[Q] Changing Bootloader - Discussion - What's the safest way? - Galaxy S I9000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hi guys, I want to change my phone bootloader and also to a friend of mine. But I have some nasty experience with bootloader upgrading so I though that a discussion here would be good, so everyone know what to do in the future.
For example, I use ODIN for firmware upgrades, but as you all know it has a quite big rate of failures, caused by different reasons. On the other hand, we have Heimdall which is supposed to be safer and has more options than ODIN (bootloader flash only and such things).
The point is, while we are in download mode, and the flashing of bootloader fails, after restart... well... there won;t be a start anymore. The phone will be dead. What I was thinking is: what if we don't thick restart on ODIN or Heimdall and if flashing the boot loader fails, the phone will remain in download mode. Couldn't this be the opportunity to try again? After all, all we need is download mode.
We could try second time with Heimdall, or another full firmware with odin... what do you say guys?
Remaining in download mode gives us a second chance to bootloader writing?
Sorry if I've been really fuzzy in my ideas but I'm very sleepy right now.

Crysis21 said:
Remaining in download mode gives us a second chance to bootloader writing?
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Click to collapse
Unfortunately no. If a flash fails it's because the phone has stopped responding to commands. The phone won't continue responding to commands until you've booted into download mode again. It's for this very reason I don't actually have a "no reboot" option for Heimdall, it would be pretty much pointless.
However luckily if you're just flashing a secondary bootloader the device can still be booted up using a custom jig. This is because devices store a backup secondary bootloader that can be used if the first one is corrupt. A custom jig seems to cause the device to boot using this backup secondary bootloader.
However as far as I can tell if you stuff up the primary bootloader then you're toast. This would require a JTAG fix. I'm not actually sure if this has ever even happened though.

The thing is, 4 months ago I ended up on JTAG. After messing the bootloader I managed to get download mode with custom JIG. But after that I don;t know exactly the mistakes I've made, but I ended up with a dead phone. No JIG working, nothing. So... yes it happened. I am toasted already with bootloader changing) that's why I was asking if remaining in Download mode helps with somthing.
Thanks for your answer

Sorry I should have been clear. I know there are cases where users have hard-bricked their phone and not even a custom jig would help so JTAG was required.
During the early stages of Heimdall's development, prior to the custom jig discovery, I bricked my device to the point of not being able to charge. This was because either boot.bin or params.lfs failed to flash due to a bug in a alpha release of Heimdall. We didn't know about custom jigs then so I was unable to actually test if it was recoverable.
However, all the hard-brick cases that I've heard sufficient detail about, turn out to be a result of users flashing a primary bootloader that was not designed for their device. So what I should have said is that I'm not sure if anyone has ever actually failed to sucessfully flash a primary bootloader (other than me with an alpha build).
Anyway unfortunately there's not a whole lot that can be done to 100% remove the risk of bricking. Either the secondary bootloader USB control software is buggy or the hardware itself is crap and sometimes it doesn't get on well with some people's USB ports. Unless we come up with a way to easily replace the bootloaders from the device itself then the best thing you can do is use a reliable USB port.

Thanks for the information...

Related

Risk of bricking when flashing bootloader

Hi guys,
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I'm currently on Dark's 9.5, and want to upgrade to 10. I know this requires flashing bootloaders, and I hear this is where you can brick your phone if something bad happens. Just wondering how big the risk is?
Thanks for the reassurance!
Rob
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
the risk is 0% if you follow the instructions correctly
just be sure to double read and take your time.
and if for any reason you do brick your phone, providing you still have download mode, which is hard to lose, you can always re flash bootloaders to get the phone working again
Awesome! I was under the impression that failed bootloader flash = bricked phone. Thanks for the reply! I'll take a crack at it tomorrow!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
It should be noted that download mode is part of the bootloaders, and if the flash gets messed up whilst installing that part then you are out of luck. In some cases a Jig can help but it's certainly possible to brick your phone during this process. In which point you will either need to send it back to samsung or be very, very good at soldering and have some expensive equipment to use the jtag. This is why most people don't recommend flashing roms with bootloaders unless you need to (ie upgrading).
If you follow a good set of instructions and understand what you are doing then you are quite unlikely to have any problems however.
Yeah, failed flash of bootloaders can lead to bricking the phone! I wouldn't worry to much coz bootloaders flash in seconds, so unless you decide to unplug your usb connector within the 10 seconds interval of the flash you'll be fine (unless your electricity decides to go down exactly in that period LOL). Any way a JIG always helps, so you can get one online for a couple of bugs (or have one made) in case an event like the abovementioned occurs.
(unless your electricity decides to go down exactly in that period LOL)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
happend to me couple of days ago. but jig helped recovering my phone from dead
Thanks for all the reassurance everyone! I've decided that I'll probably do the flash on my MacBook (it has a native Win7 installation) so that I'm running on batteries, just wondering if there are any potential problems with using Odin in this way?

