy service centre hopefully can fix under warranty for u
Edit close down all kies software whilst using odin
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its a bad flash from odin and bad flash thru phone the reason why touch is dying.
chris151722 said:
its a bad flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
every rom though ?
just tried another one and it's bootlooping ..
hankhandsome said:
every rom though ?
just tried another one and it's bootlooping ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
can you access recovery mode? if so try to wipes or factory reset before and after firmware flash
chris151722 said:
can you access recovery mode? if so try to wipes or factory reset before and after firmware flash
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
at the moment i can't access anything - it just sits at the samsung logo now. CWM is now no longer accessible either - i pop the battery, wait a few minutes then put it back in. I hold down Up/Power/Middle button and the Samsung Logo flashes, but nothing happens.
I can still put it in to download mode and flash roms with odin, but nothing happens .. i think i'm going to have to accept it's dead
My last roll of the dice is to grab one of the earlier roms from this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1835931
and see what that does in ODIN
FYI:
1. you don't have to wipe anything before restoring a backup, it doesn't make a difference.
2. insurance fraud is a felony
Glebun said:
FYI: 2. insurance fraud is a felony
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good job i don't live in the US then ..
I'm pretty sure it's illegal no matter where you live
Well I don't particularly want to get into an argument here, as i'd much prefer a phone that works so i'll just thank you for your input.
i think you have to solve the bootloop issue first by searching in the forum, im not expert so cant give you better advice on bootloop,
chris151722 said:
i think you have to solve the bootloop issue first by searching in the forum, im not expert so cant give you better advice on bootloop,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks. it doesn't actually bootloop now, it just sits on the glowing samsung logo and doesn't move.
i just want to get a stock rom back on it and i'm going to just let it go. i'm a bit concerned that on the download screen it says "Custom Binary Download: Yes (19 Counts)". I know I did reset the flash counter not too long ago before I flashed the Darky Rom, so if this is indeed the flash counter, then i've obviously not done something right, so it'll show multiple flashes ..
ok, we've had developments ..
i actually got it in to CWM (don't know how..) and did a factory reset. it then did boot up into the OS but - no touchscreen still.
however, i've just tried connecting it to KIES and it's detected it so i'm going to try the emergency recovery thing ..
he says, as he selects the option and KIES then goes back to "connecting" .. *GROAN* .. and then comes back to tell me it's not supported to upgrade firmware via KIES .. *BIGGER GROAN*
Ok, downloaded and flashed an earlier rom for the UK but still no luck with the screen. Kies won't do any kind of emergency firmware upgrade either so that's that. i'll have to try and get one of those OTG USB dongles so i can get the flash counter reset though ..
hankhandsome said:
Ok, downloaded and flashed an earlier rom for the UK but still no luck with the screen. Kies won't do any kind of emergency firmware upgrade either so that's that. i'll have to try and get one of those OTG USB dongles so i can get the flash counter reset though ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does not reset flash counter only allows access to download mode. Traingle Away to reset flash counter .
jje
JJEgan said:
Does not reset flash counter only allows access to download mode. Traingle Away to reset flash counter .
jje
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'm aware of that - that's why I've ordered the OTG dongle so I can use my desktop mouse to go in and install triangle away

i9100 won't boot rom or recovery after trying to install a CM nightly

Hi Guys,
Sorry to bother you with this, but I'm out of ideas...
I decided to root my i9100 using this guide9.
As I was doing this, the recovery rom would reboot when using the volume buttons to navigate (only on the first "page") - This was easily worked around by using the touchscreen, but now I'm wondering if this was the start of my issues...
I applied the SU busy box installer, and got root. I installed rom manager, and noticed that it seemed to lock up when doing certain things. I put this down to CWM saying there was no official mod for the i9100.
The next day I decided to try and install a CM10.1 nightly, so I took a backup, wiped cache and data, and applied the rom and gapps.
When I rebooted, the phone wouldn't finished booting, it just sat at the initial logo screen.
