Database Develop

Odin successful, but still stuck in boot loop

TL;DR - Stuck in boot loop, can't enter recovery mode, but can enter download mode. Odin says it is successful, but the phone is still in the boot loop.
I've had Cognition 2.3 for a few months now and decided to update to Cognition 4.3. I used the AIO toolbox 2.5 to Odin one-click back to stock, rooted, and flashed to 4.3. Everything went well and I restored all my apps with Titanium and loaded some music.
At some point later the screen was completely blank and the only way I could get any response out of it was to hold the volume buttons and power buttons. Instead of going into recovery, though, it would boot to the Cognition boot screen and hang indefinitely.
I was able to get it into download mode by removing the sim and battery and holding the volume buttons while plugging it into USB and replacing the battery. I ran Odin one-click again, it said it was successful, but the phone was stuck in either a battery screen or AT&T screen boot loop (depending on whether or not it was plugged into USB).
I've tried using regular Odin with both the ROM included with AIO 2.5 (JF6*) and JH2 (from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=10056254&postcount=36) to no avail. Every time Odin shows that it is successful, but it always ends up in a boot loop with no ability to enter recovery mode.
What can I do? Will getting a jig help me in any way?
*Edited for correct ROM

Use the normal ODIN (v1.7 or v1.8), a full stock JF6 ROM and PIT file. Make sure "repartition" is selected and if possible, do a master clear with ODIN first (though shouldn't be critical.........then start over with Cog 4.3 if that's your ROM of choice (good choice by the way).

I tried the JF6 ROM again with the same results (using http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818439#8802897). It looks like AIO 2.5 used this ROM all along.
I can't master clear because I can't boot past the AT&T screen. The only way for me to get Odin (or Windows for that matter) to recognize the phone is by putting it in download mode. From what I understand you don't master clear from download mode.

bharden said:
I tried the JF6 ROM again with the same results (using http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818439#8802897). It looks like AIO 2.5 used this ROM all along.
I can't master clear because I can't boot past the AT&T screen. The only way for me to get Odin (or Windows for that matter) to recognize the phone is by putting it in download mode. From what I understand you don't master clear from download mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using the PIT file and selecting repartition?
When I get home today, I will upload the ROM and PIT that I use to flash to stock and see if that helps but you do need to use the PIT and repartion which will only help if you have a FULL copy of JF6 that reloads the bootloaders.

Just out of curiosity, what is your build number?

I am using the PIT and selecting repartition. I've done this every time I've tried Odin (besides when using one-click of course) Is the PDA.tar listed in that link not a full copy of JF6?
My build number is 1008.

May sound crazy, but you could try using a different computer. I ran into a lot of problems using odin on my pc. Switched to laptop (more ram and windows 7 64 bit ) with great success. Also make sure you have the right drivers. Your build# should allow you to use odin one click.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I've actually already tried it from both my PC (Windows 7 x64, 4 GB ram) and my laptop (Windows Vista x86, 2 GB ram). In both cases I used the drivers in the AIO toolbox 2.5 (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=944418)
Are those the correct ones? If not, could you point me to a resource with the latest drivers? There are quite a few versions floating around and I'm not sure which ones I should be using.
Any other suggestions?

Those should be the correct drivers
Also, make sure odin is completely open before connecting your phone.
That'd all I can think of.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I definitely did that.
Since I'm able to get into download mode, I should be able to un-brick it right? I can't figure out why Odin says it's successful but I still can't boot.
Does anyone else have any ideas?

You may have to give it a few minutes or so as I am uploading now but the link for the PDA and PIT is:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24576569/ATT%20ROM%202.1.rar
Try using this version of ODIN:
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/24576569/Odin3%20v1.7.rar
Hope this helps otherwise I am out of ideas except flashing a kernel with a recovery included through ODIN, going into the recovery and formatting and wiping absolutely everything and then reflashing JF6. But try the files I linked first.
Good luck.

