Bricked my AT&T Samsung Galaxy S4 Active i537. Advice? - Galaxy S 4 Active Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I attempted going to my recovery mode and found a message saying "System software not authorized by AT&T has been detected on your phone." When you pay attention to the top left of Odin mode when you attempt to install, two red text lines appear. The first being "START [224, 1440]" and the next being "SECURE CHECK FAIL : recovery" I assume this is because AT&T detected something that was not supposed to be there.
The reason I believe AT&T detected something was because I attempted to flash a rom for Android 4.4.2 (Lollipop) using Droidviews tutorial (sorry, new user so I can't post the link :/) among others. This was with root access, which may have tripped the bootloader as well. I believe I was supposed to install a custom bootloader like TWRP or CWM beforehand (and I tried getting TWRP but it did not seem possible with AT&T's bootloader so I figured I may as well try it without and afterwards it would be easier); however, I never read any instructions in any of the websites I have used to root/update my phone that say I must have it so I am skeptical. Any guesses on how to fix it?

I also tried to flash the stock rom via Odin. Maybe it didn't have the "official" AT&T signature on it because I got the same error, but I looked anywhere I thought there may be a stock rom that would work. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Raeffion said:
I also tried to flash the stock rom via Odin. Maybe it didn't have the "official" AT&T signature on it because I got the same error, but I looked anywhere I thought there may be a stock rom that would work. Any suggestions would be appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take a look at the stickies.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-active/general/galaxy-s4-active-firmware-guide-t2892445

Devo7v said:
Take a look at the stickies.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s4-active/general/galaxy-s4-active-firmware-guide-t2892445
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that certainly helped, I never knew someone created an Odin exe for the stock rom. It seemed to be working up until the end but for some reason it stopped (I forgot to log why as I am still a newb at this; I think it tripped my recovery mode again). I rebooted it and an error appeared saying "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again." This seemed simple enough until Kies just would not connect to my phone. I left it for about 10 minutes until an error appeared saying that my device is not responding. It told me to reboot it and try again, so that's what I did. It seems to be doing the same thing regardless. I tried troubleshooting a connection error and it reinstalled the Kies drivers (I did this countless times), but the same thing kept happening.

Raeffion said:
Well that certainly helped, I never knew someone created an Odin exe for the stock rom. It seemed to be working up until the end but for some reason it stopped (I forgot to log why as I am still a newb at this; I think it tripped my recovery mode again). I rebooted it and an error appeared saying "Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again." This seemed simple enough until Kies just would not connect to my phone. I left it for about 10 minutes until an error appeared saying that my device is not responding. It told me to reboot it and try again, so that's what I did. It seems to be doing the same thing regardless. I tried troubleshooting a connection error and it reinstalled the Kies drivers (I did this countless times), but the same thing kept happening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The one click seems to work well, but it never finishes completely. I cannot flash an OTA file as my bootloader is inaccessible. I may be able to do so from my computer but I have found no programs or guides to. Also, almost all of the downloads are down or outdated on the sticky with the exception of the ones I can't use.

Found the proper files to flash my phone successfully, the stickies were all outdated.

Related

[Q] Phone Bricked?

I tried to run the AT&T update the other day on my Captivate but I don't think it worked. Well, first it downloaded the file from AT&T, and then it rebooted the phone and I got a white screen with a loading bar. After that finished I booted back into the phone but received a message that the patch was not applied.
So I go back into settings and try updating again, but when I click on the check for updates button I get a pop up that says, "No Firmware" and that's it! What does that mean?? Is there something wrong with my phone?
Any help is appreciated, thanks.
No Firmware is a standard message when it doesnt see an update necessary. Many/most get that after the update and also got it before the update came out. Go into settings and About Phone and check what versions your at. There are many posts of people who it "failed" for but yet list the latest versions. If your unsure which versions your on, post here and someone can help.
You could always use the 1 click Odin to put your self back to basic stock and reupdate the phone....IF you feel comfortable doing that. Its very simple and there are plenty of instructions out there on how to do it but dont take my recommendation on it...do it when and if you feel comfortable.
Based only on what you posted and the fact you can get all the way to the point of checking for updated software but do not list any errors otherwise...you are far from bricked so dont worry.
Thanks... I did not know that people were getting this message after successfully updating the phone. A quick check to the version confirms that I am now running jh7, so I guess I'm all set.
I would assume so as well. Unless you see any other issues I wouldnt worry about it. If you do, look into the one click Odin restore.

