How to Unroot/Recover a bricked AT&T Samsung Galaxy S 2

[ObiGeorge]

In case any of you are returning your ATTSGIIs, and want it back to stock. Or If you brick your sh$t, like i did the other day, and need to recover. It's a very simple process to get back to stock.
*Before starting, be sure you have the necessary drivers installed. Install Kies if you don't have them.

1) Download these files (odin+unroot).

2) Extract the Unroot zip.

3) Plug in your device to your PC via USB, and hold volume up+down+power till your device goes into download mode.

4) Run Odin. Click PDA and select the unroot file you previously extracted.

5) Click the start button and let it do its thing. This process may take a few minutes. Be patient and let it boot back up.

6) Done. Simple, right?

Source: GalaxyS2Root

 

[Mr.Gadget]

Here's what I get:

But... my Kies does not connect either...

Had to disconnect phone and now shows "Firware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
I am plugging it in and retrying the Odin...

Edit: Now shows Pass! OK, rebooting and looks good so far...!
OK... booted up!

You know, the other thing I did this time was to remove my 16GB RiData MicroSDHC card... (for what its worth).

 

[oochadoo]

works great, Thanks!!!!

 

[LucasBrown87]

I'm getting the fail message too and mine doesn't work when I unplug it and try again. What should I do? It looks like my phone won't even go into download mode. When I hold down the volume buttons and power button, I get the normal screen to press up for download mode and down to reset. But when I press up I get the same "firmware upgrade...." screen. I have the S2 Skyrocket, if that makes a diffference.

 

[ObiGeorge]

I'm not sure about that device. Figured it would be the same. You have USB plugged in while doing this, right?

 

[LucasBrown87]

yeah, USB is plugged in. I can get to the screen that gives you the option to press volume up for download mode, or volume down to cancel. No matter which one I pick though I get the same "firmware upgrade encountered an issue" screen. My computer is recognizing the device when I plug it in i.e. new hardware found comes up on my task bar, but Kies won't connect to my phone.

 

[LucasBrown87]

After freaking out for the past 24 hours, my phone is finally back to normal/unrooted. In case anyone else is having the same problem, the ROM that I used is located here: Step by Step Guide to Revert to Stock Unbrick Galaxy S II Skyrocket | Mobile Phone Blog, Review, Apps, Tips and Tricks

 

[jjb70]

I've done this multiple times with no success. When I click start, it only takes about 10 seconds and then reboots phone and is still rooted. i've removed sim and micro sd, rebooted computer many times with no success. I've done this before on other phone with no problems.
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Dy-nasty01]

Does this have the proper baseband file also? I rooted/ then unrooted and now my phone calls don't work. I can't hear them and they can't hear me.

 

[jonathanhatch88]

I still have SU. Is that normal?

 

[anon(522161)]

Obi, I'm on 2.3.6 and experiencing battery drain problem. I'm considering restoring 2.3.4 on my phone following this/same unroot steps. Questions I have is when I get 2.3.4 on it, is there way to permanently suppress 2.3.6 update notifications? Thanks in advance.

 

[Entropy]

Here's what I get:

Click to view quoted image


But... my Kies does not connect either...

Had to disconnect phone and now shows "Firware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies & try again."
I am plugging it in and retrying the Odin...

Edit: Now shows Pass! OK, rebooting and looks good so far...!
OK... booted up!

You know, the other thing I did this time was to remove my 16GB RiData MicroSDHC card... (for what its worth).

Your screen says "Epic 4G" - the files are for an AT&T SGH-I777, not for ANY other device.

I'm getting the fail message too and mine doesn't work when I unplug it and try again. What should I do? It looks like my phone won't even go into download mode. When I hold down the volume buttons and power button, I get the normal screen to press up for download mode and down to reset. But when I press up I get the same "firmware upgrade...." screen. I have the S2 Skyrocket, if that makes a diffference.