It's been 30 minutes and the ROM link still isn't up. Is it working?
Also, I'd like to change what I said slightly. When using regular Odin 1.81 it says PASS when it's finished. When using Odin one-click it gets to the point of cache.rfs and then says removed. The box turns blue and says Reset. Meanwhile, the phone is busy rebooting indefinitely on the battery screen.
I'll try your ROM and Odin version as soon as the link works. Also, do you have a ROM with built in recovery that you would suggest? Thanks!

bharden said:
It's been 30 minutes and the ROM link still isn't up. Is it working?
Also, I'd like to change what I said slightly. When using regular Odin 1.81 it says PASS when it's finished. When using Odin one-click it gets to the point of cache.rfs and then says removed. The box turns blue and says Reset. Meanwhile, the phone is busy rebooting indefinitely on the battery screen.
I'll try your ROM and Odin version as soon as the link works. Also, do you have a ROM with built in recovery that you would suggest? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Drop box seems to be running slow. So the JF6 that I am uploading may take a bit. The version of ODIN that You are running should be fine.
Try this Kernel. It's not a complete ROM just the kernel. If it works, you will have to flash a ROM too. Cognition is a good start. You can find it in the Dev section and actually, even if it's not the recommended way of flashing, I moght try flashing a custom ROM anyway just to rule out ODIN and your phone. If you can successfully flash a custom ROM then it's probably the version of JF6 that you are using.
Anyway, let's start with the kernel first:
Onix by existz:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=930679
make sure you download 2.0.3 "tar" file for ODIN
you know how to get into recovery after you flash right? From powered off, hold the up and down volume buttons and then power all at the same time for about 5 second......

Ok, so there seems to be some progress. I flashed the kernel and the phone rebooted to what I'm assuming is the Onix splash screen and hangs. The power button won't turn the phone off, but at least the softkeys do seem to respond, even if they don't do anything.
Odin now recognizes the phone in both download mode and at the splash screen. Although, to reach download mode I now have to take the battery out, whereas I did not have to before.
I'm still unable to enter recovery. The only way to get any response out of the phone at the splash screen is to hold both volumes and the power button, but the phone just reboots back to the splash. It also does this when attempting to enter recovery from a power off state.

bharden said:
Ok, so there seems to be some progress. I flashed the kernel and the phone rebooted to what I'm assuming is the Onix splash screen and hangs. The power button won't turn the phone off, but at least the softkeys do seem to respond, even if they don't do anything.
Odin now recognizes the phone in both download mode and at the splash screen. Although, to reach download mode I now have to take the battery out, whereas I did not have to before.
I'm still unable to enter recovery. The only way to get any response out of the phone at the splash screen is to hold both volumes and the power button, but the phone just reboots back to the splash. It also does this when attempting to enter recovery from a power off state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The three button combo should work to reset the phone when it's stuck as well as getting into recovery. It sounds like you aren't holding the buttons for long enough. If the phone is frozen, you have to hold the button combo for quite a while to get the phone to reset. Weh trying to get into recovery, push both volume buttons and then hold down the power button and don't let go till yoiu get past the AT&T screen.
If that still doesn't work, then try and load up the ROM and see if at least you can get a working phone back in the meantime. Like I said, I recommend Cog 4.3 but serendipity is a good choice too.

Awesome. I must have been holding the buttons for half a second too little. Now I can get into the Onix Recovery, but I'm getting:
"E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 (or /dev/block/mmcblk0) (No such file or directory)"
when trying to mount the SD card.
Searching around I've found these two threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=563298
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=792708
but I'm not exactly sure what to do with the information. I don't particularly want to go guessing at what to do next and ruin my progress. Could you give me a little guidance on what steps to take next?
From "adb shell mount /sdcard" I'm getting:
mount: can't find /sdcard in /etc/fstab