After that, I tried following this recovery guide but the odin flash failed at around 80% (I retried and the same happened again).
Since then I've had difficulty getting in to recovery mode. I've tried flashing various stock roms with odin, and trying to restore with Kies.
In Kies I get as far as it conencting to the phone in download mode, but it pops up a "notice" in a foreign language - presumably Korean (and I can't copy the text to even attempt a google translation).
I tried flashing Siyah-s2-v5.0.1 to get a different recovery - that seemed to have a garbled progress bar, before hanging when I tried to wipe /data again.
When I use odin to flash a stock rom - is it supposed to restore absolutely everything? I'm not sure how I'm still getting problems if this is the case. Any ideas on what to try next?
(The current stock rom I'm try ing to use is this one)
Let me know if I'm missing any info, and thanks in advance for any help.
Using rom manager would have been the start of your problems-not the temp cwm recovery in the rooting guide.
If you can boot into download mode then I would download LP7 stock rom, disable kies and flash that with Odin.
{go back to your iphone since you are an android noob}
Thanks for the reply.
Rom manager didn't work properly for me, so I stopped using it. I used the temp cwm recovery to install the CM nightly.
I can boot in to download mode, but I've already tried an LP7 rom, - as with the others, it doesn't boot.
Any ideas on how to tell why it isn't booting? logcat doesn't seem to want to to work. Not sure if it's broken / too early in the boot process / etc
Silly Billy said:
Thanks for the reply.
Rom manager didn't work properly for me, so I stopped using it. I used the temp cwm recovery to install the CM nightly.
I can boot in to download mode, but I've already tried an LP7 rom, - as with the others, it doesn't boot.
Any ideas on how to tell why it isn't booting? logcat doesn't seem to want to to work. Not sure if it's broken / too early in the boot process / etc
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I9100 right?
Try this:
- Download this ROM.
- Kies installed? uninstall it, re install it. Close it all up with Task manager (3 or 4 applications running).
- Flash ROM via Odin (CSC, MODEM, PHONE).
- If that doesn't fly, try another usb port & usb cable. Another PC would also be recommended.
- Repeat the process.
- Still no luck? try flashing a previous siyah version.
- No go? repeat all the above.
- Let us know how you did.
gastonw;37017081- Download this ROM.[/QUOTE said:
Thanks, I'll give it a go. (Will take a while for the file to download from hotfile...).
Are odin images for stock roms supposed to restore the stock recovery, or do they leave that alone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a matter of interest, how far did you go with Phistachios repair guide.
{go back to your iphone since you are an android noob}
Silly Billy said:
Thanks, I'll give it a go. (Will take a while for the file to download from hotfile...).
Are odin images for stock roms supposed to restore the stock recovery, or do they leave that alone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Focus on getting a ROM to boot.
That ROM will install stock recovery.
gastonw said:
Let us know how you did.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For some reason, I can't get Odin to flash that rom - it just hands for a while at the start of data.img, before saying "Complete(Write) operation failed."
There a .pit file in the archive, although the link says not to repartition (so I didn't).
Some roms seem to get written, some don't, I'm not sure why...
theunderling said:
As a matter of interest, how far did you go with Phistachios repair guide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin failed about 80% through flashing (step 4, after taking the ICS steps). I tried flashing the kernel afterwards, which flashed, but didn't help with my boot issues.
gastonw said:
Focus on getting a ROM to boot.
That ROM will install stock recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course, I was just trying to get a better understanding of how things work - I'd settle for anything booting right now.
I was meaning how far did you go with his guide.He says (near the end) to flash a bootloader/kernel/rom.
You can try everything in his guide, but understand about the risks involved with pit and bootloaders.
{go back to your iphone since you are an android noob}
theunderling said:
I was meaning how far did you go with his guide.He says (near the end) to flash a bootloader/kernel/rom.
You can try everything in his guide, but understand about the risks involved with pit and bootloaders.
{go back to your iphone since you are an android noob}
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
He's right.