[Q] Very bad brick situation

Hi everyone,
I have in the past switched roms on my Galaxy S before, therefore the issue of bricking my phone is something that doesn't intimidate me too much. However, this time i'm really stumped, and I turn to the gurus here at the forums, hoping a solution can be found.
I had just gotten my phone back from getting its screen repaired (which makes this especially irritating), and my carriers had flashed my phone back to their stock version of android, meaning gingerbread with a lot of bloatware. I decided straight away that I wanted to root my phone today, although I was away from my PC. I had my laptop with me (Macbook Air), but I had never done any flashing from it before, not to mention ever using Heimdall before (I had always flashed with Odin). I downloaded everything, and then I made my first mistake: I flashed a speed mod kernel (I believe it was a froyo kernel), and after reboot my phone wouldn't go past the splash screen. I could still get into recovery and download mode. Then I decided to try playing it safe, and I downloaded stock firmware packages for Heimdall fro the forums here. I tried flashing JVS on my phone, going exactly by the instructions written in that same thread that I found the packages, but the flash didn't succeed. Instead, I got an error message saying the PIT file didn't reach the end of the transfer (or something like that...) and the phone rebooted. After that attempt, the phone went black. Nothing works anymore except for download mode. Now I thought that as long as download mode works, I'll be ok, so I tried flashing different packages through Heimdall, and eventually when I got home I tried using Odin on my PC. The problem is, my PC doesn't recognize my phone anymore (even though the drivers are installed and I never had an issue with that before), so I'm pretty much stuck with a brick for now.
I really don't want to go back to my carrier again, and hope to get my phone back in working order without paying too much. I still think there's hope as long as download mode works.
Does anybody have any suggestions what I might be able to do? Since my PC doesn't recognize my phone (and therefore Odin doesn't either), the only semi-working option left is using Heimdall somehow, but as to how to use it, I'm in the dark.
I would really appreciate any help you guys can give me. Thanks a lot!
Aaron
first try reinstalling the drivers and try again. if you can get download mode, should be repaired.
Thank you very much!!!
I knew that download mode was a good sign, but I started freaking out as soon as Odin wouldn't recognize my phone, since it never has had that problem. Reinstalling the drivers did the trick, and flashing worked.
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Again, thanks a lot!
commandozzz said:
Thank you very much!!!
I knew that download mode was a good sign, but I started freaking out as soon as Odin wouldn't recognize my phone, since it never has had that problem. Reinstalling the drivers did the trick, and flashing worked.
Sometimes the simplest solution is the best. Again, thanks a lot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We are here to help.

[Q] Admitted defeat, help required

Hello folks.
Had a go at rooting Samsung i9000. It's quite old, and clearly clogged up to the hilt with the apps very laggy and frequently crashing. I quite fancied getting rid of the bloatwear too and the bloody annoying splash screen at start up!
Needless to say, it's all gone belly up. I've tried a couple of things using the guides here, but I don't want to keep pushing my luck in case I completely brick the device.
I'm running an i9000 in the UK on the o2 (Well, giffgaff) network. It was running Gingerbread, 2.3.5 I think. As it stands, I can get into the download option, but nothing else. I had used Odin 3, but have since read that the highest level is 1.83, which I now have. This might have caused the initial problem, but it's "soft" bricked. I've tried to flash over a stock rom again, but I keep getting failure notices. I can't get past the "Can't open the serial (COM) port" error message on Odin. I've downloaded the drivers and they have successfully installed.
One thing I don't think I did beforehand was to enable USB debugging.
I also tried the guide on here which uses the pit method, and curiously enough, it went through without the COM port error. The only thing that did, however, was to remove the "Phone + PC" logo. I am still able to get into download though.
Help! I am due to get a new phone very shortly, but it would be very useful to get the phone working again in the meantime! Any help very much appreciated.
If Kies is running in background it will fail, Go into Kies, Tools -> Preferences, unselect "Run Samsung Kies automatically when a device is connected", save the change, close out of Kies, and then restart ODIN. Try flashing now.
Try uninstalling Kies and then reboot and install the Samsung Drivers. Try then.
PFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTT, sent from my i9000