bharden said:
Awesome. I must have been holding the buttons for half a second too little. Now I can get into the Onix Recovery, but I'm getting:
"E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1 (or /dev/block/mmcblk0) (No such file or directory)"
when trying to mount the SD card.
Searching around I've found these two threads:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=563298
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=792708
but I'm not exactly sure what to do with the information. I don't particularly want to go guessing at what to do next and ruin my progress. Could you give me a little guidance on what steps to take next?
From "adb shell mount /sdcard" I'm getting:
mount: can't find /sdcard in /etc/fstab
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, so I've never had to mount SD from those options so not too familiar with this problem but, i am going to guess that we shouldn't have to play with this right now. Onix will let you install a zip from your external SD, so i recomend finding a recovery flashable ROM (almost all custom ROMs come this way....it'll be a ZIP file) Again I recomend using Cog 4.3 or serendipity (both of these may change your kernel but it's ok because they will both have a custom recovery).
Follow these steps:
1. Remove your external SD and insert it into your computer.
2. Remove any files you want to keep and place them somewhere on your computer for future recovery (Titanium backups, music, pics, etc....)
3. Format your sd (FAT32 should be default)
4. Download the ROM of your choice, copy it to the root of your external SD using your computer
5. Replace the SD into your phone power up into recovery
6. From the Onix recovery menu select "advanced options"
7. Pick wipe dalvik/cache and confirm
8. Select go back untill you get to the first recovery menu
9. Select install zip from SD and NOT "install update.zip"
10. Navigate to your external SD (it should look something like "/extsd" in the file menu
11. Pick the zip you put on the external SD and confirm
12. Wait till the recovery indicates instalation done
13. Navigate back to the first recovery menu and select reboot phone
14. Sit back and relax, your phone will likely take 3-5 min to boot up the first time
If after 10 min of waiting you get no response from your phone, use the 3 button reset to get into the custom recovery and select advanced features again, format absolutely everything you can format (you'll have to do it one at a time) and do that. Then repeat the steps above.
Installing a custom ROM isn't normally this complicated but I am trying to eliminate as many variables as possible here that might cause complications with instalation.
Let me know how it turns out.

FYI: Continuum v4 has the Onix kernel in it (recovery is a blue color)

ROM Files
This is the link to the good JF6 stock ROM. You will have to download it and the ODIN version. All you need is the PDA.tar and the PIT that comes with the ODIN package in the thread. You can still use ODIN 1.8 once you get the PIT file out of the ODIN ZIP.
So, after all is said and done. When you feel like trying this:
1. Open ODIN
2. Phone into download mode (with phone off hold down both volume buttons and plug in USB)
3. Make sure phone is recognised by ODIN
4. Select PIT file that you downloaded
5. Select PDA file that you downloaded
6. Make sure "repartition" IS selected
7. Hit start and sit back and relax
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818439
Again, let me know how it all works out.......

Ok, I'll try flashing Cog 4.3 after I get off this afternoon. I'll have to buy an external SD, but that's better than buying a new phone.
I skimmed those threads on the internal SD problem and it looks like there's either some corruption on the SD or it's not formatted correctly or something. How can I fix this problem? Doesn't the ROM need that internal SD card space? Or can it use the external SD card as a replacement? If it does need the internal SD card then won't the ROM fail to install if that SD is corrupted?
Thanks for all your help by the way. When Odin wasn't fixing the problem I was afraid it was completely bricked.

[Q] Galaxy Tab won't work

Hi everyone, my Galaxy stuck at the samsung logo screen after updating through Keis. Is it because I applied lag fix before? What can I do now to fix it?
I can get into the recovery menu, but I tried all options and nothing work, just stuck at the screen with exclamation mark

is there no option to reboot? Mine got stuck once and i've put it in the same mode and just shut it down. i could restart it and worked fine again (except for the loss of my favorites)

I take no responsibility if this doesn't fix your problem or makes it worse, but here's my suggestion.
Originally Posted by alterbridge86
IF your Tab does not boot after flashing the kernel and hangs at the Samsung Galaxy Tab screen, you must follow the following procedure
Get a stock rom package (any of Rotohammer's firmwares will work)
Get P1_add_hidden.zip from this post and extract the P1_add_hidden.pit file
Using Odin 1.7, put stock rom (Roto-JME-Full-v4.tar for example) in PDA slot.
Put P1_add_hidden.pit in Pit slot
Check repartition box
Put Tab in download mode by holding Volume Down and Power, connect to the computer, and press start.
After this, the Tab will reboot normally. Shut it down and return to download mode.
Open Odin 1.7 and reconnect the Tab.
In the PDA slot, choose the Overcome Kernel v2.0 tar file for use with Odin. Press start
It will flash the kernel then reboot. Upon reboot, you should hear the sexy robot voices informing you of the status of the EXT4 conversion.
Once done, the Tab will boot normally. At this point you can load Overcome Rom (or any other Rom of your choosing)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search the forums, do your homework, you can still save your tab.

