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Help S3 won't start after update

S

SarahHarp86

Lurker
Hi there.

I just did a system update on my phone and now it won't get past the beginning 'Samsung' logo screen. I have a Galaxy S3.

It will go into Recovery and Download mode. I have tried:
-wiping the cache in recovery mode
-using Odin, which gives me a 'pass' but the problem still continues
-Kies won't recognise my phone. Just says 'connecting' and then gives an error. I have tried troubleshooting the error connection with no luck. Odin connected fine.

I haven't tried a factory reset yet because I don't want to lose everything on my phone if at all possible.

Has anyone got any advice? Looks like other people have experienced the same thing after updates and some people have found that even factory resets haven't fixed the issue. Any advice would be really appreciated!
 
Hi Sarah

Which recovery do you have? Have you rooted your phone or is it still stock?

The reason I ask is that I've noticed in some recovery software there is an option to 'Reset permissions' and, although it didn't help me when my phone kept rebooting straight into recovery, it was one of the solutions that I found for 'boot-loop' when I was trying to solve my issue.

As far as I can tell, it resets the permissions on some of the system files/folders to what they should be. Sometimes, if those permissions get changed or corrupted, this can prevent your phone from completing it's boot cycle successfully.

I'm fairly sure that it won't make things worse at least.
 
Thanks for your reply. I think I may have been using the wrong .md5 for Odin and that's why I couldn't fix it before. I've managed to use Odin now and have my phone back, although it has returned to factory settings, but that may be because I tried the factory reset option on my phone before I got Odin to work properly. Luckily I had backed up most of my stuff using Dropbox and other backup programs so didn't lose too much.

I'll give the instructions for what I did here in case anyone else has the same problem. I still can't believe a simple update can brick a phone!

1) Download the latest Odin file Download Odin 3.09 - Odin download with Samsung ROM Flashing Tool (my antivirus didn't like Odin so if you have any problems opening the file it may be due to your antivirus). Make sure Kies is not open on your computer as it causes problems for Odin.
2) Download the correct .md5 file for your phone. You need to create an online account here: SamMobile | Everything for your Samsung Mobile. Then click on 'firmware' and go to 'check your firmware'. Then make sure you search for your phone and your country/network. For instance, the Galaxy S3 is called GT-19300 and I search UK-02 as that is my network and country. After your click 'check firmware' you should be given a file to download. It will be large, mine was about 800mb.
3) Run Odin. Make sure on the left that 'Auto reboot' and 'F reset Time' are only two boxes ticked.
4) Turn off your phone and put it into download mode. You do this by holding down the power, home button and volume down button. When I did this on my phone I then had to click 'volume up' to get into download mode.
5) Connect your phone to your computer. Odin should recognise it and under 'ID:COM' a blue box should appear with your phone in it. If it doesn't try disconnecting your phone and connecting again or use a better USB cable.
6) On the right of Odin should be a box called 'AP' or 'PDA'. Click on this and then select the .md5 file you downloaded in step 2. This may take a little while.
7) Click 'Start' on Odin. Leave it a little while and it should hopefully restart your phone eventually and then say 'PASS' at the top of Odin. My phone was then able to be turned on after it rebooted.
 
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