[Q] Weird problem. Software or hardware?

Robert1852 · Feb 14, 2014

Hello everybody,

First of all, on 4.3 I couldn't get wifi to turn on. Here is a list of what I tried when I was on 4.3:

- I've already flashed many different stock and custom roms
- I've tried the wifi fixes, the non-hlos.bin fixes with every rom
- Friedrich420's build.prop tweaks and wifi files.
- Custom kernels
- Different modems
- Dial *#0011# and disable wifi power saving mode.

Now I've updated to 4.4.2 XXUFNA5 to see if that fixes the issue, but still no luck. Now it's even worse. No wifi and I can't even root the phone anymore (using cf auto root, haven't found another way yet but SuperSU sais 'no su binary installed' and closes...). However I can still install a custom recovery, but after installing any rom (4.4.2 ofcourse) the boot animation doesn't change, still says samsung, and I'm in a bootloop

. Can't even install a pre-rooted stock rom. Tried both cwm and twrp several times.

I purchased the phone with the wifi problem, in the hope i could fix it and have a cheap galaxy s4. The previous owner said he hadn't done anything to the phone (no software of hardware changes). However konx was already 0x1.

Does anyone know what the problem can be?

Robert1852 · Feb 16, 2014

Really no one with a possible solution?

pika456 · Feb 16, 2014

why don't you try to clean flash with odin a stable rom?
I suggest 4.3 (you will have the knox issue, I don't mind)

Robert1852 · Feb 16, 2014

pika456 said:
why don't you try to clean flash with odin a stable rom?
I suggest 4.3 (you will have the knox issue, I don't mind)

Thanks for your response, but as I said in the first post I've already done that many times...

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maxsam4 · Feb 17, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Thanks for your response, but as I said in the first post I've already done that many times...

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The same happened with me.
I flashed the stock rom and the problem got solved.
I guess problem was with the kernels

Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Robert1852 · Feb 17, 2014

maxsam4 said:
The same happened with me.
I flashed the stock rom and the problem got solved.
I guess problem was with the kernels

Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yeah also tried different kernels, didn't work

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maxsam4 · Feb 18, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Yeah also tried different kernels, didn't work

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The only thing you possibly can do now us to head to a service center.

Sent from my GT-I9500 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Obagleyfreer · Feb 18, 2014

have you tried a custom ROM like Cyanogen Mod?

Robert1852 · Feb 18, 2014

Obagleyfreer said:
have you tried a custom ROM like Cyanogen Mod?

Yes I've also tried a few custom roms on 4.3, but on 4.4 I ways get in a bootloop when trying to install a custom rom (4.4 ofcourse). Bootanimations doesn't even change. I don't think the error is in the system or the data folder, I've tried really everything within these folders. Can the problem be somewhere else? There's also a wpa_supplicant in etc/wifi, but that gets updated bij the wpa_supplicant.conf in data/misc/wifi right? So I don't think that can be the problem?

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fllipper · Feb 18, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Hello everybody,

First of all, on 4.3 I couldn't get wifi to turn on. Here is a list of what I tried when I was on 4.3:

- I've already flashed many different stock and custom roms
- I've tried the wifi fixes, the non-hlos.bin fixes with every rom
- Friedrich420's build.prop tweaks and wifi files.
- Custom kernels
- Different modems
- Dial *#0011# and disable wifi power saving mode.

Now I've updated to 4.4.2 XXUFNA5 to see if that fixes the issue, but still no luck. Now it's even worse. No wifi and I can't even root the phone anymore (using cf auto root, haven't found another way yet but SuperSU sais 'no su binary installed' and closes...). However I can still install a custom recovery, but after installing any rom (4.4.2 ofcourse) the boot animation doesn't change, still says samsung, and I'm in a bootloop . Can't even install a pre-rooted stock rom. Tried both cwm and twrp several times.

I purchased the phone with the wifi problem, in the hope i could fix it and have a cheap galaxy s4. The previous owner said he hadn't done anything to the phone (no software of hardware changes). However konx was already 0x1.

Does anyone know what the problem can be?