HELP! Flashed Wrong Kernel Stuck at Galaxy Screen on Boot

Ok I have a stock KB2 Cappy. I used Odin to flash back to 2.1 KB1 JF6
Then I used Odin 3 to flash a kernel so I can put on CM7. I am now stuck in the Boot screen.
I have no 3 button, I cannot get into download mode (my jig is homemade should i order one?)
I tried to change usb and remove the sim card to try odin again to get back into stock.
Nothing seems to work the only thing is my jig is not good either for DL Mode. I want to get back to stock so any suggestions. I tried heimandall did not work either.
I am really stuck on this galaxy s I897 screen.
Is the jig soldered? If its not make sure you are connecting the correct pins and use some black tape or something to isolate your fingers from the resistors (might screw up the actual ohms making it to boot up normally and not in to dl mode.
The bootloop was expected, you are supposed to check that you have a working button combo both before you flash the kernel (because it will bootloop and you boot into recovery and flash whatever) and before you ever flash cm7 because that is the only way to get into download mode besides a jig on aosp roms.
so, fiddle around with your jig some more and if you get it in download mode just flash the captivate gingerbread bootloaders, that will fix your button combo and allow you to proceed flashing cm7.
Hi Guys,
I have a similar problem. I am a total noob-I've had my I896 cappy (Canadian Rogers based) for about a year now; i fiddled with it on Saturday and also got the bootloop. I freaked out, and managed to further flash (out of frustration and confusion) the cappy with another wrong ROM, the I900. I managed to get it back into DL mode and tried flashing stock eclair or 2.2 froyo via ODIN. For some reason, whenever I start the flash (press start on Odin with the froyo 2.2 file on PDA), the progress fails at the factory section. I don't know much about jigs yet, but any tips would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
Chord in the back of the PC directly attached to the motherboard NO EXTERNAL HUBS, right click on Odin run as admin.
Once you have it working READ AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE TO YOUR PHONE
This is probably the easiest guide on how to make one. Layman Jig First one I did I butchered a pare car charger to make it. You can just grab one from MobileTechVideos.com for about $8.
AlphaJ1 said:
Hi Guys,
I have a similar problem. I am a total noob-I've had my I896 cappy (Canadian Rogers based) for about a year now; i fiddled with it on Saturday and also got the bootloop. I freaked out, and managed to further flash (out of frustration and confusion) the cappy with another wrong ROM, the I900. I managed to get it back into DL mode and tried flashing stock eclair or 2.2 froyo via ODIN. For some reason, whenever I start the flash (press start on Odin with the froyo 2.2 file on PDA), the progress fails at the factory section. I don't know much about jigs yet, but any tips would be greatly appreciated.
thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi guys,
Thanks for the link.
From what I understand, a jig is an improvised connection that allows your phone to go into DL mode. What if my phone is still capable of going into DL mode? My apologies, as I am at work.
Im not sure what you mean with your question. What the jig does is give the signal for it to go to download mode as was intended by samsung. Same theory on how your phone knows its connected to your computer, or the wall or the car charger. Its by manipulating the current between 2 pins. Keep in mind your phone should always be capable of going in to download mode assuming the hardware is working and your bootloaders are in working order.
I believe I read it on a different website that as long as your phone can go into download mode, then it is only "soft-bricked," meaning it can still be recovered using ODIN. I don't know If I was misinformed or not. I guess my question is, since my phone is still able to go into download mode, but the flash is still failing, did I DL the wrong ROM, or was the copy of Froyo 2.2 I DL'd corrupt? If so, is there a reliable source/site where I can download Froyo or Eclair?