[Q] Yet another bricked phone

Hi!
I tried to upgrade to 2.3 tonight via Kies, and something went wrong.
First, I did a factory reset on the phone before trying to upgrade. Then, during the upgrade, the screen on the phone turned shiny blue a couple of minutes into the process. I left it like that for 30 minutes, but nothing happened.
I then disconnected it, expecting trouble either way.
I can access download mode, but not recovery mode. I started download mode, and tried the kies "emergency recovery". That seemd to work for two minutes, before my screen again turned blue.
So I decided to try something else. Just to see if I could revive my phone, I used this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=818556
Same problem - My screen turns blue and nothing happens.
I'm kind of hoping some of you guys/girls have a bright idea or two
I could use some help.
Thanks - Ivar

solution is simple : 1. go in download mode (and afterwards plug in the usb)
2. download odin 1.3
3. download XXJPU from samfirmware + 512.pit
4.Start odin 1.3
5.check the repartion box
6.select the PIT file
7.select pda (pda low) file
8.select phone (modem file)
9.select csc (csc file)
click start and pray

[Q] samsung galaxy note loads to logo screen and stays there

samsung galaxy note, uk model will not load up, it stays at the samsung logo screen. I tried to hard reset and was unable to get to any other screen other than the samsung logo screen, so that was unsuccessful. I then downloaded odin3 v1.5 and firmware from sammobile: N7000XXKKA_N7000CPWKK3_N7000XXKK5_HOME.tar.md5
i followed this post on how to flash:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389693
after i completed the process, odin stated "pass" the phone restarted but still remained at the logo screen, so that was unsuccessful.
i dont know what to do next. Its been three days since ive used my phone. please help.
thankyou

Try odin 1.85
I had an issue with odin incorrectly flashing roms and when i tried 1.85 its worked on all my phones since, my ace, galaxy s and most recently kl7 on my note.

see if this helps
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1386356
alvin1987 said:
samsung galaxy note, uk model will not load up, it stays at the samsung logo screen. I tried to hard reset and was unable to get to any other screen other than the samsung logo screen, so that was unsuccessful. I then downloaded odin3 v1.5 and firmware from sammobile: N7000XXKKA_N7000CPWKK3_N7000XXKK5_HOME.tar.md5
i followed this post on how to flash:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1389693
after i completed the process, odin stated "pass" the phone restarted but still remained at the logo screen, so that was unsuccessful.
i dont know what to do next. Its been three days since ive used my phone. please help.
thankyou
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

PIT file
i selected the hyperlink you provided. I am following option 1. i have checked the 'PDA' box, browsed and set the directory for the (XXXXXXXXXXXXXX.tar) file. I am confused with step 6 as you have asked to select a 'pit' file, where can i get this file?
thankyou

just to add..
when i said i had done a hard reset, i used the button combination (volume down + power + home screen button) this did nothing, it did not give me access to another mode, it just stayed on the same logo screen

i followed your link and executed all stages
i followed your link and executed all stages. i found out what the PIT file was, browsed for and added it to the directory. It did not work successfully. i now have the explanation mark sign followed by a message "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again" problem is kies has no details of my phone and cant connect to my phone.
please help
thankyou