I am in the exact same boat as you except I didn't upgraded my bootloader to 4.4.2, was about to these days. I flashed about 7-8 different stock firmwares with the wifi fix for each. I, same as you bought the phone cheaper with this problem and thought I could fix it. I read somewhere that downgrading to 4.2.2 will help somehow but downgrading for me is impossible. I am getting desperate, please if you ever find a fix post it here or private message me. I know that is software and not hardware because in the first day I bought it I managed to fix it on the firmware it came with MK8 by flashing a lot of stuff in random order : CF auto root, wifi fix MK8, MK8 modem, philz_touch_6.07.9-jfltexx, don't remember what I did exactly, but made it work and then installed another stock firmware XXUENA4 , and it kept working on this firmware also all day long, and then next day after I started the phone it worked for about 5 min then it turned off and stayed off till now no matter what. I tend to be a rational person and try to find reasons for everything but for the life of me I can't figure out this one so really please help me, any one with any possible explanation. Can it be hardware after all? But how did I fix it once, and why can't I fix it again by doing the same same steps? My new plan is to try flashing bootloaders only as if this might work somehow. At this point for me is all about trying all sorts of mojo like flashing exactly 3 times modem then 3 times wifi fix, wipe data and factory reset from stock recovery before rom boots first time, and all sorts of wackadoo stuff.
Please really help me because my only other solution is to change the motherboard for 200 . Btw mine is i9505, u didn't mention yours.

Robert1852 · Feb 18, 2014

fllipper said:
I am in the exact same boat as you except I didn't upgraded my bootloader to 4.4.2, was about to these days. I flashed about 7-8 different stock firmwares with the wifi fix for each. I, same as you bought the phone cheaper with this problem and thought I could fix it. I read somewhere that downgrading to 4.2.2 will help somehow but downgrading for me is impossible. I am getting desperate, please if you ever find a fix post it here or private message me. I know that is software and not hardware because in the first day I bought it I managed to fix it on the firmware it came with MK8 by flashing a lot of stuff in random order : CF auto root, wifi fix MK8, MK8 modem, philz_touch_6.07.9-jfltexx, don't remember what I did exactly, but made it work and then installed another stock firmware XXUENA4 , and it kept working on this firmware also all day long, and then next day after I started the phone it worked for about 5 min then it turned off and stayed off till now no matter what. I tend to be a rational person and try to find reasons for everything but for the life of me I can't figure out this one so really please help me, any one with any possible explanation. Can it be hardware after all? But how did I fix it once, and why can't I fix it again by doing the same same steps? My new plan is to try flashing bootloaders only as if this might work somehow. At this point for me is all about trying all sorts of mojo like flashing exactly 3 times modem then 3 times wifi fix, wipe data and factory reset from stock recovery before rom boots first time, and all sorts of wackadoo stuff.
Please really help me because my only other solution is to change the motherboard for 200 . Btw mine is i9505, u didn't mention yours.

Finally someone with the exactly the same problem! Yea mine is a i9505 too. I've also tried al those things like flashing 3 times without auto reboot etc, but nothing worked for me.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2539904 some people say it is possible to downgrade the bootloader, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm afraid I will brick the bootloader and I don't have a jtag. What I'm now thinking about is to buy another cheap s4 with broken screen, replace the motherboard and sell the rest. I've tried everything with the software and put so much time in it, I think just replacing the motherboard is one of the only solutions left. But till the time I found one, I'll just keep trying. If you ever find a way to fix, I'd still love to hear it

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fllipper · Feb 18, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Finally someone with the exactly the same problem! Yea mine is a i9505 too. I've also tried al those things like flashing 3 times without auto reboot etc, but nothing worked for me.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2539904 some people say it is possible to downgrade the bootloader, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm afraid I will brick the bootloader and I don't have a jtag. What I'm now thinking about is to buy another cheap s4 with broken screen, replace the motherboard and sell the rest. I've tried everything with the software and put so much time in it, I think just replacing the motherboard is one of the only solutions left. But till the time I found one, I'll just keep trying. If you ever find a way to fix, I'd still love to hear it

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Regarding your rooting problem have you read this ? Some one who helped a lot of people with wifi fixes advised me to try and downgrade with mobile odin, but still want to try a couple of 4.3 modems before downgrading. It s software but can't be fixed so frustrating!

