Related
Okay so..
I have to spend my days serving my time in the finnish army, so I am a bit clueless of the GNote scene from time to time. I ran Midnote LPF (?) ICS for quite some time and then tried to decrease my DPI. Unfortunately, this resulted in a bootloop, and I tried to fix it by factory reset. Whoop-de-doo. I cancelled it mid way though, if I remember correctly.
8 hours later I got my hands on a computer and tried flashing a firmware with pc-odin. Didn't work. Here's where I've gotten so far:
Flashing PIT and CWM based recovery v5.0.2.7
Flashing Kingdroid ICS Via CWM based recovery or AbyssNote causes phone to reboot at "Flashing /system"
Trying to flash stock GB via Odin hangs at "factoryfs.img"
Tried to reflash bootloader, no help.
Currently trying out flashing GB rom via CWM recovery.
I need quick help as I am going to a Battle-excercise for two weeks tomorrow and I'd really appreciate have my GNote working by that time..
Thank you very much in advance
EDIT: I can confirm that the partinioning guide in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26285877&postcount=12 IS INDEED an effective guide to un-superbrick. The guide can be very intimidating for beginners, so bear that in mind. I ran into a faulty partition on the UMS folder, and repositioning it did the trick. Then I just rebooted recovery and installed KingDroid 7.0 GB and it opened like a charm.
Big chance you have a superbrick now, sending it to Samsung repair center is the only option. Search for "superbrick" in this forum. You'll find my name also
I had to send in my device and probably get it back on wednesday...with a new mainboard. On my device a recovery always ended at /system and a pc odin reflash always stopped at factoryfs.img
The last option without sending in your device is following a few threads here. Some posters were talking about a possible solution.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26285877&postcount=12
Posibly meaning this.. I am trying to run this through and will post results.
Yep, that's one of the posts. This was way too complicated for me.
I've send my Note to a samsung service center and they repaired it without any costs. I only reset the binary counter to zero and (partly...because of factoryfs.img) flashed a stock rom before sending the device.
Morality said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26285877&postcount=12
Posibly meaning this.. I am trying to run this through and will post results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like a superbrick. Unless you are willing to go through the partitioning experience, I recommend sending it back.
joe2316 said:
Sounds like a superbrick. Unless you are willing to go through the partitioning experience, I recommend sending it back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im not gonna lie, It was a scary as **** experience. Currently trying to install.. well.. anything.
oh
my
GOD
ITS ALIVE OH MY GOD ITS ALIVE...
the guide worked.. But definately not recommended for beginners, as the dos prompt might be quite intimidating. but the thing definately works.
I found a bad partition from UMS and just relocated it a bit. I think I lost 3gb of space (not sure, will check on that), and unfortunately it formats your INTERNAL sdcard, as i backuped my external one.. BUT WHATEVER
JESUS CHRIST IT WORKED. After following the guide, recovery needed to be rebooted and then I just installed Kingdroid 7.0 GB. The only problem that appeared was that the Samsung Logo screen lasted longer than usually when flashing new firmware. Will update OP.
I'm on ICS Stunner right now which means my kernel is I9220ZCLP6. I've read that i can not flash from this kernel which is about to be right because since I'm on this ROM I can't flash any other custom rom because of some error while installing a ROM. I did full wipe in CWM many times and i remember that about four months ago my phone stopped working correctly and I couldn't install any ROM not even ISC Stunner. Then what I did was installed I9220LP1-N7000-ICS-REPACK again and it worked fine and since then I'm on ISC Stunner. But now I want change and install Rocket ROM or Asylum. Mostly I need tablet mode and I know that Asylum got one but I'm not sure if Rocket ROM have one? In Rocket ROM thread I found:
d) coming from CM9, ROMs based on CM9 or other ICS AOSP ROM:
- boot in Recovery
- FullWipe
- Flash ROM
- reboot system
-...you are done
Whenever you do a FullWipe:
- install Abyss Kernel 4.2
- boot back in Recovery (find it under 'advanced')
- now FullWipe!!!
- Flash ROM
- reboot system
-...you are done
==> ONLY, ONLY, ONLY FullWipe with Abyss Kernel 4.2 installed!!!! NEVER, NEVER, NEVER Full Wipe with CF-Root Kernel installed!!!
But I also found that first I have to return to stock ROM and some people hardbricked theirs phones doing this. So I don't want any mistakes. Please tell me what's best in my situation?
Its suggested to flash stock root able gb rom first and foremost, then you can follow the steps above.
It sounds like the damage is already done though. If the flash gets stuck at factoryfs.img then you know there's trouble ahead and you may need to repartition the emmc chip.
Best of luck.
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!
Since Stunner thread got closed and many people suppose that ROM won't get any further development it would be a good idea to write a thorough instruction on how to switch from the Stunner ROM safely.
Need some brave guy to try to escape "already damaged but still working NOTE by Stunner" and update an instruction on this for everyone.