I hope that makes more sense.
Read my post after yours...
studacris said:
Chord in the back of the PC directly attached to the motherboard NO EXTERNAL HUBS, right click on Odin run as admin.
Once you have it working READ AND UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE DOING, BEFORE DOING ANYTHING ELSE TO YOUR PHONE
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^What he said. If that fails could be a faulty cable.
AlphaJ1 said:
I believe I read it on a different website that as long as your phone can go into download mode, then it is only "soft-bricked," meaning it can still be recovered using ODIN. I don't know If I was misinformed or not. I guess my question is, since my phone is still able to go into download mode, but the flash is still failing, did I DL the wrong ROM, or was the copy of Froyo 2.2 I DL'd corrupt? If so, is there a reliable source/site where I can download Froyo or Eclair?
I hope that makes more sense.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct, if you can get into download mode you are not bricked. Make sure you are using the usb cord that came with your phone, plugged directly into the back of your computer. Make sure your SIM card is out, you're logged in as an administrator, and that you start odin before you plug your phone in.
If it still doesn't work, try another computer and/or another cord.
Why do people say take sim out? Ive never taken it out and had no issues. Just curious.
That is a practice from way back in the winmo days, sometimes the flash would corrupt the Sim itself. Not the case anymore for the most part. I'm with you never take mine out either.
Thanks guys, I will try this at home; hopefully it works.
prbassplayer said:
Why do people say take sim out? Ive never taken it out and had no issues. Just curious.
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Click to collapse
I say it because, while I've never had it screw up the SIM itself, I had a situation where I forgot to remove it and then couldn't get odin to complete a flash on several attempts, resulting in a soft brick that I couldn't flash out of. As soon as I removed the sim, Odin flashed without an issue.
Coincidence? Maybe, although I didn't change anything else. If it possibly keeps me from repeating this terrifying event, though, I'll just keep doing it
apbthe3 said:
I say it because, while I've never had it screw up the SIM itself, I had a situation where I forgot to remove it and then couldn't get odin to complete a flash on several attempts, resulting in a soft brick that I couldn't flash out of. As soon as I removed the sim, Odin flashed without an issue.
Coincidence? Maybe, although I didn't change anything else. If it possibly keeps me from repeating this terrifying event, though, I'll just keep doing it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get a red "FAIL" message on ODIN? Because thats what I got several times. My buddy also tried and he got the same thing. The green progress bar completes up till about 80 percent and gives up on me. I'll try taking out the SD and SIM cards when I get home, hopefully it works.
Hi guys, little update:
I found this on the forums and used it:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
Anyways, this worked after my second try. Interestingly enough, it worked once i removed the Sim card, which is what apbthe3 suggested..great! I'm just glad my phone is no longer bricked. Minor issue though, my phone is now an AT&T phone, but unfortunately, I am a Canadian Samsung user. New problem now. My phone is no longer rooted (never was actually, but was bricked in the process), I'm happy it works, but i need to know if there are any Canadians out there that know how to revert my device back to Rogers.
Any help would be great. Anyways, the link I provided works great, so its a great resource for our American friends.
Why don't you look at Cognition 4.x.x? Froyo stock ish looking rom tweaked out the ass very fast. Good rom.
Look in development. There are a couple of threads there just for Rogers users.

