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Help Galaxy s4 gt-i9505 recovery issues.

A

Arlodudden

Lurker
Hi guys,
I have a galaxy s4, two days ago it has decided to start playing up. It will not turn on as normal. I have tried the power/volume up/home button option, i can get as far as the green android robot icon (with downloading... heading underneath.)
Have also tried the emergency recovery option via kies, still no luck.
Would anyone have any other options before this phone gets 'bricked!'
I have no emergency firmware code, and it is failing to connect properly via usb lead. I get the message 'device not responding' via my windows7 laptop.

To be truthful, any jailbreak or firmware download would be helpful at this stage. Ideally i would love to recover my phonebook etc, but i am aware i will probably just have to do a fresh firmware install, if at all possible!!
I AM STUCK ON THE ANDROID ROBOT ICON SCREEN, JUST CANT GET INTO THE PHONE AT ALL. No recognised connection on laptop(w7) cant really see how to solve this if the phone wont even connect to my laptop. Gutted !

Model is a samsung galaxy s4 gt-i9505, carrier is o2 and based in the uk.



Any help, links or instructions would be so very gratefully received.
Thanks for reading.
 
Last edited:
Power + volume up + home should have taken you to recovery mode. If Download mode is the only thing that you can boot into, you could try to flash the stock firmware.
If you have Kies3 installed on your laptop, you should have all the necessary drivers and should get a reaction from your laptop even in download mode.
Did you try the Software Update and Initialization under the Tools tab in Kies?
I can't remember if the International S4 is a supported device or not but worth a try.
You can follow this guide.
http://www.samsung.com/ca/support/skp/faq/1072789

If that doesn't work, download the firmware from Sammobile and try to flash with Odin.
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/60517/I9505XXUHOJ2_I9505O2UHOI1_O2U/

Create a free account. Free download is slow but trusted site for stock firmware. Instructions for flashing are at the bottom of the download page.
 
Thanks alot for the advice. I will try the second option you have suggested. Galaxy s4 international version isnt supported by kies3 update and initialization (shame!)

Im downloading the firmware now, and i'll have a go at flashing it with Odin, cant say ive used it before but it cant be that difficult.

I@ll let you know how it goes. thanks again, you are a star !
 
Hi,
I have taken all the steps of the second method that you have suggested. The phone reacted in odin mode, unfortunately during the odin process on the laptop the end result was fail (no PIT partition) success 0 fail 1

any ideas where i can go from here or is this phone knackered?
any advice would be appreciated. thanks, arlo.
 
I'll need to look for a pit file that you can flash along with the firmware. Do you have a 16gb or 32gb version?
 
Hi,
i have reconnected again and the phone now shows 'firmware upgrade encountered an issue, please select recovery mode in kies and try again'
i have reconnected to odin3 and tried the process again, i have had some success, log is as follows.....
get pit for mapping
firmware update start
single download
aboot.mbn
nand write start !!
non-hlos.bin
rpm.mbn
sbl2.mbn
sbl3.mbn
tz.mbn
boot.img
recovery.img
system.img.ext4

blue progress bar on phone has moved up to halfway along the screen and stopped for approx 20 mins now. im wondering if i should disconnect and try again? sorry for the hassle !
the phone is a 16gb version if that helps.
 
Flashing the system portion can take a while. Let Odin do its thing and when it finishes, you should get a PASS in the box above the blue com box. Only disconnect if it fails.
If flash is successful, phone will automatically reboot and then you can unplug from pc.
 
None since last comms.
Odin froze on laptop. Had to restart, seems stuck on the 'apnhlos' step.

Phone displays some text in top corner..
Odin mode and last line says..
Start 224/1448 in red (but no number changes)- looks like 1448 files in total, stuck on 224.
Make any sense?
 
Im in the uk, and its time for bed shortly. Im going to try goong through the process again and just leave it running overnight, see what happens.
I think that if i have had no success by the morning then i would conclude its fit for the bin. Shame really but i have no idea what direction to go after that really.
Youve been brilliant, thanks a million for your advice, i appreciate it.
If you have any other suggestions, please let me know.
Thanks again.
 
Sometimes Kies and Odin don't play well together. Remove Kies but keep the USB drivers and reboot laptop and try again. Can also try using a different USB cable. OEM Samsung works best with the S4.
Sorry for delayed reply.
 
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