Pit file is attached in "zip" file in the same thread, download firmware from here
http://www.sammobile.com/firmware/?page=3&t=1&o=1&m=GT-N7000&r=1#regiona (i think you are in EU somewhere if not change "region" to download your latest Firmware...)
Now follow this
- Run (open) Samsung N7000 Galaxy Note Downloader (Odin3 v 1.85) .
- Check these options: Re-Partition, Auto Reboot, and F. Reset Time.
- Now you have to select Pit file and Firmware files too like this (click & browse):
PIT: Q1_20110914_16GB.pit
PDA: CODE_N7000xxxxx_CL627135_REV02_user_low_ship.tar.m d5
PHONE: MODEM_N7000xxxxx_REV_05_CL1067428.tar.md5
CSC: GT-N7000-MULTI-CSC-Oxxxxx.tar.md5
- Put phone into Download Mode: power off the phone, at the same time press (Volume Down + Home + Power) buttons
- Connect USB cable to phone and make sure the program detect it (Comm 2-Yellow box).
- Click Start button and wait till the program finishes the process.
- After the phone restarted disconnect USB cable.
- If stuck in Boot animation (samsung logo) Take out the Battery, leave it for 5 minutes, and re-insert battery, Press (Volume Up+Menu+Power button) simultaneously to enter Recovery mode, once in recovery Mode, do a factory reset and repeat above process
alvin1987 said:
i followed your link and executed all stages. i found out what the PIT file was, browsed for and added it to the directory. It did not work successfully. i now have the explanation mark sign followed by a message "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again" problem is kies has no details of my phone and cant connect to my phone.
please help
thankyou
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

i understand how to retreive the 'PIT' file, and the '.tar' file. However, where do i retreive the 'CSC' and 'Phone' files from.
please help
thankyou

i retreived the PIT file from odin:
u1_02_20110310_emmc_EXT4.pit
Does this file look correct for a PIT file?
If possible can you provide links to the other files i need and pit file, if the one ive displayed about is incorrect. ive noticed in the flash guide for my phone, n7000, it talks about a jig box, which i am not using and have no knowledge of.
thankyou for your kind help

Dear If you have one file other than Pit, then click PDA and browse to this .tar file, click start it will work, if you have 3 files see guide as there in my earlier posts
pit file is attached
alvin1987 said:
i retreived the PIT file from odin:
u1_02_20110310_emmc_EXT4.pit
Does this file look correct for a PIT file?
If possible can you provide links to the other files i need and pit file, if the one ive displayed about is incorrect. ive noticed in the flash guide for my phone, n7000, it talks about a jig box, which i am not using and have no knowledge of.
thankyou for your kind help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

i done what you said using:
N7000XXKKA_N7000CPWKK3_N7000XXKK5_HOME.tar.md5 (uk firmware)
Q1_20110914_16GB.pit
i am now back to the samsung logo screen. However this time you can hear the phone functioning in the background. i can press the volume up/volume down whilst the sound of the phone gets loud or quiet. i can hear messages comming through. i just cant see nothing but the samsung logo flashing.
you said at the end of your link, that if this should happen i should reset phone from recovery and restart the process, how do i do this? how do i enter recovery mode to reset the phone
thankyou for your help, please continue i think we are nearly there
i am grateful

i done what you said using:
N7000XXKKA_N7000CPWKK3_N7000XXKK5_HOME.tar.md5 (uk firmware)
Q1_20110914_16GB.pit
i am now back to the samsung logo screen. However this time you can hear the phone functioning in the background. i can press the volume up/volume down whilst the sound of the phone gets loud or quiet. i can hear messages comming through. i just cant see nothing but the samsung logo flashing.
you said at the end of your link, that if this should happen i should reset phone from recovery and restart the process, how do i do this? how do i enter recovery mode to reset the phone
thankyou for your help, please continue i think we are nearly there
i am grateful

- If stuck in Boot animation (samsung logo) Take out the Battery, leave it for 5 minutes, and re-insert battery, Press (Volume Up+Menu+Power button) simultaneously to enter Recovery mode, once in recovery Mode, do a factory reset and repeat above process
I hope r u putting right files in Odin for pda, csc and modem
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium

the only files im using in odin are:
1) PDA: N7000XXKKA_N7000CPWKK3_N7000XXKK5_HOME.tar.md5
2) PIT: Q1_20110914_16GB.pit
these are the only TWO files i have. You said if i have one file other than the PIT file, which would be the PDA file i have stated above then i can click start in odin once the files had been browsed for. what am i doing wrong?

in OPTION 1 of the following link u posted to me:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1386356
it only mentions the PDA and PIT files. It does not mention CSC or PHONE or MODEM files. IF i do need any of them files where exactly can i get them from i been reading through earlier posts of yours yet still cant find them.
Thankyou

ive noticed this file from Dr.Ketan
"Yes itmay be single file after extraction, inthis case select just PDA
DONT SELECT RESET PARTITION"
if i have just a PDA file and a PIT file then im not suppose to select re-partition. in your post in option one of your link you said to select this.

Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try agai

Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try agai
i was trying to root my note something happen now i cant do nothing!!!in the screen say'''
Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try again even kies cant conect to the phone

PSYCHOBOY18 said:
i was trying to root my note something happen now i cant do nothing!!!in the screen say'''
Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try again even kies cant conect to the phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what have you tried to do to fix this already?

ICS Bad Idea!!!
I wouldnt recommned updating to ICS especially through kies i had my phone stuck at "firmware upgrade encountered an issue please select recovery mode in kies and try again" for 2 days It was a disaster. So i came across a website called http://androidromupdate.com/2012/09...-firmware-upgrade-official-kiesota-stock-rom/
I then downloaded the the I927UCLH2 ICS 4.0.4 Original Stock ROM using ODIN... FOLLOW DIRECTIONS THROUGH THE SITE NOT KIES!! BUT THE ORIGINAL STOCK ROM!
***After you have successfully completed the stock rom with ODIN***
Get a rom from http://forum.jakar.co/android-hack/1345758298/ Choose the ROM called Bio360 its almost the same Replica of Gingerbread its Version 2.3.5
VERY IMPORTANT!! Make sure you put the ZIP FILE (ROM) in your INTERNAL STORAGE NOT THE EXTERNAL!!! (SD CARD SLOT) BIG MISTAKE!!
Go to google and type in "CWM captivate glide new" click the first link beggining with www.theandroidsoul.com........ FOLLOW DIRECTIONS THROUGH THE SITE!
After you have downloaded the Rom (ZIP FILE) and CWM put your phone into Recovery mode by powering off the device. hold power button and the volume down button until you see clockwork recovery, from here you are going to look for install from sd card and look for the zip file/Rom Bio360 and you should be set!
*******THE Bio360 Rom is also Rooted so there is no need to do an extra step************
*** I HOPE THSI HELPS ANY PROBLEMS FEEL FREE TO INBOX ME ANY QUESTIONS*** I WILL TRY MY BEST TO HELP......

Sorry guys wrong post this is for Samsung captivate glide! , my mistake..
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I927R using xda premium

Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery in Kies and try again
This is for Samsung Galaxy Note 2 (Sprint SPH-L900) Is the website for the stock rom
rwilco12.com
stock rom: [ROM][ODIN][TAR]SPH-L900 MA7 (MA7 Modem/Kernel/ROM - Stock
Odin 3 v 1.85 (You Can Google and find it)
ok sweet so I have done this successfully. i really believe you should put this on ur first post so people dont have to do searching and can feel at ease.
1. Start ODIN 3v1.85
2. Enter Download Mode
a. Power the phone off.
b. Plug the usb cable into the computer (not the phone)
c. Hold both sides of the volume rocker down (vol up + vol down)
d. While holding those buttons down, insert the usb cable into your phone.
It may take a second or two for the screen to display with a warning. Press the Volume UP key to download a custom ROM.
3. In ODIN, click PDA and select the PDA.tar file you extracted
4. DO NOT check re-partition, Flash Lock, Phone EFS Clear, Phone bootloader update
5. CHECK Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time
6. Click Start
At the end of the process ODIN's first block will show up as YELLOW with the words PASS and your phone will reboot.
Unplug USB from your phone after first boot.
It worked for me perfectly you don't have to F.Reset

Perhaps you should try the Note 2 forums for a more informative response?

I have the same problem with my tmobile galaxy s ii, T989
Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try again
and whenever I start installing a stock room using Odin 1.85 it force close and the phone stays in the same page saying
Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try again
Please help!

Tried everything I know and still not working
I tried two computers and everytime I start odin it forces stop
The screen is still in Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in kies & try again
and I guess this is the download mode because I restarted it with volume up and down and pluged the usb and it turns to this screen
I downloaded odin again to make sure it runs ok and also tried it in my wifes phone and it runs with no problem
It is one of two cases, ether the phone is completely dead or the files I am using to be installed are not the correct ones
I tried the files on this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1414341
Please tell me what to do
I really need the phone...