The reason I said that it seems the damage has already been done is that you were only able to reflash the same ics repack kernel. This suggests that you're only able to access the emmc that you were originally using. When trying to write a different kernel or rom, it sounds like its failing to write to the new sections of emmc, suggesting damage.
It would be more helpful if you tell us how the writes were failing, how you were flashing (PC Odin/mobile)? Was it failing at factoryfs.img?
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!
SpyderTracks said:
The reason I said that it seems the damage has already been done is that you were only able to reflash the same ics repack kernel. This suggests that you're only able to access the emmc that you were originally using. When trying to write a different kernel or rom, it sounds like its failing to write to the new sections of emmc, suggesting damage.
It would be more helpful if you tell us how the writes were failing, how you were flashing (PC Odin/mobile)? Was it failing at factoryfs.img?
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was few months ago and I don't remember but 90% it was factoryfs.img error and that happened few seconds after begining install process of other ROM then Stunner. All the time I've been using CWM for data wipe/cashes/dalvik/installing roms/fixes. I didn't know about this issue then and I don't think that anyone knew. I remember that my phone didn't want to boot up sometimes before stopped working but after i fixed it it's alright so obviously I shouldn't change anything and leave it like that But before I start doing anything with this phone I need to know where can I get new motherboard from in UK and what is the cost? For 50 pound I can take the risk but if it's much more it's not worth it. It needs to be in the UK because if I'll ****ed up I need new parts as soon as possible. Ok, I'm waiting for some answers now. Thanks.
PS. I've found this tutorial
bulla666 said:
It was few months ago and I don't remember but 90% it was factoryfs.img error and that happened few seconds after begining install process of other ROM then Stunner. All the time I've been using CWM for data wipe/cashes/dalvik/installing roms/fixes. I didn't know about this issue then and I don't think that anyone knew. I remember that my phone didn't want to boot up sometimes before stopped working but after i fixed it it's alright so obviously I shouldn't change anything and leave it like that But before I start doing anything with this phone I need to know where can I get new motherboard from in UK and what is the cost? For 50 pound I can take the risk but if it's much more it's not worth it. It needs to be in the UK because if I'll ****ed up I need new parts as soon as possible. Ok, I'm waiting for some answers now. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Where did you buy the phone? If it was bought new from operator or sim-free then you'll be under warranty and if you brick again, there's no way they can check for binary counter or what rom you have installed. You just say it broke after ota update to ics, and it'll be fixed under standard 1 year warranty. Just need proof of purchase. Either send it to your operator, usually next day collection and up to 2 weeks fix, or Samsung will direct you to a local partner who'll fix it, probably under similar time frame.
If it was eBay or second hand then different story. From what I've read of others getting replacements outside warranty its around £150-200 for new motherboard.
That emmc "fix" you've found will repartition the chip so you bypass the damaged section, so you lose storage, often between 3 or 4gb of internal storage.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!
SpyderTracks said:
Where did you buy the phone? If it was bought new from operator or sim-free then you'll be under warranty and if you brick again, there's no way they can check for binary counter or what rom you have installed. You just say it broke after ota update to ics, and it'll be fixed under standard 1 year warranty. Just need proof of purchase. Either send it to your operator, usually next day collection and up to 2 weeks fix, or Samsung will direct you to a local partner who'll fix it, probably under similar time frame.
If it was eBay or second hand then different story. From what I've read of others getting replacements outside warranty its around £150-200 for new motherboard.
Hope it helps.
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've got my phone from affordablemobiles.co.uk with T-mobile. Now I don't know if there won't be any problem returning this to T-mobile. Propably I'll have to deal with affordablemobiles because they sold me the contract about 10 months ago. That tutorial I've posted in my last post it seems to be alright. Maybe I'll test it later. First I need to change display in my old HTC HD2 for in case of hardbricked N7000.
All the best dude. Repartitioning does work, no doubt about it, but for a true fix and if you're able, it would be worth sending it for replacement under warranty to regain maximum internal storage space.
Sent from my Paranoid Android GT-N7000. It doesn't get much better than this!
Hey guys,
First of all, I'm new to this, so please bear with me. To cut a long story short, I attempted to install the CyanogenMod RC on my Galaxy Note N7000 today. I followed the instructions I found on the web somewhere (can't remember of it was XDA) and after attempting to wipe my device from the ClockwordMod, I appear to have bricked it.
My Note no longer gets passed the startup screen. I've tried everything I can to revive it, and I've been searching XDA all day for a solution, with little success. I've tried flashing a number of kernels, and a number of ROMs, including stock GB and stock ICS. I can still get into both Download and Recovery mode (which I'm hoping is a good sign) but when I try to flash a ROM with Odin, it gets stuck on the "factoryfs" stage.
