[Q] How to soft brick - Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So xda I'm wondering if anyone has a reliable method to soft brick a captivate on purpose? I'm currently stuck in a boot loop of death and my jig won't be here for days, but if i could find a way to soft brick it then i could revive it before the jig gets here. An answer would be much appreciated

The only methods would require a working button combo st this point which if you had you wouldn't need the jig....
But flashing a kernel or a modem (NOTHING THAT CONTAINS BOOTLOADERS) with odin and pulling the chord mid way will do it...

studacris said:
The only methods would require a working button combo st this point which if you had you wouldn't need the jig....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess I'm stuck in a vicious cycle until the jig arrives. The laws of physics can be very limiting at times or I'd have built a time machine and stopped myself from using that damn Odin One-click downloader against my better judgement. Oh well Thanks anyway.

Related

[Q] HELP! I'm Desperate... I think i bricked my phone. PLEASE

So i am a complete idiot and just bricked a phone yesterday and luckily managed to get it exchanged at att.
The new one is having tons of trouble getting into download mode using the button combinations. I wanted to load the I9000 euro roms as I had successfully done to my previous phone. I did the first step in loading the csc and pda files and accidently forgot to uncheck autoreboot. Anyways... I pulled the battery out before it could reboot. I still couldnt get it into download mode so I booted into the android without applying the second step of the pit fil and the modem file. I am not used to using the sdk so was planning to root and intall a terminal program to "su reboot download"... I tried using the oneclick root to complete the job and it rebooted me into recovery, but apparently since i didnt flash the pit file, my power button doesnt work to access the menu..(volume rocker does).
Now it wont boot into anything except into recovery and I cant do anything about in it.... i have tried everything on oneclick odin instructions and can not get there... is there anything i can do from the sdk to get into download mode... it kind of appears that my phone is recognized when i plug it in cuz windows beeps saying that it recognizes the device...
HELP ME PLEASEEEEE
I THINK I DESPERATELY NEED TO GET INTO DOWNLOAD MODE SOMEHOW!!!
I HAVE TRIED EVERY WAY LISTED ON
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=731989
use method 3
Wrong forum, but how in the world did you "brick" your last phone? These phones from what lots of smart people say are not brickable, and these guys on here have tried. And if you did in fact brick your old phone why would you decide to put another ROM on?
First calm down. If it boots you are ok.
You can do what Akachay said. Or pull the battery unplug the usb. Start odin put the battery back in hold down both volume keys then plug in the usb cable it should boot into download mode.
It is very hard to brick this phone
IllegalOpcode said:
First calm down. If it boots you are ok.
You can do what Akachay said. Or pull the battery unplug the usb. Start odin put the battery back in hold down both volume keys then plug in the usb cable it should boot into download mode.
It is very hard to brick this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do this. The phone has to be off. Hold both volume buttons and plug in the usb. It will into dl mode. No power button necessary.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
IllegalOpcode said:
First calm down. If it boots you are ok.
You can do what Akachay said. Or pull the battery unplug the usb. Start odin put the battery back in hold down both volume keys then plug in the usb cable it should boot into download mode.
It is very hard to brick this phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I second this method. Calm down and take your time. It WILL work trust me ive used it a few times on both my captivate and vibrant.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
I third that the volume button method.... I pull the battery, reinstall it, plug in usb, hold down volume buttons. Works every time. Any other method is a total crap shoot.
If using Odin make sure its open before you do this so that it will recognize the connection.
If you can talk to the phone with adb you can also try "adb reboot download".
Good luck.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Thanks so much to the help and support... seriously the buttons for download mode did not work... had to learn the adb sdk method
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
xmarkx88 said:
Thanks so much to the help and support... seriously the buttons for download mode did not work... had to learn the adb sdk method
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its always a good skill to know
This is not the Q&A section of the captivate...please next time UTFS of this lovely forum, and post it on the right section.
Rafyvitto
flashman2002 said:
Wrong forum, but how in the world did you "brick" your last phone? These phones from what lots of smart people say are not brickable, and these guys on here have tried. And if you did in fact brick your old phone why would you decide to put another ROM on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why do people say its impossible to completely brick the phone? Unfortunately I did it due to stupidity, and it bricked quite easily.
Coriolis3ffect said:
Why do people say its impossible to completely brick the phone? Unfortunately I did it due to stupidity, and it bricked quite easily.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
People say that because the word "brick" is thrown around quite liberally. These phones have been nearly impossible to legitimately brick. About the only way I can think of is spontaneous hardware failure
OP, I thought I bricked it yesterday but d/l method works, don't worry...
moving my own issue here as i think i really HAVE bricked the phone. did alot of reading but apparently still did it wrong. flashed the PIT file only to the phone and now ive got a lovely and not very heavy paperweight. does not even turn on using the power or volume combo even after i pulled the battery for 5 minutes. Any clues? im pretty sad about this.. read that its pretty hard to brick these phones but im not so sure that is the case
ill also mention i was being dumb and didnt realize i was on the i9000 page reading instructions at the time. i was using the instructions from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765032 and the problem occured after i flashed the pit successfully and then was resetting the battery when i found out it was completly dead
bamonkey said:
ill also mention i was being dumb and didnt realize i was on the i9000 page reading instructions at the time. i was using the instructions from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=765032 and the problem occured after i flashed the pit successfully and then was resetting the battery when i found out it was completly dead
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Seems lately over on the odin3 page alot of people are doing dumb things just like me. looks like ill be able to return it in the next few days but i just want to stress that while people are stating its really hard to brick these phones i would NOT recommend doing any kind of firm flashes unless you are totally comfortable with exact instructions or turning your phone into a complete brick and getting a warranty exchange. I hate to say it but im a little unsure of myself on these firmware upgrades now. its not really a click-and-be-done process yet so i think ill just hold out and hope the froyo upgrade fixes the gps issue because otherwise i still love this phone

[Q] Galaxy S hard to brick?

i have found some quotes on several thread that says Galaxy S I9000 is hard to brick. what does this mean? is it true? by saying it is hard to brick does this mean that galaxy is almost not brickable??
and how is it brick??
im just making sure because i dont want things to happen on my phone. im having seconds thoughts about flashing a custom ROM or Not.
As long as you can still get into download mode then it is pretty hard to completely brick your phone.
how does "completely brick" can happen?? or any brick??
a "soft" brick would happen if you are changing your firmware and say you disconnect the cable mid installation, obviously all the system files needed to boot your phone for operation wouldn't have finished... so here you have a soft brick... some posts have defined what exactly it is.. but if you can get into download mode, which in this mode you can start the installation again and fix the phone you have soft bricked your phone... if your phone won't charge or boot or go intodownload mode.. fully bricked, ususally need to hardware to fix.
that is the quick explanation
This thread should be closed as he cross posted, discussion continued here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1086644
As people repeatedly say before flashing...ensure you have the 3 button recovery and download modes. As long as you can get into download your galaxy s will handle most situations you throw at it.
Oh and of course..remove any lagfix too...no point looking for trouble is there?
Sent from my GTI9000 using XDA App, gingerbread 2.3.3 JVO rooted, ADW launcher + gingerbread theme
mossy1963 said:
As people repeatedly say before flashing...ensure you have the 3 button recovery and download modes. As long as you can get into download your galaxy s will handle most situations you throw at it.
Oh and of course..remove any lagfix too...no point looking for trouble is there?
Sent from my GTI9000 using XDA App, gingerbread 2.3.3 JVO rooted, ADW launcher + gingerbread theme
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what if i dont use my 3 button combo and used the JIG instead would it be alright?? even if i dont use the 3 button forever as long i have the JIG?
scapula101 said:
what if i dont use my 3 button combo and used the JIG instead would it be alright?? even if i dont use the 3 button forever as long i have the JIG?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well yes....as long as you can get into download mode.....jig, 3 button combo...however

[Q] Bricked or what?

So my friend tried to go back to the original mod by unrooting and stuff but instead he ended up messing it up and the phone doesn't boot up now. Its just blank without anything. He doesn't have anything installed like odin3 or anything...Is there a way to fix it?
Thank you.
What exactly was he doing? Was he messing with any bootloaders before it went black?
Sent from 234 Elm Street
He said he was using odin and skipped the master clear step which messed it up
We're going to need more info than that.. What rom was he running before? What was he trying to flash? What exact procedure did he use? Can he get in to download mode by either holding vol up+vol down and plugging in the usb cable, vol down+power in the case of 2.3 bootloaders, or a jig? What have you tried so far?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=775911
Try this out
Not doing a master clear does not cause problems. I have personally never done it at all.
So we need more info. What does the phone do? If it does anything st all, stops on the att loops on and off, any sign of life, there is a pretty good chance you can fix it yourself.
If it does nothing but sits there like a corpse in a coffin, then that is a brick and the only fix is jtag unbricking, mobiletechvideos.com offers that service for 50 u.s. Dollars. His username on here is connexion2005 go to his sight or PM him on here and he will get your friend up and running again.

Hard brick?

Ok, my phone wouldn't boot past att screen, and when I went into recovery there weren't any files there. I had installed a htc theme from the market using panda home. I was on cog 5 beta 3. I figured it was corrupted, do I one click back to stock and when it goes to reset the phone it just dies. Odin said reset, but not that it was successful. I waited 20 min and nothing happens. now I can't get the phone to do anything, totally black. I tried adams unbrick, but nothing seems to work. This is not the first time I've been stuck, and I'm st a lost. Any help?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Did you use the odin with 3 button fix?
If a 301Kohm resistor between USB pins 4 and 5 does not turn it on into download mode, then you're hard bricked.
PM me and I'll unbrick it for free. I'd like to get some practice.
I had the same problem before on my phone. Completely black screen, but I was able to do this trick:
1.Pull battery, sim and memory
2. jack in USB
3. hold the vol up and down buttons with power
4. drop battery back in with the buttons still pressed.
Got me to the download screen to try to fix it. Had to change my usb cord also (had a slice in it)
Thanks adam. I was working all day and am going to try the resistor tonight, if that doesn't work I'll be sure to hit you up.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
So I ran into this same problem with my new captivate. my older one the same thing happened but i was able to just usb, hold buttons, and put in battery and it put me in download. but now with this new cappy its just stuck black. cant get it to go in download.
I hear that. No prob with same program and lots of flashes, but it got me this time. Thats why I've been following adam and his methods of unbrick. Hes trying to make it sage for us
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
jferg5 said:
Ok, my phone wouldn't boot past att screen, and when I went into recovery there weren't any files there. I had installed a htc theme from the market using panda home. I was on cog 5 beta 3. I figured it was corrupted, do I one click back to stock and when it goes to reset the phone it just dies. Odin said reset, but not that it was successful. I waited 20 min and nothing happens. now I can't get the phone to do anything, totally black. I tried adams unbrick, but nothing seems to work. This is not the first time I've been stuck, and I'm st a lost. Any help?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which one click did u use??
I'm hoping it was Designgears version - it might be old but I know that it works.
But try the whole jam the battery while holding the volume buttons trick - then try the resistor.
I know some folks have been selling the lil' pre-made jobs on the internet just to make it easier.
If all else fails - ask for an exchange unit at an AT&T store (because you did buy the $4.99 warranty - yes?)
Does odin recognize the phone, if you go through the proper steps to put in dl mode, even though the screen is black? Its possible you may not see the in dl mode, but odin will. Then you can flash to stock with odin. But do not, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT USE THE OLD 3 BUTTON FIX.
I have been using dg's since I got the phone. Working on resistor now. Odin doesn't recognize at all. Att said its a software issue and I need to talk to samsung. Since the flash completed, it should have the 2.1 software on it now right?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA Premium App
Is there any way I could have someone walk me through this. With my cappy i can go in and out of flashing roms and going into download. But with my younger brothers i tried and its just stuck on a black screen. We might try going for a return but if I can save it and atleast get it to boot up exchanging it would be much smoother. Please any help will do.
mrhaley30705 said:
Does odin recognize the phone, if you go through the proper steps to put in dl mode, even though the screen is black? Its possible you may not see the in dl mode, but odin will. Then you can flash to stock with odin. But do not, DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT USE THE OLD 3 BUTTON FIX.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that the old 3 button fix is an SBL without a PBL. That retard unleashed bricks upon us.
So you guys used the 3button fix? This caused the bricks? Just trying to clarify.
Sent from my i897 running MIUI 1.8.12 with NEO-12 test kernel.
^^Flashing "3 button fix" is the most common cause of destruction of phones. "3 button fix" is a SBL without a matching PBL. You should never do that.
Pbl= primary bootloader
Sbl= secondary bootloader
They must match. If they don't, your phone won't work. Only way to save the phone is jtag (at this point in time). Adam is working on some stuff that may change that(btw, thanks Adam got your hard work on this subject).
I'm aware and grateful of Adams efforts to eliminate the need for jtag. I see no pbl in the log provided by Adam in his post relating to his brick phone. This makes me assume he flashed the 3 button. But I do see a boot.bin. I was under the impression this was a pbl.
Sent from my i897 running MIUI 1.8.12 with TalonMTD kernel.
xijar said:
I'm aware and grateful of Adams efforts to eliminate the need for jtag. I see no pbl in the log provided by Adam in his post relating to his brick phone. This makes me assume he flashed the 3 button. But I do see a boot.bin. I was under the impression this was a pbl.
Sent from my i897 running MIUI 1.8.12 with TalonMTD kernel.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
boot.bin = IBL+PBL (Initial BootLoader + Primitive BootLoader)... However, the IBL is not written as a protection method on our phones.... It's not quite apparent why they lock the IBL. The IROM is locked and the IBL is locked. After that, the PBL can be changed.
Sbl.bin = secondary bootloader
On newer phones they've locked down the PBL and the SBL (Thank god). You can change the kernel which means you can run anything linux based.
So if someone were to add the proper boot.bin file to the old 3 button fix, it would stop the brick problem?
It should stop the bricks related to 3 button but there's no way to stop the old files from floating around. It looks like Adam flashed boot.bin with his odin run though I'm assuming it was the correct one so I don't think that is the culprit for this brick. I'm still trying to figure out why this happened to him and jferg. At this point I just think they had a bad connection and were very unlucky.
Sent from my i897 running MIUI 1.8.12 with TalonMTD kernel.

