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Help Bricked!! (@ 3 weeks)

G

greyhndz

Well-Known Member
I have a 3-week old S4 (US Cellular - no subforum for us!) which is completely bricked. No clue why or how. Took it to the local US Cell office for the tech to look at it. Told me it's bricked, and he has no idea why. (No sh*t Sherlock).

Already received the replacement but how can I do a complete wipe of the original phone if it won't power on, boot, charge, etc. I have the SD but I've got to clear all the internal data before I send it out.

Is there a way to do this?
 
If you need to wipe the original and your phone is Bricked then try this…

Charge your battery to 100% (you can use your replacement to charge it)

Try to turn it on

If it will not power on and will not allow you to factory data reset the device by navigating the phone then try to Hard Reset the device

To hard reset a Galaxy S4 press and hold the volume up, the home and power buttons all at the same time until the device turns on. When it's on and you see the Android logo, release all three buttons at the same time. Using the volume down button scroll to and select Wipe data/Factory reset and press the power key. Then choose "Yes -- delete all data" and then press the power button again. Once the device powers back on it should be like new.

In fact, if it works you might consider keeping the original device. Chances are the replacement is a refurbished unit, so you might prefer to just keep the original.

If you do decide to keep your replacement then double check the headset jack and the LDI (liquid damage indicator, if your phone has one, chances are it does). These two things are commonly overlooked and it can save you a lot of time and possibly money in the future.

If you cannot hard reset the unit then your phones done for and you have nothing to worry about.

Good Luck Greyhndz
~James~
 
Could you tell me where the LDI is?

If they send a refurb in exchange, don't they have to advise you of that? In the letter from US Cell that accompanied the replacement, nothing was mentioned. When I received (numerous) replacements from Verizon for my DInc 2, they made it clear that it was a refurb (though that was probably assumed because the phone had been out for a while by then).

Hard reset --> no go. It absolutely will not power on. The battery is fine, and immediately recharged with the new phone, yet did nothing as far as getting the brick powered up.

Thanks for the great advice - I wish the phone would have cooperated. :rolleyes: The good thing is that I barely had to configure the new one, as the old (new) one was backed up to its its technological eyeballs.


James_Bond said:
If you need to wipe the original and your phone is Bricked then try this…

Charge your battery to 100% (you can use your replacement to charge it)

Try to turn it on

If it will not power on and will not allow you to factory data reset the device by navigating the phone then try to Hard Reset the device

To hard reset a Galaxy S4 press and hold the volume up, the home and power buttons all at the same time until the device turns on. When it's on and you see the Android logo, release all three buttons at the same time. Using the volume down button scroll to and select Wipe data/Factory reset and press the power key. Then choose "Yes -- delete all data" and then press the power button again. Once the device powers back on it should be like new.

In fact, if it works you might consider keeping the original device. Chances are the replacement is a refurbished unit, so you might prefer to just keep the original.

If you do decide to keep your replacement then double check the headset jack and the LDI (liquid damage indicator, if your phone has one, chances are it does). These two things are commonly overlooked and it can save you a lot of time and possibly money in the future.

If you cannot hard reset the unit then your phones done for and you have nothing to worry about.

Good Luck Greyhndz
~James~
Click to expand...
 
Shocky said:
Sounds fishy, to be clear are you saying it doesn't power on or it powers on but fails to start-up?
Click to expand...

Won't power on. Won't charge. Absolutely zero.

I've had problems with the AC jack on my DInc2 more than once, so I'd know what to expect if it were simply a charging issue. The charging light would not go on. I even tried charging it via USB, but the drive wasn't recognized and wouldn't charge.

The night before it died, it was flickering several times. I don't even recall powering the unit down that night (I usually do not), so the whole thing is too bizarre.
 
No problem greyhndz,

Sometimes phones just stop working, through no fault of the user. That is why they have warranties.

When you say it flickered though
 
Thanks so much, James (or is it Mr. Bond?)

The phone was a seriously dead brick. Would not power on, charge, lights would not go on, DOA. The flickering the night before was odd - the screen brightness fluctuating, seeming to incompletely power down while continuing to run. Reminds me of how my last 2 laptops died... ;-)

I knew that the battery was fine, and indeed it worked perfectly in the replacement, which I do believe was new. Sounds nuts, but it smelled like new electronics.

I've just never seen a phone roll over in its grave like that. I've had a phone not charge up, usually because the charging jack on the phone became defective. I went through 3 Dinc 2's after the upgrade to gingerbread -- but it was a software, not hardware, issue.

I'm happy with the S4 and (since the HTC One isn't available on a carrier in my area) intend to hold onto it. US Cell was spot-on about getting me a new phone overnight, and providing a loaner in the interim. It's a fascinating phone -- very different from HTC (Eric/DInc2), but lots of features to figure out.

Thanks much!



James_Bond said:
No problem greyhndz,

Sometimes phones just stop working, through no fault of the user. That is why they have warranties.

When you say it flickered though
Click to expand...
 
This issue makes me want to be certain that I follow this plan:
All apps can install to the phone's internal storage, all data can sit on the MicroSD card - currently I have my old 16GB card but I'll buy a new 64GB card soon.

This way if I ever have the phone brick and have to be replaced under warranty I'll just remove the SD card and take the phone in. All apps will reinstall on the new phone automatically once I give it my google E-Mail & password. All my music, videos, photos, books, etc will be safely sitting on the SD card.
 
KiwiMark67 said:
This issue makes me want to be certain that I follow this plan:
All apps can install to the phone's internal storage, all data can sit on the MicroSD card - currently I have my old 16GB card but I'll buy a new 64GB card soon.

This way if I ever have the phone brick and have to be replaced under warranty I'll just remove the SD card and take the phone in. All apps will reinstall on the new phone automatically once I give it my google E-Mail & password. All my music, videos, photos, books, etc will be safely sitting on the SD card.
Click to expand...

It's not quite that simple, because there are programs and data which will not install to SD, and will remain in internal storage. Download a program like "SD Move" and it will show you exactly what can be moved and what cannot. So you will find programs in addition to configs and data on SD, but you'll have stuff on Internal Storage that you want to keep as well. I use "My Backup Pro" which does a system backup, and I then back that up to my PC as well as SD. And of course I back up the SD too. ;-)

the Play store restored most programs, but for me, it is not the most up-to-date download list; I sync with App Brain and have the option of restoring programs from there as well. All things said, configuring the new phone was painless and quite fast.

Do you have a file explorer? There are quite a few free ones on the market. It just gives you a better sense of where everything is actually located either on SD or internal storage. THere may be a native file mgr in S4, but I'm new to Samsung and am using the program I used for my HTC phones.

If you need to return your phone, you will probably have to mail it back: you call customer svc, and they put in the order for replacement (after they tell you to try the trouble shooting you've already tried 10 times). The phone will be mailed to you, and you use the battery and back cover from your old phone. Remove the SD. If you can, do a factory restore prior to mailing the phone back. The replacement will come with a return label, so put the old phone in the same packaging and send it back. They sent a new SIM card with the replacement, and had the broken phone be sent back with the SIM installed.

I hope you never have to deal with a completely bricked brick as I did but then again, those bizarre circumstances only happen to me. -)
 
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