I've tried flashing the PIT repartition file at least four or five times, but that doesn't seem to be helping at all.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I'd really just like to get back to stock ICS. I just fancied playing around with CyanogenMod for a bit, but I wish I hadn't tried. Thanks in advance for any help!
Were you on stock ICS when you did the wipe ?
Akiainavas said:
Were you on stock ICS when you did the wipe ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, downloaded via Kies.
I think you have fallen victim to the infamous eMMC "superbrick". Contact Samsung, they are well aware of this problem and will surely replace it for you as it's plaguing devices running their stock ICS. The problem is with their kernel and the eMMC chip to it doesnt even matter what were you trying to do.
When they do replace it - first, flash a GB rom via Odin, and then install CM9. CM9 kernel is safe and superbrick bug free. Whatever you do - never try doing a wipe/factory reset on stock Samsung ICS rom.
Akiainavas said:
I think you have fallen victim to the infamous eMMC "superbrick". Contact Samsung, they are well aware of this problem and will surely replace it for you as it's plaguing stock ICS devices. The problem is with their kernel and the eMMC chip to it doesnt even matter what were you trying to do.
When they do replace it - first, flash a GB rom via Odin, and then install CM9. CM9 kernel is safe and superbrick bug free. Whatever you do - never try doing a wipe/factory reset on stock Samsung ICS rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I feared that was the case. The problem is, I now have the yellow warning triangle on bootup, and my "binary count" has increased to 9. Does this mean Samsung won't replace it?
if that's the case, is there any way to reset the binary count and remove the triangle in its current state?
You might try resetting the counter with a jig. I don't know if it will work in its state, but you may not have much to lose.
Sent from a guy on a buffalOOooo.
Generally - USB Jig is the only way to reset it on a bricked device.
There is one way other way though:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5bmrc6cf81w5mya
This kernel is supposed to reset binary counter, and many users reported that it actually did the trick - mind that this kernel also causes hard brick. It's a last effort for people whose devices are already bricked.
You nees to flash it via Odin, disconnect and go into recovery. At first boot you will still see the triangle - in the recovery, select reboot. Now the triangle should disappead, and binary counter should be set to "no".
Remember that this kernel causes a hard brick. Use it only if your device is already bricked and you intend to send it to Samsung. It will work only on ICS devices.
Akiainavas said:
Generally - USB Jig is the only way to reset it.
There is one way other way though:
http://www.mediafire.com/?5bmrc6cf81w5mya
This kernel is supposed to reset binary counter, and many users reported that it actually did the trick - mind that this kernel also causes hard brick. It's a last effort for people whose devices are already bricked.
You nees to flash it via Odin, disconnect and go into recovery. At first boot you will still see the triangle - in the recovery, select reboot. Now the triangle should disappead, and binary counter should be set to "no".
Remember that this kernel causes a hard brick. Use it only if your device is already bricked and you intend to send it to Samsung.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks very much for your help. I really appreciate it.
So do you think it's worth contacting Samsung first - before trying to reset the binary - or do you think they'll refuse to replace it once they know I tried flashing an unsupported ROM?
Thanks again!
I think you might try contacting them first, just ask all the info you need without giving them the serial numbers - before you send the phone in. They might replace it anyway - they know very well it happens because of their defective kernel/emmc chip. Although i'm afraid they might find out and refuse to fix it for free.
If they turn you down, then flash the kernel and contact them again. If you're going to do it in person and they refuse cause they "remembered you" ( shocking, but it happens... ) then simply get a friend or family to bring them your phone.
Just say that Kies messed up your phone - they'll know what the problem is
Hope they'll get it fixed for you. Let us know how it went.
Akiainavas said:
I think you might try contacting them first, just ask all the info you need without giving them the serial numbers. They might replace it anyway - they know very well it happens because of their defective kernel/emmc chip.
If they turn you down, then flash the kernel and contact them again. If you're going to do it in person and they refuse cause they "remembered you" ( shocking, but it happens... ) then simply get a friend or family to bring them your phone.
Just say that Kies messed up your phone - they'll know what the problem is
Hope they'll get it fixed for you. Let us know how it went.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, I'll do that. Thanks again for all the info! I'll let you know how I get on.
kill.i.an said:
Hey guys,
First of all, I'm new to this, so please bear with me. To cut a long story short, I attempted to install the CyanogenMod RC on my Galaxy Note N7000 today. I followed the instructions I found on the web somewhere (can't remember of it was XDA) and after attempting to wipe my device from the ClockwordMod, I appear to have bricked it.
My Note no longer gets passed the startup screen. I've tried everything I can to revive it, and I've been searching XDA all day for a solution, with little success. I've tried flashing a number of kernels, and a number of ROMs, including stock GB and stock ICS. I can still get into both Download and Recovery mode (which I'm hoping is a good sign) but when I try to flash a ROM with Odin, it gets stuck on the "factoryfs" stage.
I've tried flashing the PIT repartition file at least four or five times, but that doesn't seem to be helping at all.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I'd really just like to get back to stock ICS. I just fancied playing around with CyanogenMod for a bit, but I wish I hadn't tried. Thanks in advance for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may also try manual/adb repartition method described in here to revise your phone. cheers.
kill.i.an said:
Hey guys,
First of all, I'm new to this, so please bear with me. To cut a long story short, I attempted to install the CyanogenMod RC on my Galaxy Note N7000 today. I followed the instructions I found on the web somewhere (can't remember of it was XDA) and after attempting to wipe my device from the ClockwordMod, I appear to have bricked it.
My Note no longer gets passed the startup screen. I've tried everything I can to revive it, and I've been searching XDA all day for a solution, with little success. I've tried flashing a number of kernels, and a number of ROMs, including stock GB and stock ICS. I can still get into both Download and Recovery mode (which I'm hoping is a good sign) but when I try to flash a ROM with Odin, it gets stuck on the "factoryfs" stage.
I've tried flashing the PIT repartition file at least four or five times, but that doesn't seem to be helping at all.
Does anyone have any other ideas? I'd really just like to get back to stock ICS. I just fancied playing around with CyanogenMod for a bit, but I wish I hadn't tried. Thanks in advance for any help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IF U CAN GET INTO RECOVERY UR NOT BRICKED OR SUPER BRICK TRUST ME I HAVE A NOTE HERE THATS BRICKED...IF INDEED ITS BRICKED U CANT GET IN ****!!! u just soft bricked it...flash stock recovery b4 tar or what ever it is
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
forest1971 said:
You may also try manual/adb repartition method described in here to revise your phone. cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
JB calhoun said:
IF U CAN GET INTO RECOVERY UR NOT BRICKED OR SUPER BRICK TRUST ME I HAVE A NOTE HERE THATS BRICKED...IF INDEED ITS BRICKED U CANT GET IN ****!!! u just soft bricked it...flash stock recovery b4 tar or what ever it is
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stock recovery? Where would I find that?
The problem is, I cannot flash any ROM. It just hangs during the "factoryfs" process in Odin. When I try to install stuff via ClockworkMod recovery, it fails. Sometimes I get an error like "cannot mount (or access) /system."
JB calhoun said:
IF U CAN GET INTO RECOVERY UR NOT BRICKED OR SUPER BRICK TRUST ME I HAVE A NOTE HERE THATS BRICKED...IF INDEED ITS BRICKED U CANT GET IN ****!!! u just soft bricked it...flash stock recovery b4 tar or what ever it is
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not true I'm afraid...
If you've damaged the eMMC chip:
- You can still get into recovery.
- You can still get into download mode.
If you did a factory reset on stock ICS kernel and can't flash "factoryfs" data because Odin gets stuck at this point, and repartitioning does not help - that's the "superbrick".
It happens because using data wipe on stock ICS kernel runs a format procedure which damages Note's defective eMMC chip. If it happened, repartitioning won't help as parts of the storage are corrupted and Odin simply cannot put data there. I seriosusly don't know how could Samsung not see that the format command introduced in ICS ( it was not present in GB, that's why GB kernels are safe ) damages the chip... didn't they test the software at all ?
Take a look here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28048062
This guy managed to recover his device, but what he's left with is Note with 3-4GB less storage, and remember that once the eMMC chip is damaged, it will never be completely reliable again.
Here's a guide on how to revive superbricked Note. Bear in mind it might not work though:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26285877&postcount=12
It's still best to try and get it replaced though. If Samsung won't replace it for free - then try reviving it.
Akiainavas said:
Not true.
If you've damaged the eMMC chip:
You can still get into recovery.
You can still get into download mode.
If you did a factory reset on stock ICS kernel and can't flash "factoryfs" data because Odin gets stuck at this point, and repartitioning does not help - that's the "superbrick".
It happens because using data wipe on stock ICS kernel runs a format procedure which damages Note's defective eMMC chip. If it happened, repartitioning won't help as parts of the storage are corrupted and Odin simply cannot put data there.
Take a look here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=28048062
This guy managed to recover his device, but what he's left with is Note with 3-4GB less storage, and remember that once the eMMC chip is damaged, it will never be completely reliable again.
Here's a guide on how to revive superbricked Note. Bear in mind it might not work though:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=26285877&postcount=12
It's still best to try and get it replaced though. If Samsung won't replace it for free - then try reviving it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I'm certainly going to speak to Samsung over the next few days. I'm going to wait a little while for my JIG to arrive and try to remove the binary count, then I'll give them a call. I don't see how they can refuse to replace it really —*it is their software that caused this (I think).
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for all the advice, guys.
kill.i.an said:
Yeah, I'm certainly going to speak to Samsung over the next few days. I'm going to wait a little while for my JIG to arrive and try to remove the binary count, then I'll give them a call. I don't see how they can refuse to replace it really —*it is their software that caused this (I think).
Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for all the advice, guys.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
JIG is probably the best thing to do. Clear the counter, get rid of triangle and send it in. As you said - it's Samsung's kernel that causes this, and they know it.
Good luck mate.
Okay, here's a surprise: Because I can still enter download and recovery mode, I decided I would try to reset the binary counter before my JIG gets here. So I downloaded the kernel from another thread, and it worked perfect. I then tried to flash the stock ICS ROM so that there was no evidence of another one, and this time it didn't get stuck on "factoryfm" in Odin.
So I now have a working Galaxy Note. I have no idea how that happened (maybe the PIT I flashed earlier kicked in), but it's working.
Now the question is, do I attempt to install CyanogenMod again, or should I just stick to a working Galaxy Note and be happy?
Stay with what you have.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
kill.i.an said:
Okay, here's a surprise: Because I can still enter download and recovery mode, I decided I would try to reset the binary counter before my JIG gets here. So I downloaded the kernel from another thread, and it worked perfect. I then tried to flash the stock ICS ROM so that there was no evidence of another one, and this time it didn't get stuck on "factoryfm" in Odin.
So I now have a working Galaxy Note. I have no idea how that happened (maybe the PIT I flashed earlier kicked in), but it's working.
Now the question is, do I attempt to install CyanogenMod again, or should I just stick to a working Galaxy Note and be happy?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How much capacity do you have on your internal storage? If it is less than 11GB you may have a damaged chip and just managed to unbrick it.
I think if you can flash GB with Odin you should be fine, and once you get to GB everything is (relatively) safe.
I had a similar problem when I was trying to flash GB from stock ICS using odin, it stuck at FactoryFS and I thought I had superbricked it, but it turns out I was using a dodgy USB cable and using a good USB cable I managed to flash GB again and recover it, and now I am using CM9 - Never going back to stock ICS after this.
Hi there fellow time bomb owners!
Let me start out........... Ive had my note for many months now. Ive flashed many GB and ICS roms, both TW and AOSP.
Ive always been very careful with the brick bug issue and always flashed every rom via the OP's method to the letter.
I finally settled with Kingdroid. After running it for nearly 2 months without ever having a random reboot/FC or any issues at all it started to misbehave, crashing, freezing and somtimes making me resort to battery pulls!
This all culminated last night, when after installing an app, I tried to open the said app and the phone froze on me. I long pressed the power button to reboot and then got stuck in a bootloop. In all my months with my Note ive never had a bootloop. I could still get into recovery and download so I thought no big deal.
I tried to wipe the cache and davlik cache to see if there was any nasties in that causing the bootloop. They both wiped fine but when I rebooted the loop was still there. Still Not a problem I thought, I will just have to reflash. Pain in the ass I know, but at least Im not bricked. So I placed abyss kernel and kingdroid onto my SD booted into recovery and went to flash Abyss. All went well so went to reboot recovery and........Boom in some kind of elongated (graphically) version on the same recovery I had before? Not abyss? Ok, it must not have taken properly, flash it again, as soon as I went to move through the recovery menus the recovery restarted, not rebooted, just restarted? It did this everytime I tried to move in the menus? I though thats very odd indeed? then all on its own it started to restart? Then I worried, could this be damage to my partitions or emmc in general? Never done any wiping on unsafe kernels, surely it cant be?
So I resorted to Odin and the factory firmware I keep for warranty purposes. Plugged everything in and set it running. The phone was recognized, Md5 checked then.................Couldnt open COM port to device? S**T, F**K. I must be bricked now I thought. So as all good software people do, I unplugged everything rebooted my computer and tried again. It worked this time around!? I was a little nervous going through the FACTORYFS bit but it took, pass! Yes! Booted into stock recovery did the full wipe and now all is well with my note, all be it on stock nastiness.
I apologize for the lengthy post but I think its important to share potentially dangerous behaviour in depth with the note community. Many people may have had a panic and jumped straight on the Brickbug bandwagon (as I nearly did).
So after all that I would like to know if someone far more intelligent than me could give a possible cause? Not only out of curiosity but so that people (and me!) could avoid this worrying behaviour. And also how or if you can check your EMMC for bad blocks without Root and the emmc checker app?
If you read all this, well done! and thankyou for looking,
x5starguerillaa said:
Hi there fellow time bomb owners!
Let me start out........... Ive had my note for many months now. Ive flashed many GB and ICS roms, both TW and AOSP.
Ive always been very careful with the brick bug issue and always flashed every rom via the OP's method to the letter.
I finally settled with Kingdroid. After running it for nearly 2 months without ever having a random reboot/FC or any issues at all it started to misbehave, crashing, freezing and somtimes making me resort to battery pulls!
