SII locked up, fails to reboot.

[IanWorthington]

My trusty S2 locked up today and, upon rebooting got no further than the

Samsung
Galaxy SII
GT-I9100

screen.

Unsurprisingly an attempt to boot into safe mode fared no better.

I went into the recovery menu and cleared the cache but the same.

Before I try a wipe/factory reset is there anything else I should try? Haven't done a backup in ages as Kies hardly ever wants to connect properly to my phone so I'd rather not blow away all my data if I don't have to.

Can I, for instance, use Odin to install a mod like CWM(?) to do a backup from the recovery menu?

IIRC its on JB (I accepted an over the air update a couple of weeks ago), if that makes any difference?

ian

 

[ironass]

Hello IanWorthington,

Lets see if we can help...

My trusty S2 locked up today and, upon rebooting got no further than the

Samsung
Galaxy SII
GT-I9100

screen.

Unsurprisingly an attempt to boot into safe mode fared no better.

I went into the recovery menu and cleared the cache but the same.

That would have been my first suggestion also. Shame.

Before I try a wipe/factory reset is there anything else I should try? Haven't done a backup in ages as Kies hardly ever wants to connect properly to my phone so I'd rather not blow away all my data if I don't have to.

You won't like my later suggestion then!

Can I, for instance, use Odin to install a mod like CWM(?) to do a backup from the recovery menu?

This is something for rooted phones only... and you cannot root your phone as it is.

IIRC its on JB (I accepted an over the air update a couple of weeks ago), if that makes any difference?

Darn! I knew you were going to say that. Back in January when I wrote the Jelly Bean update - Dummies Guide I put a warning about OTA updates in #1.2 because of previous experience with the ICS firmware updates as described in my May 2012 thread, Firmware update problems... what you can do! and subsequent post, here. OTA updates are fine when they work... but when they don't

Other than a full vanilla install, as described in the Firmware problems link, I can only suggest that you re-flash your firmware for your CSC code as per the step-by-step instructions and video contained in the link in #1.7 of the aforementioned Jelly Bean update guide. Since the firmware is no wipe it should not affect your data and could serve to correct any firmware problems. This is the only chance I think you now have of not doing a full, vanilla, install.

 

[IanWorthington]

Hi. Thanks for this.

So, iiuc, I should try repushing the JB firmware via Odin? I've manually updated the Samsung USB drivers and it seems I can connect Odin to the s2 in download mode ok.

The only fly in the ointment here would be selecting the correct version of JB as I can't get the CSC code via *#1234#. I have though, I think, pushed ICS updates via Kies in the past so presumably /it/ knows. Is there some way of interrogating it? Or some other way of interrogating the phone?

Looks like I have two backups in Kies, the last was from a year ago. Might it be in there somewhere?

i

 

[ironass]

I can try and take an educated guess at it from the following...

1. Your location?

2. Your network?

3. Was your firmware carrier branded?

 

[IanWorthington]

The phone was purchased SIM free, unbranded in the UK.

I've just found a file:

C:\ProgramData\Samsung\DeviceProfile\Cache\GT-I9100\version.dat

with the contents (typed by hand, so e&eo...)

I9100XWLPT/I9100XEULPA/I9100XXLQ6/I9100XWLPT

XEU is a CSC code and corresponds to a file I've found:

C:\Users\Ian\AppData\Local\Temp\Binary\GT-I9100\XEU\XW\XWLPTXEULPAXXLQ6XWLPT

But, iiuc, the CSC code changes with each release?

 

[ironass]

The phone was purchased SIM free, unbranded in the UK.

I've just found a file:

C:\ProgramData\Samsung\DeviceProfile\Cache\GT-I9100\version.dat

with the contents (typed by hand, so e&eo...)

I9100XWLPT/I9100XEULPA/I9100XXLQ6/I9100XWLPT

XEU is a CSC code and corresponds to a file I've found:

C:\Users\Ian\AppData\Local\Temp\Binary\GT-I9100\XEU\XW\XWLPTXEULPAXXLQ6XWLPT

But, iiuc, the CSC code changes with each release?

Good man!

No guessing now whatsoever. You are on unbranded UK firmware for CSC code XEU. This code does not change... only the build details.

This is the file for the very latest XEU release on Jelly Bean, Android 4.1.2, LSW...

I9100XWLSW_I9100XEULS5_XEU.zip

Flash this as per #1.7 of the Jelly Bean update - Dummies Guide and see if it kick starts you past the boot screen.

Good luck!

 

[IanWorthington]

Downloading now.... Thanks.... Will advise.

i

 

[IanWorthington]

Tried pushing that fw with Odin, with the following messages in log:

<ID:0/007> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I9100XWLSW_I9100XXMS2_I9100XEULS5_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/007> Odin v.3 engine (ID:7)..
<ID:0/007> File analysis..
<ID:0/007> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/007> Initialzation..
<ID:0/007> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/007> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/007> boot.bin
<ID:0/007> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/007> cache.img

many hours here

<ID:0/007>
<ID:0/007> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
<ID:0/007> Removed!!
<ID:0/007> Added!!
<ID:0/007> Removed!!

Now the phone will not turn on apart from when connected, when it gives the message:

Firmware upgrade encountered
an issue. Please select
recovery mode in Kies & try again.

Attempting to connect via Odin gives the same as before:

<ID:0/007> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I9100XWLSW_I9100XXMS2_I9100XEULS5_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/007> Odin v.3 engine (ID:7)..
<ID:0/007> File analysis..
<ID:0/007> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/007> Initialzation..
<ID:0/007> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/007> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/007> boot.bin
<ID:0/007> NAND Write Start!!
<ID:0/007> cache.img

Attempting to connect with Kies just gives

Connecting...

for a long time, followed by:

Device not responding.
To resolve the issue, reboot the device.


Could this be simply a recurrence of the connection issues? Or is this a much more serious issue now I appear to have lost the ability to try a wipe/reset?

i

 

[ironass]

Could this be simply a recurrence of the connection issues? Or is this a much more serious issue now I appear to have lost the ability to try a wipe/reset?

It was a long shot at best, to save a Factory Reset which you did not want.

Getting into Recovery Mode and Download Mode can be tricky to begin with as these videos demonstrate.

If you cannot get into either of these 2 modes, you can try a soft and/or hard, reset as described in Hawker's post, here.

If after the above, you cannot get into Recovery for a Factory Reset then I'm afraid it will mean a trip to the nearest Samsung Service Point.