That makes a MASSIVE difference. Do NOT flash anything intended for the I777 on your phone - you are VERY lucky that you did not hardbrick. If you attempt to flash an I777 kernel to your device with CWM, for example, you are almost guaranteed to hardbrick because the Skyrocket's partition layout (and its entire hardware architecture) are completely and totally different from the I777 and I9100. In fact, I think the Skyrocket's bootloader resides where the kernel does on the I777 (it apparently does on the T989, which is very similar to the Skyrocket.) - I know that flashing an I777 kernel in CWM will hardbrick a T989.

In the future: You do not have a Galaxy S II, you have a Skyrocket. Ignore the fact that Samsung slapped the Galaxy S II name before Skyrocket in your phone's name, it does not belong there. The Skyrocket and T-Mobile T989 have NOTHING whatsoever in common with real Galaxy S II devices. Completely different hardware - even the CPU is completely different.

Obi, I'm on 2.3.6 and experiencing battery drain problem. I'm considering restoring 2.3.4 on my phone following this/same unroot steps. Questions I have is when I get 2.3.4 on it, is there way to permanently suppress 2.3.6 update notifications? Thanks in advance.

There are some APKs related to updating you can remove. I don't have the list with me at the moment.

 

[drewnin]

Thanks worked great.

I wasn't able to do an OTA update from AT&T untill I reflashed back to stock kernal

 

[btrumbull]

After freaking out for the past 24 hours, my phone is finally back to normal/unrooted. In case anyone else is having the same problem, the ROM that I used is located here: Step by Step Guide to Revert to Stock Unbrick Galaxy S II Skyrocket | Mobile Phone Blog, Review, Apps, Tips and Tricks

 

[btrumbull]

Hi I used this method http://www.momobiles.com/step-by-step-guide-to-revert-to-stock-unbrick-galaxy-s-ii-skyrocket/ and I can't get into download mode and I can't get back to stock. I have to keep flashing with this stock. I need to return the phone. Any suggestions. I wish I never rooted the device. I had an iPhone which was easy to jailbreak without any issues to get back to normal I thought this would be harmless. Boy, was I wrong. Thanks

 

[btrumbull]

Hi I used this method and I can't get into download mode and I can't get back to stock. I have to keep flashing with this stock. I need to return the phone. Any suggestions. I wish I never rooted the device. I had an iPhone which was easy to jailbreak without any issues to get back to normal I thought this would be harmless. Boy, was I wrong. Thanks

 

[tneil]

Hi I used this method and I can't get into download mode and I can't get back to stock. I have to keep flashing with this stock. I need to return the phone. Any suggestions. I wish I never rooted the device. I had an iPhone which was easy to jailbreak without any issues to get back to normal I thought this would be harmless. Boy, was I wrong. Thanks

Try the method listed here

 

[Martavious]

Is there any benefit or concern with the option to "Wipe Cache Partition"? From what I'm finding on here and Google it doesn't appear that it would do any harm.

Even after rolling back to 2.3.4 from the crazy 2.3.6 and doing a factory reset I'm still not getting the battery life I expect to get from this awesome phone. Wondering if this WCP option would be of help clearing out anything "rogue" sitting out there.

While battery life back on 2.3.4 (recovered) is better than it was on 2.3.6, it's still not what I was getting prior to being put on 2.3.6.

 

[moveplano]

How were you able to download the .tar file in that link? I'm getting a .7z file. do you just rename it to .tar?

Step by Step Guide to Revert to Stock Unbrick Galaxy S II Skyrocket | Mobile Phone Blog, Review, Apps, Tips and Tricks

 

[GJMX]

How were you able to download the .tar file in that link? I'm getting a .7z file. do you just rename it to .tar?
Its a compressed file. Dowwnload 7zip program to your pc and use it to extract the file with the 7z extention.
Step by Step Guide to Revert to Stock Unbrick Galaxy S II Skyrocket | Mobile Phone Blog, Review, Apps, Tips and Tricks