This all culminated last night, when after installing an app, I tried to open the said app and the phone froze on me. I long pressed the power button to reboot and then got stuck in a bootloop. In all my months with my Note ive never had a bootloop. I could still get into recovery and download so I thought no big deal.
I tried to wipe the cache and davlik cache to see if there was any nasties in that causing the bootloop. They both wiped fine but when I rebooted the loop was still there. Still Not a problem I thought, I will just have to reflash. Pain in the ass I know, but at least Im not bricked. So I placed abyss kernel and kingdroid onto my SD booted into recovery and went to flash Abyss. All went well so went to reboot recovery and........Boom in some kind of elongated (graphically) version on the same recovery I had before? Not abyss? Ok, it must not have taken properly, flash it again, as soon as I went to move through the recovery menus the recovery restarted, not rebooted, just restarted? It did this everytime I tried to move in the menus? I though thats very odd indeed? then all on its own it started to restart? Then I worried, could this be damage to my partitions or emmc in general? Never done any wiping on unsafe kernels, surely it cant be?
So I resorted to Odin and the factory firmware I keep for warranty purposes. Plugged everything in and set it running. The phone was recognized, Md5 checked then.................Couldnt open COM port to device? S**T, F**K. I must be bricked now I thought. So as all good software people do, I unplugged everything rebooted my computer and tried again. It worked this time around!? I was a little nervous going through the FACTORYFS bit but it took, pass! Yes! Booted into stock recovery did the full wipe and now all is well with my note, all be it on stock nastiness.
I apologize for the lengthy post but I think its important to share potentially dangerous behaviour in depth with the note community. Many people may have had a panic and jumped straight on the Brickbug bandwagon (as I nearly did).
So after all that I would like to know if someone far more intelligent than me could give a possible cause? Not only out of curiosity but so that people (and me!) could avoid this worrying behaviour. And also how or if you can check your EMMC for bad blocks without Root and the emmc checker app?
If you read all this, well done! and thankyou for looking,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mate, feel for the brown pants time you've ordealed, glad you got out of it. I'm fairly certain, although no dev, that there is an incremental damage obtained via certain kernels, be it wipes or even large file transfers. There's an app that can judge if any sectors are past repair...
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.vinagre.android.emmc_check
So at least you know if it's an emmc issue. Let me know.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
Cheers for the link.
Do you know of a way that I can check for bad sectors without that app? It needs root and I dont really want to flash/root anything until I can (if possible) determin whether or not Im damaged.
The only reason I ask is that now is the phone is primed ready to go back to samsung if so.
No counter or triangle or reminants of root.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
accessing the internal NAND flash memory of your phone requires root privileges. Without Root, The System would simply deny you poking and probing on the internal storage of your phone.
That is why it is important to Root.
On the lighter side. You can actually Root your phone.. use that app to know if your phone has bad sectors and once you've done knowing it... you can simply UNROOT your device.
In that way, Samsung would never know the how's and wherefore's if you have tinkered your device or not.
Simple as that.
Ok. I rooted with a older version of GB.
Checked the NAND and everything says its ok. So I put it back to the latest GB uk firmware, updated via KIES to latest ICS and then rooted with the super su.zip and the full root busybox.zip from Dr Keatens post.
So im now running the latest stock firmware with full root. Can I install a rom from where Im at now? With stock recovery with full root? Or do I need to flash a kernel like abyss first to get the red pill recovery?
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
Things may have changed but I think general guidance is to flash from rooted gb kernel like abyss or stock. Certainly for AOSP roms like cm9 variants or cm10 that's the case.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda app-developers app
Hi All,
Before I ask my question, I just wanted to clear up that I've searched the forums (both on the s3 i9300 and i9305 sub forums,) and there's so much info that I got a little more confused and lost my confidence, which is why I'm asking here before I start the procedure.
I've just realized that my power button is starting to wear causing a 'bootloop' when I press it 7 times out of 10, and I have the opportunity to get it fixed under warranty.
Now, I've been running custom software since June 2013 and my phone is an Australian Telstra i9305T, and I have made a backup on the ROM pre-rooted when I installed CWM (although I'm not sure that it may work, as the bootloop have corrupted my SD card, there's a few backups that didn't have the same MD5 and can't be run.)
I wanted to make sure that the steps I unroot and reset counter to 0 for warranty would be:
1) Go to CWM
2) Wipe the cache/memory.(factory reset.)
3) Install the rom I backed up in May 2013
4) Triangle Away to set counter to 0.
5) Use the Unified Android tookit's unroot function.
Does that sound right? Or have I missed any steps.
FYI I had the phone inspected at the Samsung Experience store but the lady had threw a tantrum as she noticed I was running custom software, and pretty much refused to talk to me, (she wasn't even a tech, but I guess got upset on tampering principle,) so I want to make sure when it goes back to the techs it's ok to get fixed.