No Bootloader

I have a droid 4 that ended up with bad software. Simple issue is I got no bootloader, no power, no nada. When I connect a regular USB i get a green light in the corner but no activity and no detect. Needless to say, bootloader is corrupt at this point. Sent it back to Moto Repair and they claim physical damage (though I know for a fact there is none) so I'm looking to Flash the bootloader myself. I'm aware it's going to have to be a low level NAND flash. Anyone familiar with this process? Computer does not detect. Does anyone have the latest A.074 Bootloader file I can grab? Need to get this guy running. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Oh, and yes I have a factory programming cable if I can make use of it somehow......
queberican351 said:
I have a droid 4 that ended up with bad software. Simple issue is I got no bootloader, no power, no nada. When I connect a regular USB i get a green light in the corner but no activity and no detect. Needless to say, bootloader is corrupt at this point. Sent it back to Moto Repair and they claim physical damage (though I know for a fact there is none) so I'm looking to Flash the bootloader myself. I'm aware it's going to have to be a low level NAND flash. Anyone familiar with this process? Computer does not detect. Does anyone have the latest A.074 Bootloader file I can grab? Need to get this guy running. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did the bootloader get corrupted? I was under the impression the phone would not allow you to flash another bootloader unless it was signed... You should ask Moto what was physically damaged, if it was a simple flash they should be able to fix it easily for you.
NEED DD
That was my thoughts exactly. But they claim liquid damage. I've since then opened the phone and inspected all the stickers....no sign of liquid damage. I would think a 2 minute bootloader flash wouldn't constitute this much despair (on Motorola's part) but such is life. Now I'm just looking to get the first couple Mb in a device dump so I can write it to an sdcard and attempt to boot from there and repair the bootloader. It has to be a device dump from a D4 running the a.074 bootloader. Any takers?
You could try looking in the fastboot files, they're on the Droid 4 development boards, they have both Gingerbread ones
D4 6.16.215 MBM files
Here are the D4 6.16.215 mbm.bin and other low level boot files from the leaked OTA update.zip.
I don't think they are going to help you given that there is no way that I am aware of to boot from the sdcard on a Motorola device.
There is a USB boot option for loading a factory I/O image(pre firmware basic input/output interface), but I don't know how you would initialize it nor do I have the factory image for the D4.
It is most likely a touchpoint on the board that needs to be shorted while the factory cable is inserted and that would bypass the EMMC and initialize the USB boot.
I am just guessing here...good luck!
if you somehow unlock it too, let us know what you did
SD Card boot didn't work and couldn't get it to detect on my windows or linux pc's. Therefore OMAPboot was out of the question. So I parted it out. I've acquired another D4 and I'm curious as to what if any advancements have been made on getting them to work on US GSM carriers? If we're still stuck I'm more than willing to jump into Dev on this and open to suggestions. My new D4 is running bone stock GB. I'm going to keep looking into the SD or USB possible fix's for hardbricks.
Thanx for the replies and thanx to [mbm], Jonpry, PhareignQ (think I mightta spelled that wrong), and HashCode for their knowledge, help, and suggestions along the way.
Hey man! You're the second one with same issue. I'm looking to buy new motherboard for droid 4 with same crapped bootloader + broken cdrom partition
For those who is interesting in, motorola factory cable doesn't work with droid 4 for some strange reason.
I can attest to the fact that the factory cable does, indeed, work with the D4 just like the Razr and other Motorola models.
I am not sure why yours doesn't or what condition your phone is in at this point, but the factory cable will power the device directly, bypassing the battery/charging circuit and allow you to flash it as long as the bootloader and mbmloader are not corrupt.
In that case, when the mbmloader fails, then nothing happens on the device at all unless a factory cable is connected, then it will flash the LED white just once as the cable is inserted and then loop continuously trying to load an interface and fails. The screen does nothing and the device is dead except pressing all 3 hardware buttons will arrest then restart the cycle of failed interface initialization once released.
I have a Razr in this state that I unfortunately attempted to flash some unknown files we received that we foolishly believed may have been an OEM bootloader unlock.