[Q] ****URGENT****Please Help

Recently, I have recovered from a bootloop when trying to install an older stock Android for my SM-G900A. I now have the original, UCU1ANCE 4.4.2 Firmware. I flashed it through a stock OA1 Kernel with Odin 3.09. Here's the issue.
I need all the help I can receive because I am desperate at this point.
[PROBLEMS!]
1. With my sketchy way of installing an older version, I triggered Knox which keeps telling me to reboot my device, but since it can't repair it on it's own, it continues to give me this error no matter what I do.
2. I've already tried to do the procedure where you Backup all info through Kies, format device, then Recover, but for some reason I can't even connect my device to Kies, it keeps telling me my device is not supported, I've also tried everything in that area to fix it. Still no luck whatsoever.
3. When I try an OTA update, it downloads, tries to install, but when it returns to the home screen it continues to tell me that the process was interrupted by something and it could not be installed.
[OTHER BUGS]
1. Every time I reboot or turn on my device, the WIFI does not automatically connect. It is my personal network and there's no doubt it should work.
2. Camera. When I open the camera, the color of the picture is dilated. The colors that should be where they are, are instead randomly scattered about the image, making those (what should be colored) areas black and white.
As I said I am in desperate need to find these things fixed. I can't find any solutions online for these. It seems like I'm the only person in the world with these problems, and it's not fair. If anyone can give me a solid solution, I would love you forever. THANK YOU.
[OP] Photo of Camera Issue
Here is a photo of what I mean by the Camera color dilation. Demonstrated by a couple of Multi-Color Expo markers.
Download the G900A_Downgrade_to_NCE.tar from here:
https://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=23622183712464416
Use Odin 3.09 and flash in AP slot. Once it is done then take the OTA for NG3 then OA1
Thanks to @muniz_ri
Tried it once before. It didn't work, ended up with a bootloop after flash of NCE.
ElectricBiskitz said:
Tried it once before. It didn't work, ended up with a bootloop after flash of NCE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you use the same file from the link I provided?
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G900A
I have used the same link you provided.
ElectricBiskitz said:
Recently, I have recovered from a bootloop when trying to install an older stock Android for my SM-G900A. I now have the original, UCU1ANCE 4.4.2 Firmware. I flashed it through a stock OA1 Kernel with Odin 3.09. Here's the issue.
I need all the help I can receive because I am desperate at this point.
[PROBLEMS!]
1. With my sketchy way of installing an older version, I triggered Knox which keeps telling me to reboot my device, but since it can't repair it on it's own, it continues to give me this error no matter what I do.
2. I've already tried to do the procedure where you Backup all info through Kies, format device, then Recover, but for some reason I can't even connect my device to Kies, it keeps telling me my device is not supported, I've also tried everything in that area to fix it. Still no luck whatsoever.
3. When I try an OTA update, it downloads, tries to install, but when it returns to the home screen it continues to tell me that the process was interrupted by something and it could not be installed.
[OTHER BUGS]
1. Every time I reboot or turn on my device, the WIFI does not automatically connect. It is my personal network and there's no doubt it should work.
2. Camera. When I open the camera, the color of the picture is dilated. The colors that should be where they are, are instead randomly scattered about the image, making those (what should be colored) areas black and white.
As I said I am in desperate need to find these things fixed. I can't find any solutions online for these. It seems like I'm the only person in the world with these problems, and it's not fair. If anyone can give me a solid solution, I would love you forever. THANK YOU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*UPDATE*
Fingerprint scanner does not work anymore either. Camera fixes itself if you change a setting and put it back.
[OP] It's Fixed!
ElectricBiskitz said:
Recently, I have recovered from a bootloop when trying to install an older stock Android for my SM-G900A. I now have the original, UCU1ANCE 4.4.2 Firmware. I flashed it through a stock OA1 Kernel with Odin 3.09. Here's the issue.
I need all the help I can receive because I am desperate at this point.
[PROBLEMS!]
1. With my sketchy way of installing an older version, I triggered Knox which keeps telling me to reboot my device, but since it can't repair it on it's own, it continues to give me this error no matter what I do.
2. I've already tried to do the procedure where you Backup all info through Kies, format device, then Recover, but for some reason I can't even connect my device to Kies, it keeps telling me my device is not supported, I've also tried everything in that area to fix it. Still no luck whatsoever.
3. When I try an OTA update, it downloads, tries to install, but when it returns to the home screen it continues to tell me that the process was interrupted by something and it could not be installed.
[OTHER BUGS]
1. Every time I reboot or turn on my device, the WIFI does not automatically connect. It is my personal network and there's no doubt it should work.
2. Camera. When I open the camera, the color of the picture is dilated. The colors that should be where they are, are instead randomly scattered about the image, making those (what should be colored) areas black and white.
As I said I am in desperate need to find these things fixed. I can't find any solutions online for these. It seems like I'm the only person in the world with these problems, and it's not fair. If anyone can give me a solid solution, I would love you forever. THANK YOU.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for helping me with my problems. I did realize when I came back to the forum a couple of hours ago that my NCE download was only a kernel and not a firmware. I flashed the link provided and voila! It's fixed. I hope others that may have this problem can use this guide as an example. Because let's face it, you're living on the edge with an Android.
ElectricBiskitz said:
Thank you for helping me with my problems. I did realize when I came back to the forum a couple of hours ago that my NCE download was only a kernel and not a firmware. I flashed the link provided and voila! It's fixed. I hope others that may have this problem can use this guide as an example. Because let's face it, you're living on the edge with an Android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same issue exactly it says my bootloader is fused or something I have to flash the newest kernel to get it too boot up . I think I tried this already but can't hurt to try again .

