S*+ SM-G955F Bricked

[Android Central Question]

HI all, Oky for some detail. I installed twrp on the phone with odin. WHen i started the phone up there were some issues with some apps. I then flashed back to stock rom with odin and now the phone is a mess.

The phone doesn't boot. It stuck on the Samsung logo. TWRP doesn't open only thing i can do is go into android recovery mode then I get some errors.

#fail to open recovery_cause
#:fail to mount /efs (invalid argument)
#dm-verity verification failed...

-- I tried to flash twrp latest file but my odin error is "only official released binaries are allowed"
-- I re flashed the phone to 3 different stock roms and still the same issue.

Please assist.

 

[Paulvdwesth]

Please assist people!

 

[Rukbat]

Flash the stock ROM that was in the phone when you started all this (the same version number and the same update date). Samsung frequently sets the latest version number when the phone updates, and you can't flash an earlier ROM any longer.

If that still doesn't work, either find a JTAG service on eBay that handles the G955F, or contact Samsung.

 

[Paulvdwesth]

HI, Thanks for the reply, I did flash stock rom but then I still get the android recovery errors. I flashed a combination firmware and know my phone is stuck at the Factory Binary logo. unfortunately I got now jTag Service close to me. Samsung wants to send my phone away for repairs after I paid but then cant confirm if it will be fixed or not.

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

HI, Thanks for the reply, I did flash stock rom but then I still get the android recovery errors. I flashed a combination firmware and know my phone is stuck at the Factory Binary logo. unfortunately I got now jTag Service close to me. Samsung wants to send my phone away for repairs after I paid but then cant confirm if it will be fixed or not.

It's been 3 years. Did you get that fixed? I have same problem with my 950FD

 

[Mr Bojangles1]

It's been 3 years. Did you get that fixed? I have same problem with my 950FD

Here is your best bet
https://forum.xda-developers.com/c/samsung-galaxy-s8.6161/

I would be careful just flashing anything because you have to flash the correct firmware. If you flash an earlier version than what was on there before then you could trip knox and and void your warranty and cause issues with some functions of your device as knox is your device security basically. And if you trip it you can't get it back on that device causing some features to not work anymore, like Samsung pay, secure folder, etc. It also voids your warranty

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

Here is your best bet
https://forum.xda-developers.com/c/samsung-galaxy-s8.6161/

I would be careful just flashing anything because you have to flash the correct firmware. If you flash an earlier version than what was on there before then you could trip knox and and void your warranty and cause issues with some functions of your device as knox is your device security basically. And if you trip it you can't get it back on that device causing some features to not work anymore, like Samsung pay, secure folder, etc. It also voids your warranty

I am okay with that but the problem is, I cannot boot up my phone anymore even I flashed latest official ROM from Samfirm and SamFW. Whenever I boot up my device, it takes me to Stock recovery where it states that Recovery Reason unknown(no_such file blah blah) and dm-verity verification failed. Odin flash goes successful and then there is Installing Software Update, Erasing screen and then device restarts and then there is Samsung Logo which never goes away. Could be a problem with eMMc?

 

[mustang7757]

I am okay with that but the problem is, I cannot boot up my phone anymore even I flashed latest official ROM from Samfirm and SamFW. Whenever I boot up my device, it takes me to Stock recovery where it states that Recovery Reason unknown(no_such file blah blah) and dm-verity verification failed. Odin flash goes successful and then there is Installing Software Update, Erasing screen and then device restarts and then there is Samsung Logo which never goes away. Could be a problem with eMMc?

If it flashed successfully and goes straight to recovery try factory reset , if still same issue then probably motherboard

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

If it flashed successfully and goes straight to recovery try factory reset , if still same issue then probably motherboard

Thank you. I just dropped my phone at the repair shop this morning. Hope I get it working again.

 

[Mr Bojangles1]

Thank you. I just dropped my phone at the repair shop this morning. Hope I get it working again.

Did you try factory resetting first? Its a required step after successfully flashing the device.

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

Did you try factory resetting first? Its a required step after successfully flashing the device.

Yes. I did factory reset and wiped cache from stock recovery both before and after flashing the stock ROM. One surprising thing I can tell you, if I repack PDA after removing recovery.img from it (followed it after watching an YT video), I can pass the Samsung logo screen but after passing second Samsung screen, I see encryption failed error and it prompts me to Erase/Reset. Doing that leads me to the original issue. So I can understand is, going to stock recovery kind of activates the dm-verity verification and when we flash PDA without recovery, it allows passing the initial process. But encryption is what comes after that.

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

So I don't think it's some motherboard issue. What do you suggest?

 

[mustang7757]

Thank you. I just dropped my phone at the repair shop this morning. Hope I get it working again.

Did they do the diagnostic?

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

Did they do the diagnostic?

They haven't started working on it yet, might be in queue. I will update the thread once I hear from them.

 

[mustang7757]

They haven't started working on it yet, might be in queue. I will update the thread once I hear from them.

Ok

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

So here is the update. The guy at the shop told me that the Flash IC (he named it so) is the main fault and OS has nothing to do with the problem and according to him, the main board (motherboard) needs to be replaced. I didn't agree and want a second (or may be third) opinion from a couple of more guys I know since I have already told that if I flash PDA without recovery.img, my phone passes first Samsung logo, then second Samsung screen and then Encryption Failed screen appears. In worst case, I will be looking for a motherboard replacement or an iPhone, who knows!

 

[mustang7757]

So here is the update. The guy at the shop told me that the Flash IC (he named it so) is the main fault and OS has nothing to do with the problem and according to him, the main board (motherboard) needs to be replaced. I didn't agree and want a second (or may be third) opinion from a couple of more guys I know since I have already told that if I flash PDA without recovery.img, my phone passes first Samsung logo, then second Samsung screen and then Encryption Failed screen appears. In worst case, I will be looking for a motherboard replacement or an iPhone, who knows!

Thanks for updating

 

[Shoaib Ahmad3]

So folks, I got my phone working again. It's got a new life but there is no magic bullet. Luckily, my brother had an exact similar phone with damaged display panel and he had thrown it somewhere in the house. I accidentally found it and got its board replaced with my bricked phone and viola, my S8 is now up again in around 8USD of cost.

One thing I would like to add, I didn't look form other software solutions. There could be one but once I found a dead phone, I stopped looking for it.

Thanks to AC community, you guys are responsive and helpful.