If you flash a corrupt image to the mbmloader the device is toast, AFAIK, although I do believe they have ways to recover them and in the past those methods often involved shorting a set of pads on the board with a paperclip while inserting the factory cable, initializing a timed event where the EMMC was bypassed and and factory I/O file could be loaded via a USB boot option.
I don't know if any of these methods could actually save any of our phones in this state, but I would like to believe its possible!
I just wanted to clarify about the factory cable.
Yup, what @Cellzealot said. I've removed the battery from the D4 and the factory cable works as intended. To be frank I had a moment of ignorance. I had just gotten my D4 (used) and was attempting to try and find a solution for the US GSM band unlock. In reading through the post about the Bionic I found that there was alot of talk about needing to be on bootloader 0A.72 or something to the fact of having success with that. The kid I got it from had already installed the ICS leak. So I paid no attention to the fact that the bootloader on MY phone was 0A.74....so I opened RSD and attempted to send mbm and mbmloader from 0A.72. It failed and that was the last thing ever "sent" to that phone. As soon as I disconnected it the phone powered down and never did anything after that.......
So I pursued the Boot from SD theory to no success, though I believe it is plausible, however probably still required a short to enable it. And Linux and Windows wouldn't even detect the OMAP4430 (as I've heard some people had luck with). So OMAPboot (boot from usb) was out too.
Finally got another D4, and being the phone soldier I try to be, Went right back to town attempting to get this thing to run on AT&T. So far no luck. I've been trying radio's and rom's from different devices and brandings that are running 2.3.6 (I left this one on the stock Gingerbread)
Willing to undertake any suggestions as long as "bootloader" is nowhere in the equation,
queberican351 said:
Yup, what @Cellzealot said. I've removed the battery from the D4 and the factory cable works as intended. To be frank I had a moment of ignorance. I had just gotten my D4 (used) and was attempting to try and find a solution for the US GSM band unlock. In reading through the post about the Bionic I found that there was alot of talk about needing to be on bootloader 0A.72 or something to the fact of having success with that. The kid I got it from had already installed the ICS leak. So I paid no attention to the fact that the bootloader on MY phone was 0A.74....so I opened RSD and attempted to send mbm and mbmloader from 0A.72. It failed and that was the last thing ever "sent" to that phone. As soon as I disconnected it the phone powered down and never did anything after that.......
So I pursued the Boot from SD theory to no success, though I believe it is plausible, however probably still required a short to enable it. And Linux and Windows wouldn't even detect the OMAP4430 (as I've heard some people had luck with). So OMAPboot (boot from usb) was out too.
Finally got another D4, and being the phone soldier I try to be, Went right back to town attempting to get this thing to run on AT&T. So far no luck. I've been trying radio's and rom's from different devices and brandings that are running 2.3.6 (I left this one on the stock Gingerbread)
Willing to undertake any suggestions as long as "bootloader" is nowhere in the equation,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any solution on black screen and broken bootloader?
Here I have black screen with AC adapter connected. If I connect the phone to PC, I have green led indicator, but still black screen. Buttons have no reactions.
Anything new? Two users on a German bulletin board do have the same issue. I will get one Droid 4 of them in the next few days to have a look at it. But this thread sounds like there is no solution?
http://db.tt/u31VG45D
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2055839
The first link is to the most recent level 4 bootloader repair kit that we have for the Maserati/Droid 4 which is 0a.6c from pre ICS builds.
It is possible you may be able to use the pbrdl.bin and brdl.bin from those files with the mbmloader.bin and mbm.bin from a more current build to restore your device.
Again, these files are a year old now and may not work but you have little to lose in trying.
Use the method in the second link in Linux to try to restore your bootloader with the omapflash-lnx binary from that thread.
This is very likely to fail if the device has a recent firmware build on it but we don't have any of these repair kits for the newer bootloaders.
Good luck!
Thanks.
I got one of these phones. But it isn't even recognized via USB So I can't use these tools...
Is there any way to flash it via JTAG/ISP/...? Maybe this is the last chance - or this phone is dead ^^

(uNLKd_BLDR) boot problem.. Unable to enter DL or Fastboot.. Can anyone help? I made

I made a vid so I can show exactly what it's doing.. Its only like 15 seconds
https://youtu.be/And3oxigBnM
Redacted Kaos said:
I made a vid so I can show exactly what it's doing.. Its only like 15 seconds
https://youtu.be/And3oxigBnM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tfat has to be frustrating, I don't want to waste your time, but hate to see someone with a dead device, so you've already tried qfil and lgup, and fastboot commands? And you've also attempted to get into EDL again I'm assuming, and have you looked to see what your device is named in device manager in this state, meaning I'd it labeling it a modem or ADB device.? I'm just throwing some stuff out there because if it's fixable, and I'm sure it is, you have to get it into some other mode. I get that screen too but it boots and everything. If these guys can't get you hooked up than that vlad dude can do remote work and I think he knows LG very well. Just a thought.
Can you describe what you have done to get to this point? I was in a similar situation last week that took about 12 hours of troubleshooting but eventually got it fixed and set up the way I want.
I made a mistake somewhere and flashed something or failed to flash something that got me in a similar state.
I will just throw out what worked for me. I had lost every bootable mode except for 9008 (edl?). So I tried using QFIL to flash Pie laf_a and laf_b or the Oreo version. This gets you LG Download mode back. From here I recommend using a KDZ to get back to stock and boot in to make sure you can. My first attempt at this point was flashing a Pie KDZ US unlocked (I have AT&T ). Would not boot. So I tried flashing the Oreo KDZ US unlocked… lo and behold it booted all the way up. From here I was able to start over and follow the guide to get Lineage OS.
Anyway hopes this helps you.
Thank you guys for answering me I will basically I've got magisk installed bootloader unlocked rooted and I was just my phone will boot up and stuff but you know what happens whenever I want to go into download mode or go into sucking whatever you know.. I went through all this trouble got this phone unlocked and rooted and stuff 90% of the s*** that I can use what does rooted phone requires a custom recovery which is the one sucking thing I guess you can't do so I'm thinking about just flashing back stop because I don't have this kind of irritated cuz there's so many modules I want to use and stuff and I can't because there's no way to flash custom recovery whatever seed wrmn whatever