I am at my wits end here. I'm about to just break down here. G900A help please

So, I have a Galaxy note 3 G900A. Not sure what version and I don't have access to that. So, it has the Alliance rom installed on it. It was working fine for months with absolutely no problems. Then all of a sudden, earlier, it said NFC has stopped working, over and over again. Then, I turned off the phone and it failed to turn on. It will not get past the splash screen. It just wants to stay dark and if I leave it alone long enough, it automatically goes into recovery mode. I can get into recovery mode and download mode normally. I already tried factory reset and all of that. None of my computers will recognize the phone and I have tried multiple cables as well. Odin won't recognize it and neither will samsung kies. I tried installing stock rom through SD card and it says
Verifying update package:
E:Footer is Wrong
E: Signature Verification Failed.
It does that no matter what rom I try to install. I can't afford to get another phone right now and it is the only one I have and I just don't know what else I can do. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Well to start backwards, the stock recovery isn't really meant to flash zips, but it should go farther than saying Footer Is Wrong
Signature Verification has failed. For me, it says that, then if you wait a few seconds, it'll say a few other things, then install from sd card complete and it wipes data and cache then reboots. Next, you have to use an official cable for that, Media Transfer doesn't work correctly without oem cable
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Have you tried reinstalling the drivers on your pc or tried a different pc?
spookykidmm said:
Well to start backwards, the stock recovery isn't really meant to flash zips, but it should go farther than saying Footer Is Wrong
Signature Verification has failed. For me, it says that, then if you wait a few seconds, it'll say a few other things, then install from sd card complete and it wipes data and cache then reboots. Next, you have to use an official cable for that, Media Transfer doesn't work correctly without oem cable
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do use an oem cable. Same thing. The rest of what you said does happen though.
dustincrock said:
I do use an oem cable. Same thing. The rest of what you said does happen though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The cord is funky sometimes. Try to "mangle" it a little bit to see if odin will say "Added!". I know I have to basically wrap mine around the computer to get it to work correctly
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
sparx said:
Have you tried reinstalling the drivers on your pc or tried a different pc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I have. Still the same problems.
dustincrock said:
Yes I have. Still the same problems.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any luck?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
spookykidmm said:
Any luck?
Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. No luck..
A Last Resort
dustincrock said:
So, I have a Galaxy note 3 G900A. Not sure what version and I don't have access to that. So, it has the Alliance rom installed on it. It was working fine for months with absolutely no problems. Then all of a sudden, earlier, it said NFC has stopped working, over and over again. Then, I turned off the phone and it failed to turn on. It will not get past the splash screen. It just wants to stay dark and if I leave it alone long enough, it automatically goes into recovery mode. I can get into recovery mode and download mode normally. I already tried factory reset and all of that. None of my computers will recognize the phone and I have tried multiple cables as well. Odin won't recognize it and neither will samsung kies. I tried installing stock rom through SD card and it says
Verifying update package:
E:Footer is Wrong
E: Signature Verification Failed.
It does that no matter what rom I try to install. I can't afford to get another phone right now and it is the only one I have and I just don't know what else I can do. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As a last resort, put the device into download mode and connect to KIES 3. Go to tools and do a complete reinstallation. This will return you device to full factory specs and latest approved software, no custom ROM, no root, and no saved data. But at least you will have a functioning device. As soon as possible look into getting a new battery.
zancro said:
As a last resort, put the device into download mode and connect to KIES 3. Go to tools and do a complete reinstallation. This will return you device to full factory specs and latest approved software, no custom ROM, no root, and no saved data. But at least you will have a functioning device. As soon as possible look into getting a new battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I even used different batteries. And kid won't work because the phone isn't detected by the computer as being a phone. Kies doesn't pick up the phone, even in download mode
dustincrock said:
I even used different batteries. And kid won't work because the phone isn't detected by the computer as being a phone. Kies doesn't pick up the phone, even in download mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your only remaining option might be to send your device away for professional help. In the past I have used the services of Josh at: http://mobiletechvideos.com/ . (I am not related to that organization in any way.) For around $50.00 they can do a complete refresh, and in my case offered to root and load the custom ROM of my choice for a small additional fee. It took about one week.
Good luck.
G900A?
zancro said:
Your only remaining option might be to send your device away for professional help. In the past I have used the services of Josh at: http://mobiletechvideos.com/ . (I am not related to that organization in any way.) For around $50.00 they can do a complete refresh, and in my case offered to root and load the custom ROM of my choice for a small additional fee. It took about one week.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I checked back to see if you had solved the problem and noticed something I missed earlier... Your OP says you are using a G900A. Are you referencing a Note 3 or some other device?

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