Robert1852 · Feb 18, 2014

fllipper said:
Regarding your rooting problem have you read this ? Some one who helped a lot of people with wifi fixes advised me to try and downgrade with mobile odin, but still want to try a couple of 4.3 modems before downgrading. It s software but can't be fixed so frustrating!

Yea I used an outdated cf autoroot... But you can't downgrade to 4.3 once you've installed a newer bootloader, right? And I've tried about 20 different 4.3 modems, but no wifi with any modem

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fllipper · Feb 18, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Yea I used an outdated cf autoroot... But you can't downgrade to 4.3 once you've installed a newer bootloader, right? And I've tried about 20 different 4.3 modems, but no wifi with any modem

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Well, my understanding is that if you downgrade with mobile odin, you only downgrade the firmware and not the bootloader and after you should make OTA update to the latest version and then it might work. Have you tried flashing CSC also and ticking re-partition, or maybe even fill out all fields in Odin instead of flashing just PDA(AP) ? I have never used Mobile Odin but will try soon and post results!

Robert1852 · Feb 18, 2014

fllipper said:
Well, my understanding is that if you downgrade with mobile odin, you only downgrade the firmware and not the bootloader and after you should make OTA update to the latest version and then it might work. Have you tried flashing CSC also and ticking re-partition, or maybe even fill out all fields in Odin instead of flashing just PDA(AP) ? I have never used Mobile Odin but will try soon and post results!

OTA isn't going to work since I have no wifi, but I guess kies will work too?
I've flashed csc also, haven't done re partition yet since it usually bricks the phone when I try it (or I'm always using the wrong pit files...). I've tried all the fields and just pda/ap.

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Robert1852 · Feb 18, 2014

fllipper said:
Well, my understanding is that if you downgrade with mobile odin, you only downgrade the firmware and not the bootloader and after you should make OTA update to the latest version and then it might work. Have you tried flashing CSC also and ticking re-partition, or maybe even fill out all fields in Odin instead of flashing just PDA(AP) ? I have never used Mobile Odin but will try soon and post results!

I tried downgrading with mobile odin, but again a bootloop...

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fllipper · Feb 18, 2014

There must be someone in xda who has a greater understanding of how bootloaders work how wifi works, how is modem related bootloader and to wifi and why this happens only to knox 0x1 and what to try, surely it cand be done. I will keep trying anything and everything and post here if relevant. I am gonna mention that at some point in time I succeded in making it work propely, so there is still hope. Hang in there!

Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda app-developers app

Obagleyfreer · Feb 18, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Finally someone with the exactly the same problem! Yea mine is a i9505 too. I've also tried al those things like flashing 3 times without auto reboot etc, but nothing worked for me.
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2539904 some people say it is possible to downgrade the bootloader, but I haven't tried it yet because I'm afraid I will brick the bootloader and I don't have a jtag. What I'm now thinking about is to buy another cheap s4 with broken screen, replace the motherboard and sell the rest. I've tried everything with the software and put so much time in it, I think just replacing the motherboard is one of the only solutions left. But till the time I found one, I'll just keep trying. If you ever find a way to fix, I'd still love to hear it

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Could be possible EFS corruption??

Do you have your MAC address still? Open EFS/wifi and check your .mac.info file.

Robert1852 · Feb 18, 2014

Obagleyfreer said:
Could be possible EFS corruption??

Do you have your MAC address still? Open EFS/wifi and check your .mac.info file.

Yea that is still fine. But someone offered me a very cheap xperia z1 today, so I guess I'll just sell the S4

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Obagleyfreer · Feb 18, 2014

Robert1852 said:
Yea that is still fine. But someone offered me a very cheap xperia z1 today, so I guess I'll just sell the S4

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Good plan!!
The Z1 is way better than the S4!

[Q] Weird problem. Software or hardware?

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