Database Develop

Help, partially bricked phone

I’m hoping someone can help me out with my phone. I have been searching the forums but it’s all getting a little much and i just need some advice please.
The background
I flashed my UK sgs (i9000 i think) with a darky modded ROM which has worked fine for about 6 months my phone has become more and more unstable. Seeing as i can work Odin i thought i would flash it again and fix my issues. Then my phone crashed and wouldn’t boot up, it was stuck on the Samsung Galaxy screen, before the flashing S. I then downloaded the official 2.3.3 ROM’s from the link of official Samsung ROM’s from the thread in the General forum and flashed it. This all went fine until i rebooted my phone, it went into recovery mode fine, although i got some error messages about being unable to mount the SD cards (i can add the proper error message tomorrow for you) i cleared user data and cache, rebooted and my phone came up with a new Gingerbread ROM. This was fine until i realised it had not mounted either my Internal or External SD cards. The operating system worked fine but i could not format or mount my SD cards. I then decided to reimage the phone using the same image i had downloaded in case something had gone wrong but i got the same error messages and now i couldn’t boot into the OS. Since this has happened i have downloaded a 2.2.x ROM and flashed that but i still have the same problem. I have also downloaded and flashed the Darky Resurrection ROM but that doesn’t seem to have helped. I have asked Odin to repartition, i have used PIT 512 and a couple of others, 1 and 3 file ROM’s and if i am honest, i have got nowhere apart from a headache.
I think i have some how corrupted the internal SD card and need to reimage all the right folders and stuff but with the huge amount of official ROM’s, custom ROM’s, recovery tools and tips and tricks, my head is just swimming. Can someone please just point me in the right directions and hopefully i can have a working phone in the morning.
Many thanks in advance,
Simon

do you have any lagfix before you flash to the official 2.3.3 ROM’s ?

I'm having a similar issue w/ mine. The external sd wouldn't mount and i had kind of already started the process to update the rom. It was a dumb mistake. i knew the sd wasn't mounting so i used a different phone to mount put the updates on. Nevertheless i can't use my phone, other than to get on clockwork.

I think i may have had a lag fix on it but as i was unable to get my phone to start there was no chance of removing it before i reflashed the phone. Now i just need to get the damn internal SD working again so i can have a working phone, can you help?
Also, sorry if my main post is a little rambling, i wrote it when i got home from the pub drowning my sorrorws and may have been a little drunk...

Ok, now i've had a coffee and my headache is dying down i can add a little more info which will hopefully help.
I just downloaded GT_I9000_XWJS7_XXJPY_XEEJS1 from Darky rom user guides page on restoring a SGS to a stock ROM and followed all of the instructions. the flash in Odin goes just fine, no errors or anything, my phone the reboots, gets to the Samsung Galaxy screen and i get into the recovery mode with the following messages :
Update media. please wait
E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
(no such file or directory)
E:copy_dbdata_media: Can't mount SDCARD
Your storage not prepared yet, please use UI menu for format and reboot actions
copy default media content failed.
This is where i then get stuck, my phone will just get stuck in a boot loop and there seems to be no way to get into the phone. This is starting to drive me to dispair now as everything i have tried has failed badly! Does anyone have any idea how i go about recovering from this?

ok so,
-flash froyo firmware (2.2.1 might be better) then flash speedmod kernel
-get into recovery mode and check your phone's file system in lagfix option
-if it is rfs change it to ext4
-if it is ext4 change it to rfs
im not sure about this method but i ever had this preblem after i converted system to rfs (ext4 before)
hope it helps you and tell me that it works or not,thanks.
edit:wrong word

FLash darky's resurrection Rom ...that error caused by you forget disable lagfix before...
or try Flashing a full rom (3files) with .pit to repartitioning your phone... thick repartition...and thats not "Brick" if you can go download mode...
Come on lets see

I once had the same problem. Same error.message. I searched a lot in xda n finally read something which says to flash Rom with 812 pit and eclair (2.1) with 3 files. After flashing the error message came again so I relished using only pda file. Next time it rebooted normally into home screen. Hope it helps
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

OK, we're getting somewhere now but not there yet. Flashing the speedmod kernel lets me boot the phone which is further than i have got for a day so thats good, but it still won't recognisse any internal or external SD cards, if you look in the settings section it just shows options to format the sd cards.
I tried changing the filesystem to ex4 as recommended but once it reboots when it says it will go to the recovery menu to debug it just presents me with the option to convert it again as it says the filesystem for /data is RFS still.
Any ideas why it would be doing this and why it won't recognise any of the memory cards? I have also noticed that when i connect the phone to my PC now and tell it to go into Mass storage mode, it shows the drives but says there is no media there! I'm very confused by the whole thing now but at least i do have a phone again of sorts!

