Hard brick. Did I use the phone button?

[Ataraxia212]

Hello Everyone. So I?ve managed to brick my phone, and it seems like a hard brick. I press the power button and get nothing. The battery is good. The phone can still enter download mode. I?ve done this so many times that it?s a possibility I got lax and chose the ?Phone? button in ODIN?that?s really the only thing I can think of, but I can?t be sure. I know the ?phone? button is a death sentence, so I?m hoping that?s not what I did! I?ll summarize briefly below:

? I was trying to flash from a THS ICS ROM (don?t remember which build) to stock EH03.
? I got a ?fail?in ODIN and after that it was bricked.
? Since then I?ve started completely from scratch. Here are the resources I?m working with: SAMSUNG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones.exe, Odin3 v1.83.exe, eh03_full_odin.tar.md5, atlas_v2.2.pit.
? I?m using Windows XP Pro 32 primarily, but have tried Windows 7 Pro 32 in my troubleshooting with the same lack or results. When I enter download mode my computer installs drivers for three devices: ?Samsung Mobile Modem?, ?SAMSUNG USB Composite Device?, and ?Gadget Serial Control?.
? When in ODIN I can see that my phone is connected in the ID:COM box because I?ve got a nice yellow box below. ODIN gets stuck at FACTORYFS with one progress bar. It hangs for about 15 minutes and then I get a red FAIL notification and my phone exits download mode.

View attachment 30564

Help! This sucks! Whenever I search for additional resources to try to get this fixed, I?m finding that all the links are broken because this is an older phone. I keep reading of this mythical DJ05 package from Adrynalyne that should fix my phone, but I can?t find that either.

I read in this forum:

http://forums.androidcentral.com/verizon-fascinate-rooting-roms-hacks/56080-guess-what-happens-when-you-use-phone-button-odin.html

gunnermike53 brought his phone back from the depths even after using the phone button. Sadly, I don?t think I have that kind of skill. He did it by flashing a new modem. I don?t even have any experience flashing a modem, kernel etc. I?ve only flashed full packages before with everything included.

Help Have I said help?

 

[anon268366]

It could be your cable, your need to use the stock cable with that program. I was in that boat so I went with heimdall. You can use other cables and it is only slightly more difficult. You can try searching for that program and files. If you can't find them I have all the files you will need on my Google drive account and can send you the link to download them. Hopefully this helps.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ataraxia212]

Thank you so much for responding, i love storms! I've been using my Fascinate's OEM cable and making sure I'm connected to a non-hub, direct-motherboard-connection USB port on my computer. It doesn't look like ODIN is going to do it for me :'( I worked with heimdall briefly but was a little intimidated, as it seems less straightforward than ODIN. I guess I have no choice but to get comfortable with it now!

I looked around for the heimdall resources I would need to flash back to stock, but ran into the same issue of broken links. It's always fun running into the FBI Anti-Piracy warning on Megaupload If you could PM me with links to the resources you have, you'd be my hero! Thanks for the help you've already given and any further help you can provide!

 

[anon268366]

PM sent. Sorry it took a while I was at work last night.

Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF300T using Tapatalk 2

 

[Ataraxia212]

Thank you so much, i love storms, for sharing your resources and taking the time to help! I used the files provided and followed the instructions carefully. Unfortunately, I am receiving an error in Heimdall, "Failed to retrieve config descriptor":

View attachment 30952

I did a search on that and came up with this XDA thread:

[Q] ERROR: Failed to retrieve config descriptor when flashing ED05 in Heimdall - xda-developers

The poster mentions that Heimdall wanted him to try a "custom jig", which I've learned is used to force download mode. He mentions that it rotates the bootloaders. I'm too much of a noob to understand a lot of the territory I'm venturing into. As I'm currently able to enter download mode, would a jig be of any use to me? Surprisingly, I found one one Amazon. I never knew this thing existed:

Amazon.com: [Aftermarket Product] Black Download Mode Unbrick Fix Micro USB JIG For Samsung GT-i9100 Galaxy S II Omnia 7 Epic Fascinate T959 Vibrant Replace Replacement: Cell Phones & Accessories

So should I buy this? Would it help me? Is this the "custom jig" that Heimdall support referenced? Again, thanks so much, i love storms, and anyone else who is able to help.

 

[Lttlwing16]

edit: nevermind didn't see your pic..
edit2: on second look, that doesn't look like the same Official EH03 release I have. Try this full release from VZW.. https://dl.dropbox.com/u/21063130/CI500_VZW_EH03_GB_CM.tar.md5 (if it doesn't link let me know)

Just to clarify, it's 449 mb.

If that doesn't work, try this modem. Just load into the PDA section and flash in ODIN like a regular "package"

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/21063130/eh03_radio.tar.md5

 

[Ataraxia212]

Thank you so much Lttlwing16 for the additional resources and your willingness to help! I tried both the Official EH03 release in ODIN and flashing just the modem that you provided. The full package failed and the modem flashed, but took 15 minutes and yielded no result.

However, I have made some ?progress?. I bought the JIG that I referenced in my previous post. It does indeed force download mode, which I figured was no big deal because I?m able to access download mode with Voume down. However, I see very different results in Heimdall when using the JIG to force download mode, as opposed to using Volume down. I used WinRAR to extract the contents of the official Verizon release and started flashing individual components in Heimdall, trial-and-error style. With the JIG, I?m able to flash every component but FactoryFS and PIT. This is still a theory, as I can?t attempt to replicate the results until tonight. However, this takes me to a ?soft brick? state where I can at least get the Samsung logo to appear on the screen. I?ve been at this for six days now, and seeing that logo was like seeing an oasis in the desert!

When I use the Volume down method to access download mode, I can?t flash my bootloaders. It concerns me a little that even in the ?soft brick? state I can?t flash FactoryFS, because you know?it?s kind of important :-\. Anyway, for the first time since I started I feel like it might actually be possible to bring this thing back! Thanks so much everyone for your help! Any additional advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Ataraxia212]

Okay, so my little adventure has come to a satisfying and hilarious conclusion! i love storms, you had it right when you suggested I use the stock cable! I had been using the original cable that came with my Fascinate, but I started to wonder, ?Hmmm?what if my girlfriend?s charger had gotten switched with mine?? She has a little SCH-U460 dumb phone, with an identical-looking charger. I had all but given up at this point. I had resorted to entertaining conspiracy theories about switched chargers etc. And really, how important is it that you use the OEM cable that came with your phone? It couldn?t be that important?right?

So I dug my girlfriend?s charger out of her bag, got Heimdall up and populated all the fields like I?d done so many times before over this week-and-a-half. Everything flashed in one glorious shot! My mouth literally hung open. Thanks you so much for your help i love storms and Lttlwing16!

So. Moral of the story? It appears, at least in my case, that it is vitally important to use the OEM cable that came with your device when flashing. Also, don?t rule anything out that you think might be outlandish or stupid. It might be the first thing you should try.

Also, you can flash the ever-loving crap out of your device and still not damage it, at least as far as the Fascinate is concerned. I?m guessing between failed flashing in ODIN and some successful/failed flashing in Heimdall, I probably tried to flash this thing over 100 times, and it?s back to stock, smiling back at me as if nothing ever happened. God I love this phone .

Thanks everyone, and happy flashing!

 

[Lttlwing16]

Hate that and love that for you. Glad your up and running...now your already for Jelly Bean on the fassy!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk