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Root [Virgin Mobile] Bootloops despite KIES re-initialization to stock

S

simianninja

Newbie
[FONT=&quot]I have a VM SGS3 that spontaneously softbricked itself. I had rooted it and left the ROM stock aside from root. One day, I noticed it buzzing in my pocket - it was bootlooping. I have tried flashing various things to fix it, BUT a giant problem is that it cannot enter Recovery Mode. Any attempt to enter recovery mode results in bootloop, but it can get into Download Mode.

I actually used KIES to initialize and restore firmware - it then booted into the new phone startup process, but after a few minutes it restarted itself and returned to bootloop.

I actually had it working for about 10 hrs - last night another KIES firmware initialization seemed to stick, I got through setup and reinstalled apps and accounts, etc. Then this morning it suddenly buzzed in my pocket and was back to bootlooping... Now I can't get a KIES re-initialization to stick. ugh.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot](Again, no Recovery Mode, only Download Mode)[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Could this be the bootloader issue? Is there even an ODIN-able VM bootloader around?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Or is this an issue of partition stuff somehow being read-only locked or something?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I am so stuck… I hope this isn’t a hardware problem [/FONT]:(

I tried doing another Kies initialization - now it's stuck at the "Samsung Galaxy SIII" screen, but not bootlooping. WTF?

Edit: also, may be kind of screwed with a binary counter of 15 if it is hardware and I have no way of reverting...
 
Tried flashing this guy: KIES_HOME_L710VPAMG2_L710SPTAMG2_1293602_REV03_user_low_ship.tar.md5

Results: after reset post-Odin, boots to the "Samsung Galaxy S III" screen and stays there. This is bad - used to just get more bootloops, at least, but now it's just sticking here...

(I also have a giant 2.5GB thing from Punkmaxx called "VM_SGS3_STOCK.tar.md5" but I can't get it to flash -checksum is bad)

Anything else out there?
 
Oh, good call - I assumed even a custom Recovery wouldn't work if it was refusing to boot into Recovery at all, across various roms/etc. I'll have to try this when I get the chance...

(I had tried flashing stock Recovery before, to no avail)
 
Custom recoveries flash successfully via Odin, but when attempting to enter Recovery Mode (after blue text appears and buttons get released) it just bootloops.
 
Oh god - noticed Kies now puts on what I assume is 4.3 with Knox. Goodbye hopes of resetting counter and warrantying...

Anybody know a good repair dude (PM me!)? Or do I have a $300 paperweight?
 
simianninja said:
Oh god - noticed Kies now puts on what I assume is 4.3 with Knox. Goodbye hopes of resetting counter and warrantying...

Anybody know a good repair dude (PM me!)? Or do I have a $300 paperweight?
Click to expand...

While not an answer to your specific question, this is why I rant against leaving Kies installed on your computer in general. I used it just to get the drivers installed and then removed it. That stupid program seems to have a mind of its own, and since it acts at the bidding of Samsung, since they think everyone should have Knox, then Kies thinks so as well.
 
Are you still able to get into download mode? If so, please post what the last two lines on the screen read, if the Knox info is present, and you pushed a .tar file containing a non-Knox boot loader, then yes, expensive paperweight. Please let us know.
 
struckn said:
Are you still able to get into download mode? If so, please post what the last two lines on the screen read, if the Knox info is present, and you pushed a .tar file containing a non-Knox boot loader, then yes, expensive paperweight. Please let us know.
Click to expand...

Yeah, Kies pushed Knox, so I am up **** creek without a paddle
(I see the cheerful red "Warranty bit: 1")

Download Mode is fine fine fine, just never possible to enter Recovery even with a custom recovery flashed - which odin evidently can successfully do sometimes.

I am just stymied as to how I can seemingly access Download and be able to flash recoveries (when they stick - only some of the time) and stuff if things are so screwed up. In theory, could this be fixed by some sort of wipe (of system, cache, Dalvik, etc.) if I can get a custom recovery to boot? I bet there's some nasty remainder of an earlier flash somewhere preventing booting to Recovery let alone the full OS. Just want to bang my head against a wall - this seems like a softbrick (unless there actually is a mobo problem or something underlying this all) so should be fixable.

Edit: waiting on shiny new stock 4.3/MK5 Odin-able tar.md5 I found...
 
simianninja said:
Yeah, Kies pushed Knox, so I am up **** creek without a paddle

(Download Mode is fine fine fine, just never possible to enter Recovery even with a custom recovery flashed - which odin evidently can successfully do sometimes)

Edit: trying shiny new stock 4.3 Odin-able tar.md5 I found

I am just stymied as to how I can seemingly access Download and be able to flash recoveries (when they stick - only some of the time) and stuff if things are so screwed up. In theory, could this be fixed by some sort of wipe (of system, cache, Dalvik, etc.) if I can get a custom recovery to boot? I bet there's some nasty remainder of an earlier flash somewhere preventing booting to Recovery let alone the full OS...
Click to expand...

So here is what I know regarding what seems to be your current situation, mainly a reiteration of my previous post:
Once Knox has wormed its way onto your phone, either via Kies or an OTA, the boot loader is now there for the life of the phone. The ONLY thing that truly scares this new boot loader is if it detects an attempt to replace it, which would be done by pushing a .tar file, via Odin, designed to restore a version of stock that was made pre-Knox; on VM that means MG2 or MD7, and there is also a lot of outdated advice floating around which recommends the Sprint MD4 version. Let me be clear here, boot loader DOES NOT EQUAL modem, even though we use the same nomenclature to refer to both. Modems are perfectly safe, it is the boot loader that matters when dealing with Knox. Therefore, trying to push the MD4 or MG2 based "return to stock" .tar files will send the Knox boot loader into Chuck Norris mode and it will hard brick your phone beyond repair. Not even a JTAG can fix it at this point. This is intentional on the part of Samsung, they designed it as a one-way ticket. They are looking to impress the U.S. government and businesses who allow Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) with their shiny new enhanced security, but are doing so at the expense of all their other consumers. While the argument exists that most users won't care, only the rooted community cares, this rings hollow to me; everyone should care when a company pushes something out like this and doesn't have the balls to state in plain language, for all to see, what they are really doing. Samsung is at the very least guilt of lying by omission, which is still a lie. Anyway, that is my rant. Long story short, if you have Knox (sounds like a disease when phrased like that!), DO NOT do anything to your phone until you are 1000% positive it is safe.
 
I have a MK5 Odin-flashable tar that I successfully flashed - I can still do my endless cycles of Download Mode and bootloop fun. No hardbricking for now.

When I try to flash a Custom Recovery (have tried Philz, CWM, TWRP) via Odin, it chugs through the steps, goes to a Green "Pass" window in Odin, but still says "Downloading" with the progress bar on the device itself - normal or not? (needless to say, will still not boot into Recovery) - or is that symptomatic of Knox?

Should I just hold off until more is known about Knox?
 
simianninja said:
I have a MK5 Odin-flashable tar that I successfully flashed - I can still do my endless cycles of Download Mode and bootloop fun. No hardbricking for now.
Click to expand...

You've got a different definition of fun than I do lol! MK5 is the version that introduced Knox, so it is not "pre-Knox" from a technical standpoint. Don't really know what else to tell you at this point, hopefully you can take some comfort from the fact that the dialogue you have helped to generate will be read by others who now won't screw up their phone by forging ahead. On the plus side, from what I have read, the phones that have had Knox go crazy due to an attempt to push a non-Knox boot loader won't even turn on or acknowledge any commands, so maybe there is some hope for yours.
 
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