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Android system recovery -No option works

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draugadrottinn

Newbie
So my tablet froze and, after I restarted it, I was surprised to find myself on the Android system recovery <3e> page. I tried "reboot system now" and simply returned to this page. I tried out some of the other options, but there was nothing to do through them. I definitely do not want to do a factory reset, I have a lot of information on here that I need, but nothing else seems to work. I've also just tried wipe cache partition, but I'm still ending up on this damned page.

Is there any way I can get back to normal?

Btw I'm not totally sure what kind of phone this is S3 sounds right, can't remember why though; I never really checked before. It says Samsung GalaxyTab3 when it turns on, but normally I'd just go into my settings to see that kind of info.
 
Tab 3 sounds like a tablet, so I guess "phone" was a typo.

The trouble is that it's hard to know what will fix it without knowing the cause. If the only mode you can boot into is recovery and wipe cache doesn't help then I don't know whether there are any options that don't risk data loss. If you had a custom recovery there would be, but that doesn't sound like the case.

If the problem is data corruption so severe that it can't boot then a factory reset would fix it. But going straight into recovery, rather than bootlooping or hanging during the boot sounds more like a problem with the ROM itself (and all a reset does is wipe data, it doesn't repair or restore the ROM). If you can work out the exact model (maybe there's more information on the bootloader screen) I'm sure we could find a firmware file to reflash the device, but while I'm not a Samsung expert that type of operation usually resets the device in the process, so also isn't what you want (if there's a way of doing that without a wipe I hope someone who knows Sammy's better will pop up and tell us). And if the cause is hardware (e.g. failure of a large part of the storage partition) there's no guarantee that even that will fix it.

Sorry I don't have better news. We can hope there's an answer I've overlooked, or something I don't know about Samsung flashing, but I'm not confident there's a good solution.
 
This is what I expected once all other options seemed to dissolve before my fingers.

It had been working terribly for the past few weeks. Programs weren't opening anymore, and I was getting error reports from YouTube every 45 seconds or so. I imagined there was a RAM problem before this ever happened.

I shall wait a bit longer, see if any other replies surface.
 
Hold power until it shuts off, then hold volume down, home and power.

At the warning press volume up, you should see some text in one of the top corners. Reply with what you see.
 
WARNING!!

A custom OS can cause critical problems in phone and installed applications.

If you want to download a custom OS, press the volume up key.
Otherwise, press the volume down key to cancel.

Volume up : Continue
Volume down : Cancel (restart phone)
 
On the back of the tablet it says:

Model: SM-T201R

I've checked in Settings several times in the past to see what model, etc., this is, but I simply cannot remember at all.
 
One more question: How the hell do you take the battery out? I've seen a number of people suggesting this, but I have no idea how to open the case. I can't even turn the tablet off! Every time I keep the power button pressed down long enough to shut down, it restarts.
 
Some batteries are removable others aren't, since you can get to the warning a firmware flash is the next step.

If it works your device will boot up like new, all data etc gone.
 
When on the Android system recovery <3e> page, I am told that I can install update from SD. I have an SD card. Would it be possible to download the update onto the SD card from a friend's phone and put the SD card back into the broken tablet and install from there?

If so, would it cost me my data, and where would I find this update?
 
Since you stated the Android recovery ( Stock recovery) Isn't responding then no. You would need a PC to complete the process.
 
...and the PC option isn't working. It will plug into USB 3.0, but it says it won't work and needs USB 2.0. My one 2.0 port is shot, won't even acknowledge that anything has been plugged in.

So should I just press wipe data/factory reset and see what happens?
 
Use a Friends Laptop/Desktop don't give up until you have reached some kind of a definite solution or their is no options left to exhaust.
 
I'm gonna try.

I am honestly rather surprised it has lasted this long. I bought it used for a hundred bucks like four years ago, and have heavily used it every day since.

Besides, I just remembered that I had an SD card onto which I transferred a lot of my important files a few months ago, so while I'm still losing a lot, it could be far worse.

Right now I'm going through the custom OS download, but as far as I can tell, nothing is happening.
 
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