Keep trying, consider pit files & bootloaders as a last resort.
Tried everything?
Used another usb cable for the flash? tried in another PC? tried in a laptop?
Are you sure kies is all shut down?
I've read about so many people having the same issue than you, they keep on flashing as in trial & error and most times they come out winners.
GL!
gastonw said:
He's right.
Keep trying, consider pit files & bootloaders as a last resort.
Tried everything?
Used another usb cable for the flash? tried in another PC? tried in a laptop?
Are you sure kies is all shut down?
I've read about so many people having the same issue than you, they keep on flashing as in trial & error and most times they come out winners.
GL!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'll keep at it then.
I'd tried another cable with kies shut down. Just tried a different machine, and flashed the ROM you suggested with heimdall. It flashed without complaining (unlike odin), but I'm still getting a boot loop.
Looking at the initial recovery guide I was following - I suspect that I might've flashed the bootloader (the guide shows in bold which file goes in which box, so I probably loaded them all). Maybe this is the source of my troubles...
I also noticed that heimdall can pull data from the phone too - if I can pull and mount these, am I likely to find any useful log files?
For completeness (and anyone else who finds themselves with the same issue): It seems I hit the EMMC brick bug, which rendered some of my EMMC storage unusable.
This helpful chap came up with a workaround to partition around the dead space. (Please read the post carefully and make sure this really is your problem before flashing!)
That method will let you know what part of your memory is corrupted. It's done via recovery as far as I remember.
Did you bring your device back to life?
Sent from the little guy
gastonw said:
That method will let you know what part of your memory is corrupted. It's done via recovery as far as I remember.
Did you bring your device back to life?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that's right. IIRC, I flashed a working recovery with Odin, then did most of the work from adb shell.
I got my device back to life for the most part. I get the occasional hang but haven't investigated much (have since bought a Nexus 4, so not using the S2 so much).
Just thought I'd share for the next poor soul who has the same problem

[Q] S3 wont boot

I have had my s3 (i9300) for about a year now and was running fine. It was rooted and running custom ROMs.
For a month or so, I noticed that it never switched off. Even when I pressed the power off option it only restarted. The only time when it switched off was when it ran out of battery. And this was irrespective of any rom that I was using.
Someone suggested flashing the stock firmware. I did that with odin but now my phone wont boot at all. The firmware is flashed but the phone just shows the big battery icon with a circle in it. I can get to download mode and stock recovery.
I tried flashing custom recovery using CF root and flashed a custom rom but still the same result. Worse it increased my flash count.
Is there anything short of taking my phone to the service center that can be done? Also since I can boot into download mode and recovery, Is there anyway to reset the counter? I know triangle away does that but I cant boot so…..
gadgetcraze said:
I have had my s3 (i9300) for about a year now and was running fine. It was rooted and running custom ROMs.
For a month or so, I noticed that it never switched off. Even when I pressed the power off option it only restarted. The only time when it switched off was when it ran out of battery. And this was irrespective of any rom that I was using.
Someone suggested flashing the stock firmware. I did that with odin but now my phone wont boot at all. The firmware is flashed but the phone just shows the big battery icon with a circle in it. I can get to download mode and stock recovery.
I tried flashing custom recovery using CF root and flashed a custom rom but still the same result. Worse it increased my flash count.
Is there anything short of taking my phone to the service center that can be done? Also since I can boot into download mode and recovery, Is there anyway to reset the counter? I know triangle away does that but I cant boot so…..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did do a full wipe after flashing the new roms right?
wangdaning said:
You did do a full wipe after flashing the new roms right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In stock recovery yes (data and cache). From cwm (data cache and dalvik) also. Let me try that again
what file did you flash?
does the recovery show any errors?
gadgetcraze said:
I have had my s3 (i9300) for about a year now and was running fine. It was rooted and running custom ROMs.
For a month or so, I noticed that it never switched off. Even when I pressed the power off option it only restarted. The only time when it switched off was when it ran out of battery. And this was irrespective of any rom that I was using.