So i flashed Darky's resurrection ROM and this is now booting up much as the phone was with the speedmod kernel flashed but i still have the same issue where it won't recognise either the external or internal SD cards so i have no storage space at all. Is it possible i have broken them? I assume at least a bit of the internal card is working or the OS wouldn't be there but why can it not see the other half of the card?

Right, after messing about for far too long i have bitten the bulit and sending it in for repairs, i've read through a couple of posts that seem to say it's the only way to fix it so will see how good the Samsung techicians are!
Thanks for all the help though, you've got me a working phone again, even if i can't save anything on it!

[Q] part of internal sdcard gone

Hi all,
I have some trouble figuring out what's happening with my Galaxy S internal sdcard.
first, I lost part of my phone during a call. phone fell in a rebooting loop. since then ; HELL !
I followed each and every post of about 200 threads to get my phone back like (not limited too) :
- flashed 2.1 (2.2) original firmware with Odin
- flashed all existing ROMS (or almost) with .pit, pda via Odin
- all mount unmount things (now grayed in menu with no available message)
- messing around with adb fdisk, mount, format, etc
- did all possible combination of reset, hard reset, wipe, format from phone or recovery
- tried repartitioning card (with gparted once)
- formating via usb from window 7
well, you got the picture !
now the strange things are :
- phone boot ok with any ROM, now with Darky resurection 10.1
- call, gps, messaging are all ok
- no sdcard visible from within the phone or from windows, so no camera or music or any apps that needs to write to sdcard is possible
- a 2go partition exists on the 16go internal sdcard
- if external sdcard is removed, phone never boot pass logo, although I can go in recovery mode and manage to see all files on internal sdcard with adb shell
- mmcblk0p1 and mmcblk0p2 are only visible when external sdcard is in the phone so I guess the 14go partition failed once to load and system recorded external sdcard as the internal sdcard.
I need a way to put sdcards in the right place as I'm pretty sure the internal one is not fried but only lost a partition probably due to lagfix or a corrupt filesystem.
I'm no expert at all with linux OS or partitioning but I'm sure that's the way to go and I know there's a great bunch of devoted developers in here
PR
ps. I'm willing to pay if anyone can get me out of there FAST

I suspect this could be down to bootloaders, 10.1 requires ficeto JVH base right ? and that requires GB bootloaders, im not 100% sure, ive not used his roms for quite some time.
but im sure your problem lies there somewhere.

azzledazzle said:
I suspect this could be down to bootloaders, 10.1 requires ficeto JVH base right ? and that requires GB bootloaders, im not 100% sure, ive not used his roms for quite some time.
but im sure your problem lies there somewhere.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
phone boot ok with all ROMs with any XXX base I tried so I installed 10.1
whatever the ROM, issues are all the same as mentioned above
this won't b easy

well flash back to froyo or eclair, use a 3 file firmware with pit and re-partition
then when that is successful flash this : http://sourceforge.net/projects/teamhacksung/files/galaxys/GT-I9000_FROYO_FULL_PDA.tar/download
then report back please
you dont have the I9000 M<< do you ??

azzledazzle said:
well flash back to froyo or eclair, use a 3 file firmware with pit and re-partition
then when that is successful flash this :
then report back please
you dont have the I9000 M<< do you ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok done flashing
manage to reboot phone WITHOUT external sdcard.
still don't have access to the 14go internal sdcard partition, although ROM is installed on it (maybe on the 2go partition).
external card is recognized but only with unmount option as size is indicating 00 (of 16go) so cannot use it to store anything from phone (camera, music, etc) will try a empty 8go
any idea about internal sdcard ?
few more white hairs

you didnt state whether you had the M version of the SGS, this is known for its internal sd failures.
also boot into recovery, is there any error messages ?