Any help I can get here would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance folks.
grungypoo said:
Hi All,
Before I ask my question, I just wanted to clear up that I've searched the forums (both on the s3 i9300 and i9305 sub forums,) and there's so much info that I got a little more confused and lost my confidence, which is why I'm asking here before I start the procedure.
I've just realized that my power button is starting to wear causing a 'bootloop' when I press it 7 times out of 10, and I have the opportunity to get it fixed under warranty.
Now, I've been running custom software since June 2013 and my phone is an Australian Telstra i9305T, and I have made a backup on the ROM pre-rooted when I installed CWM (although I'm not sure that it may work, as the bootloop have corrupted my SD card, there's a few backups that didn't have the same MD5 and can't be run.)
I wanted to make sure that the steps I unroot and reset counter to 0 for warranty would be:
1) Go to CWM
2) Wipe the cache/memory.(factory reset.)
3) Install the rom I backed up in May 2013
4) Triangle Away to set counter to 0.
5) Use the Unified Android tookit's unroot function.
Does that sound right? Or have I missed any steps.
FYI I had the phone inspected at the Samsung Experience store but the lady had threw a tantrum as she noticed I was running custom software, and pretty much refused to talk to me, (she wasn't even a tech, but I guess got upset on tampering principle,) so I want to make sure when it goes back to the techs it's ok to get fixed.
Any help I can get here would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance folks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the steps are quite in good order. you dont have the new bootloader with knox i guess.. cause that would be a problem if the knox counter is triggered you cant set it back to 0, there is still no way found to restore knox counter for devices with new bootloader. everyone who has void knox warranty status can forget about sending device to samsung for repair for any reason!
if you havent flashed recently a new 4.3 firmware from sammobile or samsung-updates.com, you probably have the old bootloader which is good.
if you were not rooted when you made the backup in may 2013, then you will automatically be unrooted when restoring backup otherwise you would need to unroot after the backup restore. the backup will restore it to its state exactly how it was in may 2013. after the restore of backup go in odin downloadmode and check what info does it give in the left upper corner about system and binary status, should be both showing official and for the flash counter use triangle away indeed but keep in mind that it does not always restore to 0, sometimes it restores to 1 and thats no good.
MaHo_66 said:
the steps are quite in good order. you dont have the new bootloader with knox i guess.. cause that would be a problem if the knox counter is triggered you cant set it back to 0, there is still no way found to restore knox counter for devices with new bootloader. everyone who has void knox warranty status can forget about sending device to samsung for repair for any reason!
if you havent flashed recently a new 4.3 firmware from sammobile or samsung-updates.com, you probably have the old bootloader which is good.
if you were not rooted when you made the backup in may 2013, then you will automatically be unrooted when restoring backup otherwise you would need to unroot after the backup restore. the backup will restore it to its state exactly how it was in may 2013. after the restore of backup go in odin downloadmode and check what info does it give in the left upper corner about system and binary status, should be both showing official and for the flash counter use triangle away indeed but keep in mind that it does not always restore to 0, sometimes it restores to 1 and thats no good.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah.. I think I rooted the phone before the knox bootloader came out for my phone, although I can't remember as it was a year ago.
So I guess at this stage the steps I'd take here would be:
1) Triangle away to reset counter to 0
2) Go into CWM clear the memory, and put in the unrooted image.
I've now got another question on the steps:
1) Currently using Triangle away, the counter only stays at 1, and every time I boots it shows the red '!' on the top left corner. That's not knox is it? And if it isn't, when I flash the unrooted image, will it get rid of it?
2) How do to revert to the regular stock recovery, as I've installed CWM. Or will the unrooted image handle that... if I recall the steps to rooting is installing custom recovery (CWM in my case) then taking the image with CWM then rooting then installing custom software.....
Again thanks for you help, I hope you can see where I get confused, I love this forums it's got so much help but sometimes it's hard to work out what to filter to make things go smoother.
grungypoo said:
Yeah.. I think I rooted the phone before the knox bootloader came out for my phone, although I can't remember as it was a year ago.
So I guess at this stage the steps I'd take here would be:
1) Triangle away to reset counter to 0
2) Go into CWM clear the memory, and put in the unrooted image.
I've now got another question on the steps:
1) Currently using Triangle away, the counter only stays at 1, and every time I boots it shows the red '!' on the top left corner. That's not knox is it? And if it isn't, when I flash the unrooted image, will it get rid of it?
2) How do to revert to the regular stock recovery, as I've installed CWM. Or will the unrooted image handle that... if I recall the steps to rooting is installing custom recovery (CWM in my case) then taking the image with CWM then rooting then installing custom software.....