Someone suggested flashing the stock firmware. I did that with odin but now my phone wont boot at all. The firmware is flashed but the phone just shows the big battery icon with a circle in it. I can get to download mode and stock recovery.
I tried flashing custom recovery using CF root and flashed a custom rom but still the same result. Worse it increased my flash count.
Is there anything short of taking my phone to the service center that can be done? Also since I can boot into download mode and recovery, Is there anyway to reset the counter? I know triangle away does that but I cant boot so…..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Once you flash a stock ROM, factory reset the phone from stock recovery. That'll solve the issue of reboot loop. :good:
Be warned, you'll lose all data in the internal SD card.
Glebun said:
what file did you flash?
does the recovery show any errors?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock Firmware for my country downloaded from sammobile.
When the phone boots into Recovery, there is a dead green bot and an exclamation mark.
It says
manual mode
Appling Multi-CSC
Applied the CSC code BTU
Successfully applied multi CSC
Oomahey said:
Once you flash a stock ROM, factory reset the phone from stock recovery. That'll solve the issue of reboot loop. :good:
Be warned, you'll lose all data in the internal SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did not work
are you sure the file you flashed is for your model?
Glebun said:
are you sure the file you flashed is for your model?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am. It was not the latest one though. I will download the latest one and give it another shot. Maybe. But if this was a firmware problem, the phone would get stuck at the samsung logo. Would'nt it? Instead the samsung logo never comes on and I just see that battery sign.
And as I mentioned, I had this problem where the phone would not switch off even if I select power off. Even after a battery pull it would boot up on its own. Even now, as I put in the battery, it starts showing the battery symbol with a circle in it. I suspect the two problems may be interconnected and may be related to a hardware failure.
I had a working phone before. Just to fix the power off thing, I might have bricked my phone.
gadgetcraze said:
I am. It was not the latest one though. I will download the latest one and give it another shot. Maybe. But if this was a firmware problem, the phone would get stuck at the samsung logo. Would'nt it? Instead the samsung logo never comes on and I just see that battery sign.
And as I mentioned, I had this problem where the phone would not switch off even if I select power off. Even after a battery pull it would boot up on its own. Even now, as I put in the battery, it starts showing the battery symbol with a circle in it. I suspect the two problems may be interconnected and may be related to a hardware failure.
I had a working phone before. Just to fix the power off thing, I might have bricked my phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you got a backup of your efs, if not pull it from your device while you can. Use ADB from recovery to do it.
Something else on you device is causing the power button issue. Could be some mod, or just some corruption. Are you getting other signs when booting?
Last resort, use Kies. Follow the guide posted on here. Don't plug in your device, select emegency (firmware) recovery, give the info (serial number) and plug in when prompted. Back up your efs first if you can. ADB pull the efs is /dev/block/mmcblk0p3.
wangdaning said:
Have you got a backup of your efs, if not pull it from your device while you can. Use ADB from recovery to do it.
Something else on you device is causing the power button issue. Could be some mod, or just some corruption. Are you getting other signs when booting?
Last resort, use Kies. Follow the guide posted on here. Don't plug in your device, select emegency (firmware) recovery, give the info (serial number) and plug in when prompted. Back up your efs first if you can. ADB pull the efs is /dev/block/mmcblk0p3.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did backup my efs folder when I rooted my phone first. Hope that suffices. Can you point me to the guide for emergency recovery? I could locate this. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1984717
That guide would be correct, but make sure you use your model number. For international, I believe it is GT-I9300, and has to be written that way.
wangdaning said:
That guide would be correct, but make sure you use your model number. For international, I believe it is GT-I9300, and has to be written that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked partially. Now wont reboot. At least I was able to set the counters to 0 before it went dead again. Thanks for the help.
After working for a while, on resetting the phone, it went completely dead. I took the phone to the service center and it turned out to a case of defective mini usb jack. Maybe the reasons it was booting up in between on change of softwares was just a matter of chance.
Thanks for the help.

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