[Q] Easy guide to JTAG without using expensive box

So yeah, I bricked my Samsung Galaxy Ace with the wrong kernel through Clock Work Recovery, chose reboot option, screen turned black.
I have tried all the button combos, with inserting battery method and all of that, I even bought a USB Jig but to no avail. The furthest I've come to entering Download Mode(button combinations, to then flash with Odin) is that the computer is detecting the samsung galaxy ace as a modem(If I do not press the button combinations the computer detects nothing at all) and I cannot establish connection with the phone with Odin nor adb shell.
I have searched these forums a few hours a week the last two weeks and the only possible option seems to be JTAG unbrick. I have no money to get me a 100$ jtag-box just to resurrect this phone, so my question is this:
Is there any other way that Is cheap and not too advanced for a tech newbie like myself to unbrick the phone? I have no problem with soldering, but my question is, is there any other module(or would a simple jtag cable work?) to access the phones internal workings?
Or maybe there is another way to save this phone? Please post if you have experiance!
No, I have no warranty left on the phone, and no I do not want to leave it to some jtag service. That is not the problem.
Help/tricks greatly appreciated!
I had the exact same delema I kept plugging the phone into the c in download.mode and in the end my computer rexonized it ans was able to flash back to stock phone resets every now and then but other than that works fine I now use in rooted fully stock on.not.running the risk
Sent from my GT-S5830 using xda app-developers app
chooky536 said:
I had the exact same delema I kept plugging the phone into the c in download.mode and in the end my computer rexonized it ans was able to flash back to stock phone resets every now and then but other than that works fine I now use in rooted fully stock on.not.running the risk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was the screen black when you flashed It through Odin aswell? Cause all Im getting from Odin is "setting up connection..." and there it stops. Did I miss something?
Wrong kernel as in?
Another device? A jig "might" help you...
*emphasise the 'might'*
Prawesome said:
Wrong kernel as in?
Another device? A jig "might" help you...
*emphasise the 'might'*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I got ahold of a Jig tried on my friends Samsung S2, and It did not work. I don't remember what I tried to flash it with, It was through clockworkmod and I was going to flash with rafaels kernel but must have got ahold of the wrong one in his SkyDrive map. Anyayws, I applied the .zip and chose reboot and all went permanently black.
Anyone have experiance in UART-Jigs and whatnot?

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