Again thanks for you help, I hope you can see where I get confused, I love this forums it's got so much help but sometimes it's hard to work out what to filter to make things go smoother.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. i dont know about the ''red !'' but it seems like you have done something wrong, it shouldnt show something like that..
the backup img might solve it, but dont now for sure
2. to revert back to stock recovery you could do this: flash official firmware with odin OR find a flashable stock recovery .img or .tar md5 file to flash in recovery. easiest way is to flash official firmware, that will restore everything to ''out of the box state'' and for the counter using triangle away (only thing is it restore's it to 1 instead of 0 )
if you ask me how i would make this whole thing ready and steady for sending to samsung, i would do this:
assuming here that i have old bootloader without knox, the steps would be for me in this order:
- put every personal stuff in internal or external sd to my pc temporary
- reset flash counter with triangle away
- go in cwm recovery and wipe everything, i mean really EVERYTHING. after that put phone off and go in downloadmode
- download the official firmware that my phone came with (for me that was android 4.1.2 no KNOX!) when first bought, and flash that with odin. now i have installed official firmware with stock recovery and device status is official and counter reset to 0 or 1
everything restored back to normal except the counter that stays on 1 unfortunately ready to send for repair, but i doubt they will accept it
i do understand your confusion about what to do, as in many threads people telling their own way of handling and taking steps to get things done and that can be very confusing as there are many things one could do. when trying to help people, i always try to provide the most common solutions and most easy one, but no matter how i tell and explain if you are someone who does not know much about android development kind of things, you will have always difficulties. the key for understanding is lots of READING and RESEARCH followed finally by executing what you have learned with proper tools. im just a member for couple of months now but i have followed these forums for many years and im glad i did..
MaHo_66 said:
1. i dont know about the ''red !'' but it seems like you have done something wrong, it shouldnt show something like that..
the backup img might solve it, but dont now for sure
2. to revert back to stock recovery you could do this: flash official firmware with odin OR find a flashable stock recovery .img or .tar md5 file to flash in recovery. easiest way is to flash official firmware, that will restore everything to ''out of the box state'' and for the counter using triangle away (only thing is it restore's it to 1 instead of 0 )
if you ask me how i would make this whole thing ready and steady for sending to samsung, i would do this:
assuming here that i have old bootloader without knox, the steps would be for me in this order:
- put every personal stuff in internal or external sd to my pc temporary
- reset flash counter with triangle away
- go in cwm recovery and wipe everything, i mean really EVERYTHING. after that put phone off and go in downloadmode
- download the official firmware that my phone came with (for me that was android 4.1.2 no KNOX!) when first bought, and flash that with odin. now i have installed official firmware with stock recovery and device status is official and counter reset to 0 or 1
everything restored back to normal except the counter that stays on 1 unfortunately ready to send for repair, but i doubt they will accept it
i do understand your confusion about what to do, as in many threads people telling their own way of handling and taking steps to get things done and that can be very confusing as there are many things one could do. when trying to help people, i always try to provide the most common solutions and most easy one, but no matter how i tell and explain if you are someone who does not know much about android development kind of things, you will have always difficulties. the key for understanding is lots of READING and RESEARCH followed finally by executing what you have learned with proper tools. im just a member for couple of months now but i have followed these forums for many years and im glad i did..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, so now what you're telling me, which is contrary to what I've been reading previous to this is that there is no way to get the phone back to stock for warranty repair as they won't accept it due to the counter being at 1.
(Would this be knox?)
Thanks for your answers tho', I really appreciate them usually my posts get ignored, prolly filed under the "another noob" section.
The thing is I'm not that much of a noob, I just have a hard time trying to put all the info together so I can take the most optimal and risk adverse solution. As for reading and research, xda is a great forum but I can keep reading 8 hours a day for 3 months and keep going because as you said everyone has their own way of doing things and explaining things.
Maybe it's not worth for me to send my phone under warranty if they're going to reject it anywaysy... *sigh*
Despite not being able to help a lot, I would just like to chime in that I have the little red exclamation mark aswell, and I have never installed the Oficcial 4.3 with Knox. So at least its not related to that.
I do have a custom Recovery and I am running a Rooted stock image.
The exclamation mark has not caused me any issues though..
found this as well: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/red-line-exclamation-mark-left-wupper-t2011728/page2
timmtn said:
Despite not being able to help a lot, I would just like to chime in that I have the little red exclamation mark aswell, and I have never installed the Oficcial 4.3 with Knox. So at least its not related to that.
I do have a custom Recovery and I am running a Rooted stock image.
The exclamation mark has not caused me any issues though..
found this as well: http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s3/help/red-line-exclamation-mark-left-wupper-t2011728/page2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well it definitely does help, so thanks.
Can I ask if you've sent your phone in for warranty repairs?
I think it has to do with having custom recovery.
grungypoo said:
Well it definitely does help, so thanks.
Can I ask if you've sent your phone in for warranty repairs?
I think it has to do with having custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately not (for you, fortunately for me).. My first i9305 actually had a defective power button which died the day after I got it. I had rooted it already, but was able to roll the original image back on the phone before handing it in. The store swapped it right away for a new one though, so it never turned into a repair case.