I have Vibrant version from Bell, GT-I9000 from about phone menu
still cannot mount external sdcard
recovery report no error so far

the bell version of the i9000 is the one that suffers from internal sd card corruption.
there have been many reports of this, i feel you could be another on the ever growing list.
Have a read of this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=905975
if that brings you no luck, i would suggest you ring bell / samsung for a repair / replacement

i9000 Bootloop/Internal SD Corruption/Semi-Brick

I have an international i9000 that seems to be pretty solidly soft-bricked. I've recently moved back to Canada from the Middle East and was trying to enable to 850 band so I could use it with Bell. I was under the impression that the Bell SGS and the international SGS were basically the same hardware so I flashed (ODIN) a PDA/PHONE/CSC designed for the i9000m. At the time I was on the teamhacksung ICS.
Now, regardless of what I do I always end up in basically the same spot. After my most recent flash through Heimdall, following the first reboot I end up in 3e recovery with the following errors...
---------
E:failed to mount /sdcard (File exists)
E:copy_dbdata_media:Can't mount /sdcard
your storage not prepared yet. please use UI menu for format and reboot actions
E:format_volume: rfs format failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
Data wipe failed
---------
I've been at this for 2 days and tried pretty much everything. Flashed through Odin and Heimdall as well as from recovery off an external SD. I tried 1-click de-brick. I tried to re-partition through ADB. I get various messages in ADB depending on what I'm doing. Sometimes it's I/O errors and sometimes it says "unrecognized disk label".
I can get to recovery and download so it seems like it should be solvable. My impression is that the partition table or structure on the internal SD card has been corrupted.
Sorry if there is already a thread for this with a simple answer, I've been through a ton and couldn't find anything that worked for me. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I'm not an expert in shell but I can follow instructions. Happy to try anything at this point.
Thanks

Exactly the same issue here, so I'll just wait for a solution here.

I think I saw this problems before. Have u backed up all your data? If yes then do this 3 ways below. If you haven't backed up yet, try to do Nandroid backup from recovery mode and restore it later.
Now try this:
1. On recovery mode: wipe data/factory reset, wipe cache, in advance-wipe Dalvik cache.
2. Remove your external sd card ( put it back later if everything's fine ).
3: Set the USB debugging ON, settings-applications-development.
Hope this helps. If it does, please consider 'THANKS' button

At this point it doesn't boot into Android. It was looping for a while but now the boot animation will start, then the screen will go black and the back/options LEDs at the bottom come on. Anything on the phone is long gone after multiple wipes/flashes/etc. I'm not worried about that.
I'm pretty sure it's a problem with the partition on the internal SD. Does anyone know how to reset/repair the partition table and rebuild the partitions from ADB? Why doesn't that happen automatically when I flash from Odin/Heimdall? Isn't that the point of the "partition" toggle?
Or, could I try to convert the file system as if I were moving from a stock ROM to something like CM7 (ie...RFS to EXT4)? Would that recreate the partitions and fix this?
Thanks

Have you tried to flash a stock samsung firmware for your phone (i9000) and re partition using a 512 pit file via Odin? Have a read of the following thread below to get the latest Stock firmware for (i9000).
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1102881

Yep, I've tried several of these across froyo/gingerbread and always end up with an unmountable internal SD card. Just for fun I went and picked another one basically at random (JV6 2.3.3) and it flashed as normal and dumped me at recovery with the mounting sd card/storage not prepared error.
Are there really no takers on this? I keep reading that these are un-brickable if they still start up.

This might be worth a try, failing that you might have to take the phone to a Samsung repair agent.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=984140

i read about this problem before on darkyrom i think there was a way to bypass corrupt internal sd and use external one go check there its worth a try

Fallen04 said:
This might be worth a try, failing that you might have to take the phone to a Samsung repair agent.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=984140
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Kiaora mate, it's a good thread to try to . Just another thread I found that may help the idea as well:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1442684&highlight=md5+sums
Hope this helps

Hi!
I had the same problem with my i9000. I have moved /data to external SD card and everything is working now (on ICS).
I have created a manual for solving this issue. Please click "helped" and/or ads, if this helped at least a bit.
www youtube com/watch?v=zdMhYYdMB08
Best regards

fteller said:
Hi!
I had the same problem with my i9000. I have moved /data to external SD card and everything is working now (on ICS).
I have created a manual for solving this issue. Please click "helped" and/or ads, if this helped at least a bit.
www youtube com/watch?v=zdMhYYdMB08
Best regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've the same problem and I've tried everything. Not I'm sure that the internal memory is broken, so I want to use the external sd as internal memory. I'm following your manual but I can't get it to work. I tell you what I've done:
1) I've formated the external sdcard with two partitions: one of 6 GB in vfat format and the other of 8GB in reiserfs. It seems to be ok.
2) I've tried to flash with odin the JVU 2.3.6 version. Here I've some questions: Shall I check re-partition? And apply the PIT file? I've tried all combinations but I still doesn't use the external memory and I get the mmcblk0p2 error...
Any help?