Question SM-G998B Bricked

Hey guys, second time this issue has happened now for me but seems worse now. I used posts from here to resolve back in March when device got stuck in a boot loop after an OTA update, I managed to use Odin and a firmware from Sams Mobile to flash the phone and get it working again.
This time seems different though, I haven't tried the above steps yet, but none of the drives are mounting in the android recovery menu, which makes me think the device is going to need replacing. Anyone else come across this?
Seems different?
Well I would try Odin and an official ROM anyway, no pain no gain right?
What exactly were you doing before this occured?
You try the old delete usb driver, restart computer, install usb driver then restart computer and restart phone and try again.
SirDigbyCC said:
Hey guys, second time this issue has happened now for me but seems worse now. I used posts from here to resolve back in March when device got stuck in a boot loop after an OTA update, I managed to use Odin and a firmware from Sams Mobile to flash the phone and get it working again.
This time seems different though, I haven't tried the above steps yet, but none of the drives are mounting in the android recovery menu, which makes me think the device is going to need replacing. Anyone else come across this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
there is never a bricked device for good just keep searching using very device speacific info, check on youtube and search the names exactly as the ypop up there will always be something
flairepathos.info said:
there is never a bricked device for good just keep searching using very device speacific info, check on youtube and search the names exactly as the ypop up there will always be something
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like he bricked his bootloader's storage access driver, which AFAIK is unrecoverable unless download mode / sahara / etc is fine, but if the board is refusing to mount data while in the bootloader, it's safe to bet the rest of the modes are ****ed.
To answer a few of your questions in one go:
When I flashed it before it was back in end of Feb so a good while ago.
Just before it went into this boot loop it was working normally playing music in my pocket while doing gardening.
Using ODIN this time failed as I don't think it could access any of the drives.
SapphireEX said:
Looks like he bricked his bootloader's storage access driver, which AFAIK is unrecoverable unless download mode / sahara / etc is fine, but if the board is refusing to mount data while in the bootloader, it's safe to bet the rest of the modes are ****ed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I see the issue now you need to wipe all and re-flash full firmware when flashing the device using Odin
if that doesn't work flash the partitions with the kernel drivers and system partition
I had a similar issue with my current mtk phone and it was because the boot/preloader partition bilieved i had flashed the wrong firmware for my device(it was just a different firmware release for my phone
Just to be safe some ota updates break wehn the bootloader is not unlocked (when updationg from say android 8(oreo) -9(pie)...)
especially because of code errors in the update, cache/vendor partition being too full after downloading update
SirDigbyCC said:
To answer a few of your questions in one go:
When I flashed it before it was back in end of Feb so a good while ago.
Just before it went into this boot loop it was working normally playing music in my pocket while doing gardening.
Using ODIN this time failed as I don't think it could access any of the drives.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're telling the truth, and it wasn't a bad module / firmware / etc, it is possible your eMMC got too hot and melted some solder. I've seen it happen before.
You'll want to diagnose everything you can. If you're on Windows, does it recognize a USB device or a COM device? If linux, does lsusb return anything useful about it?
If it's not being detected, and multiple wires doesn't change anything, are you able to access sahara mode / download / DFU? If so, go to those and try again.
If you are lying, and this is a bad firmware flash / OTA brick, you'll need to tell us otherwise we'll be going in circles.
So ODIN does recognise the device when in android recovery mode i choose the bootloader, but when starting it, it fails. I'll give it longer tomorrow but my inclination is it's a chip failure. I don't know hot to tell if it was a bad firmware flash, but the first (and only) time I flashed it was back in late Feb / Early March, and I have been using it fine with many OTA updates since then using the phone normally since. Before the boot loop I was playing music via Bluetooth speaker but the battery died while gardening, which the battery died on so played music directly on the phone (no update or anything) and the music stopped halfway through the song and it was in a boot loop.
I am taking the phone in for repair on Wednesday but it's really frustrating because I legitimately want to get to the route cause of the issues. I am covered by Samsung Care +, but I feel like if I screwed up the first flash, it's still only as a result of that first OTA update going wrong in the first place. Does that make sense?
SirDigbyCC said:
So ODIN does recognise the device when in android recovery mode i choose the bootloader, but when starting it, it fails. I'll give it longer tomorrow but my inclination is it's a chip failure. I don't know hot to tell if it was a bad firmware flash, but the first (and only) time I flashed it was back in late Feb / Early March, and I have been using it fine with many OTA updates since then using the phone normally since. Before the boot loop I was playing music via Bluetooth speaker but the battery died while gardening, which the battery died on so played music directly on the phone (no update or anything) and the music stopped halfway through the song and it was in a boot loop.
I am taking the phone in for repair on Wednesday but it's really frustrating because I legitimately want to get to the route cause of the issues. I am covered by Samsung Care +, but I feel like if I screwed up the first flash, it's still only as a result of that first OTA update going wrong in the first place. Does that make sense?
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I'm going to call hardware failure. It's extremely rare that any device will do what yours is doing without a bad firmware flash.. It's possible you had an OTA and it auto updated, then broke, but I doubt it.
SapphireEX said:
I'm going to call hardware failure. It's extremely rare that any device will do what yours is doing without a bad firmware flash.. It's possible you had an OTA and it auto updated, then broke, but I doubt it.
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I appreciate the vote of confidence, I don't think it was an OTA update that did it this time, it usually requests to do updates which I highly doubt I would have pocket approved through a flip case only short after pressing play on Spotify.
So I have taken it into Samsung for repair and they have confirmed it's a hardware issue that feels vindicating!
SirDigbyCC said:
So I have taken it into Samsung for repair and they have confirmed it's a hardware issue that feels vindicating!
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how much are they charging for the repair though? probably a motherboard replacement ? boy thats not going to be cheap!
shriom_manerker said:
how much are they charging for the repair though? probably a motherboard replacement ? boy thats not going to be cheap!
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It was free, turned out to be a hardware issue internally so I think covered by warranty as I have Care+ which has an excess of £40 which they didn't make me pay. They also replaced the screen due to some dead pixels, and the battery! Happy days!
Thanks all for your suggestions!

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