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Help Is my S3 terminally dead?

S

supersi

Newbie
Over the last few days my Samsung Galaxy S3 has been freezing and rebooting all by itself. This morning the incidences got more frequent until it shut down and won't reboot.

I plugged it into the wall charger but no joy, no charging lights etc...

I left the battery out for five minutes, put it back in but it's still dead.

Going online, I see that many people have been having freezing/rebooting issues, followed by dead S3's.

Is there anything else I can do to try and fix this phone?

If it needs fixing, what part needs replacing? I'm fairly handy with micro-tools so I'm thinking I could order and install any spares I need. Tips?
 
That pretty much describes SDS (Sudden Death Syndrome).

SDS is the most common among early 16GB models, but also observed in certain, early Note 2 versions (happened to my S3 and Note2, month apart).

In case of the S3, it's related to chip model: VTU00M / FwRev: 0x1f.

Faulty spot of NAND on this eMMC will hard brick the phone if written to.

There were updates released by Samsung, 3 or 4 months ago, which address this issue. But once that happens, the only way to fix it is by replacing the mother board.

Perhaps look for low cost, damaged S3 unit on eBay? One that works but has cracked screen, etc... so you could use it to swap parts.

Sorry to hear about your predicament and that I can't bring you any good news.
 
SebaKL said:
That pretty much describes SDS (Sudden Death Syndrome).

SDS is the most common among early 16GB models, but also observed in certain, early Note 2 versions (happened to my S3 and Note2, month apart).

In case of the S3, it's related to chip model: VTU00M / FwRev: 0x1f.

Faulty spot of NAND on this eMMC will hard brick the phone if written to.

There were updates released by Samsung, 3 or 4 months ago, which address this issue. But once that happens, the only way to fix it is by replacing the mother board.

Perhaps look for low cost, damaged S3 unit on eBay? One that works but has cracked screen, etc... so you could use it to swap parts.

Sorry to hear about your predicament and that I can't bring you any good news.
Click to expand...

Great info.

If Samsung are aware of the problem then warranty shouldn't be an issue as the supplied goods are faulty. Are they not obligated to replace?

I would try that approach before taking the back off!
 
Thanks.
I'm looking at a lot of replacement motherboards on ebay. Some of the listings mention a 'bad esn'. What is this and is it a component I could easily swap-out from my old motherboard?
 
My Galaxy is an unlocked 16GB model sold in New Zealand. Will it be ok to buy any working S3 motherboard, even if it's from say a US carrier like A T & T?
 
Where do I find that? I do know it's a GT-I9300.

Plus I'm not having much luck with eBay & international shipping. Any other parts suppliers I should try?
 
yeah thats the international model bro. the north american ones are completely different.. different radio, cpu, etc. Youll have to find another i9300. Best bet would be to buy one with a smashed screen and put your screen on it. The screen is the most valuable part anyway. It does sound like sudden death :( do you only get 1yr warranty in NZ mate? In europe its 2yr
 
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