Here I have posted how I have solved my problem of corrupt internal memory. Look at it and I hope someone will help.

This guide install rom to SD Card, but still have question, how to repair internal memory? i`l boot`ed rom from SD Card, but cant see internal memory, use camera, etc. who need internal memory...
Maybe are any app to fix internal memory, when android boot`ed?

In most cases I have met (including Galaxy Tab P1000 and GT-i9003) with internal memory failure or corrupted memory, the only solution is to replace the chip. If you've booted your terminal and can not use the camera or see the internal storage, you have to modify the file vold.fstab according to your android version.

[Q] SD Card Error (can't mount /sdcard)

Hello,
I've been successfully rooted my Galaxy S (i9000) since the first day I got it. Installed CM10, Slim ICS and other ROM's with no problem. A few days ago I tried to flash the latest (beta if I'm not mistaking) of Slim ICS and somehow everything got screwed. Sadly I don't have a Titanium Backup.
The problem is with the internal memory I guess, as I can use an external SD card (The one that you place in the slot). I've tried everything from Ezboot, Darky ROM, pit files, and various stock kernels and ROMs with no success. I've also tried flashing a dbdata file with no success. From what I've read, the partitioning seems to be off, and that *could* be the problem. The errors I've got are:
When trying to wipe data/factory reset:
E:format_volume: rfs format failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p2
While trying to install any rom (CM/Slim ICS):
E: Error in /sdcard/file_name.zip - Where file_name is the name of the rom archive.
Status (0)
Installation aborted.
The one thing I did not try is the ADB stuff for which I haven't found a proper guide. I've also tried various fixes from previous threads and I still haven't got it to work. Any help or pointers will be much appreciated. Thank you.
PS: I can enter recovery and download modes. Is the phone bricked?

UPDATE: I've managed to install CM9, but after it boots it sais Encryption Unsuccesfull.

Bad news, I had a similar problem...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1895224
But for now try this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1841250
Sent from my GT-I9000

Thanks a lot for the reply. Either I did something wrong or I don't know.. the guides don't work. Any other ideas?

Bump...

I had something similar and I found that when booting my phone what helps is keeping the external SD card outside and only after some time putting it back in...
the way I check it is that I have direct call to contacts in my Widgetsoid notification widget and only after they show the image of the person and not only a blank square then I enter my SD card.
but It always doing problems with my ringtones and making them Unkown so every reboot I have to rearrange them.
You could also check it by using apps that don't run with SD card... like camera, gallery, Waze and such.
Hope it works!

[Q] Help !! :( unable to mount /modemfs

Ok, first time posting here, so pardon me for any stupidity. I need help, been using unofficial slimkat rom on s3 mini, was trying an app that uses part of your external SD as RAM, turns out my Kernel doesnt have the swap feature, tried to install another kernel, the phone got stuck in a boot loop shows this "unable to mount /modemfs" in recovery whenever I try to do anything, also there was unable to mount sdcard and unable to mount data, but those got fixed by too many formats and wipes and flashing some PIT and Modem files though Odin, have no idea what to do, can someone help please ?

kfatah22 said:
Ok, first time posting here, so pardon me for any stupidity. I need help, been using unofficial slimkat rom on s3 mini, was trying an app that uses part of your external SD as RAM, turns out my Kernel doesnt have the swap feature, tried to install another kernel, the phone got stuck in a boot loop shows this "unable to mount /modemfs" in recovery whenever I try to do anything, also there was unable to mount sdcard and unable to mount data, but those got fixed by too many formats and wipes and flashing some PIT and Modem files though Odin, have no idea what to do, can someone help please ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also new to android, but I know linux well
modemfs seems like another partition on the internal storage
since you reflashed this it might be in the wrong format / filesystem
my phone reports this entry in the fstab (mine is ext4 format)
/dev/block/mmcblk0p12 /modemfs ext4 noatime,nosuid,nodev,journal_async_commit,errors=panic wait,check
you need to flash one in the correct filesystem, maybe try one of these from http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2526831 not sure if these are odin compatible
if all else fails you can download the stock rom from http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/

thanks for your help
thanks for replying, and sorry for the late answer.
I will try the link you sent me, but there are a couple of stuff i failed to mention last time, before showing me that it used to show failed to mount /data and /sdcard .. I think the internal sdcard is damaged because I did flash the stock rom, the phone boots without the ability to install any apps, no network, yellow text is displayed on the screen saying stuff like PDA and Csc .. etc, inside settings baseband is XXXXXX. also when I connect the phone to my windows ... the internal is empty with incorrect size and you cant create or copy folders in it and was not able to formate it in windows or linux .. even recovery was not able to formate it.
update: I did try one of the files, but it is the same unfortunately .. I think its the sdcard issue .. but that is ofcourse my humble opinion. any other solutions ??

kfatah22 said:
thanks for replying, and sorry for the late answer.
I will try the link you sent me, but there are a couple of stuff i failed to mention last time, before showing me that it used to show failed to mount /data and /sdcard .. I think the internal sdcard is damaged because I did flash the stock rom, the phone boots without the ability to install any apps, no network, yellow text is displayed on the screen saying stuff like PDA and Csc .. etc, inside settings baseband is XXXXXX. also when I connect the phone to my windows ... the internal is empty with incorrect size and you cant create or copy folders in it and was not able to formate it in windows or linux .. even recovery was not able to formate it.
update: I did try one of the files, but it is the same unfortunately .. I think its the sdcard issue .. but that is ofcourse my humble opinion. any other solutions ??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I seriously doubt that the internal memory itself is damaged. If you were able to flash anything then it still works.
Or are you referring to the removable SD card? Via USB connection none of the storage size is also not reported correctly on my phone.
What recovery do you have installed?
1. Firstly you should get the phone working again and work off WIFI.
I am not sure if the stock rom installer only copies files or if it dd the whole image (incl filesystem format).
Your IMEI is stored on a filesystem and mounted on /efs - You should not remove / format this filesystem !!! Do not even touch it!
When you installed the custom rom intially you probably formatted in the f2fs file system? I would install the custom rom again, and in the install menu format "data" and "swap" to ext4 filesystem just to be sure.
Flash back to stock make sure about model and baseband
The phone should boot up and at least be able to install apps via WIFI.
I installed the app "ssh/sftp server" and then login via ssh to browse and inspect the phone.
2. Step two is fixing the baseband (not having any network signal)
2.1 What is your original baseband?
2.2 What phone variant do you have 8190/8190L/8190N? If you flash a different one to your phone it will not work.

I mean the internal sdcard, cause previously it showed unable to mount /sdcard, right now I have the stock rom, each time the phone reboots, it resets itself again, all my changes are gone, yes I can turn on wifi but no apps are to be installed, using pc can't copy anything to the internal storage (I can only copy on my external card which I use to flash) right now I have TWRP and I tried CWM as well. as for installing a custom ROM, it didn't work, the phone doesnt get past the s3 mini logo, only the stock rom passes through, my phone is 8190 and I have no clue what is the original baseband um really sorry I am a total noob. I will try again to flash the customer rom using Odin and will get back to you.
thanks so much for going through the trouble.

kfatah22 said:
I mean the internal sdcard, cause previously it showed unable to mount /sdcard, right now I have the stock rom, each time the phone reboots, it resets itself again, all my changes are gone, yes I can turn on wifi but no apps are to be installed, using pc can't copy anything to the internal storage (I can only copy on my external card which I use to flash) right now I have TWRP and I tried CWM as well. as for installing a custom ROM, it didn't work, the phone doesnt get past the s3 mini logo, only the stock rom passes through, my phone is 8190 and I have no clue what is the original baseband um really sorry I am a total noob. I will try again to flash the customer rom using Odin and will get back to you.
thanks so much for going through the trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is
The baseband is linked to your country, it specifies the frequencies that you are allowed to use to communicate with the cellphone network. So If I know what country you are from we might be able to locate the correct Stock ROM on SanMobile. You might be flashing a wrong stock rom to start off with.
What country do you live in and what network operator?
Are you using ext4 filesystem for data and swap?
I personally used twrp 2.8.0. I think this is the way to go.
Do you know Linux?