[Q] AT&T Samsung Galaxy S2 SGH-i777 stuck in a boot loop

vlmaadir · Dec 6, 2013

Please help! My AT&T Samsung Galaxy S2 SGH-i777 is stuck in a boot loop.

Unfortunately, I don't have backup of either my contacts or photos/videos. I don't mind about restoring the apps.

Information:
1. Samsung Galaxy SII SGH-i777 bought in USA.
2. Never changed any binaries. The phone has been running on the original Android OS ver (Android 2.3.4, I think) came with the shipped S2.
3. Phone was unlocked by me after getting the unlock code from AT&T and was being used outside US.
4. Not sure about the cause of boot loop. Didn't install any new apps. Had browser opened and tried to restart, stuck in boot loop.

Please help by providing answers.

1. Is there any chance of getting my contacts and photos restored?
2. By going through different forums, I understand that a factory reset may fix the problem, but I believe this process will wipe contacts /photos. Is it correct?
3. If answer to the above question is YES, will trying the option "wipe cache partition" before "wipe data/factory reset" gives any chance of restoring the contacts/photos.
4. Does the unlocking of my phone will have any effect on doing "wipe data/factory reset", if necessary.
5. If "wipe data/factory reset" also does not work, which kernel/software should I be using to flash through odin. I would prefer to go the same Android version as it was?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

cyril279 · Dec 6, 2013

@vlmaadir,

The good news is that since the phone boots, and you never updated it, then we are NOT worried about the superbrick bug, if you end up using the factory reset option. Since you're probably on the stock 3e (or earlier?) recovery, then I'm not sure that you have many options other than wiping cache partitions, a factory reset from recovery, or using ODIN to flash the stock firmware. Only the first option of those mentioned would retain your contacts.

A factory reset typically wipes /data, and both caches.

Android stores photos on the internal sd card, away from the partitions that are wiped during a factory reset, or when firmware is written via ODIN or phone recovery.

There may options to format sd card (or similar) which would wipe everything out. don't do that.

In general, your photos and videos are safe.
Your contacts on the other hand? I'm not sure how to recover those without having a custom recovery, they are buried into the binaries of the /data files.

We'll see what others have to suggest.

---------- Post added at 03:23 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:19 PM ----------

--to your last question, If you end up using ODIN to restore, I recommend the newer UCMD8 4.1.2 firmware, but if you prefer to use the same version then UCKH7 2.3.4 is still available. @creepyncrawly 's "download repository" is down for a while, so I'm not sure where t point you to find it.

vlmaadir · Dec 19, 2013

Thanks for the reply, cyril.

Relieved that photos can be recovered.

If I have to flash the software using odin (original software), should I be downloading 'I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full.7z" under I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries OR I777_UCKH7_OCD_No_BL.7z under "I777 UCKH7 Return/Unbrick to Stock (or Root) Odin3 One-Click Downloaders".

Anyways I can do this only after creepyncrawly 's "download repository" is up..I am waiting...

Other experts, out there.. any suggestion on how to recover my contacts. Any kind of help would be great.

What are the chances of having the phone up and running with just an "erase cache".

Also, recovering my phone using wipe data / flashing using odin has any effect on the phone being unlocked.
Is it safe to assume that when flashed, it by default goes to AT&T and it asks for the unlock code when the phone is restarted after a non-AT&T SIM is inserted.

Should I have SIM in the pone when doing a wipe data / factory reset or flashing?

Sorry if these are dumb questions...

creepyncrawly · Dec 19, 2013

vlmaadir said:
If I have to flash the software using odin (original software), should I be downloading 'I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full.7z" under I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries OR I777_UCKH7_OCD_No_BL.7z under "I777 UCKH7 Return/Unbrick to Stock (or Root) Odin3 One-Click Downloaders".

Well, yes, except I would have to upload it somewhere. Although I can't imagine why you would prefer the older stock Gingerbread firmware over the newer stock Jelly Bean firmware, which has a good link in the download repository. You can download all versions of stock firmware from sammobile/firmware. You have to register on the site to be able to download. When you go to the site, there is a search box in the black bar at the top right. Put SGH=I777 in that box and search.

Other experts, out there.. any suggestion on how to recover my contacts. Any kind of help would be great.

What are the chances of having the phone up and running with just an "erase cache".

I don't know if that would clear the problem, but it certainly can't hurt the phone. Go ahead and try clearing cache if you haven't already tried it. Unless you have backed up your contacts to your Google account in the cloud, you will not recover them unless you can get the phone to boot normally without performing a wipe data/factory reset.

Also, recovering my phone using wipe data / flashing using odin has any effect on the phone being unlocked.
Is it safe to assume that when flashed, it by default goes to AT&T and it asks for the unlock code when the phone is restarted after a non-AT&T SIM is inserted.

You probably won't lose the sim unlock, but if you do, and can't get another code from AT&T, you can use the free version of GalaxSimUnlock.

Should I have SIM in the pone when doing a wipe data / factory reset or flashing?

As far as I know it should not matter one way or the other.

vlmaadir · Dec 25, 2013

thanks creepyncrawly for the response. Hope you are having a nice holiday break...

Here is what I did with my phone.

1. Went into the receovery mode, selected "wipe cache partition". After successfully wiped chache, re-booted the phone. No use. It was still in boot loop.
2. So again went into the recovery mode and selected wipe data/factory reset. It displayed
-- Wiping data...
Formatting /data...
suddenly, the phone got re-started and again stuck in boot loop. Not sure what happened. Please note that the phone was fully charged.
3. Again went into receovery mode again, it shows up "Deleting Cryption Meta Data" and followed by boot loop....

I guess wiping the cache before going to "wipe data/factory reset" has screwed up my phone. Had I gone directly to "wipe data/factory reset", I could have my phone up and running and could able to use it (ofcourse with all the contacts lost). This is just a guess and I may be wrong.

At this stage, I dont think I have any other option except flashing stock binaries.
Now, I am sure I lost all my contacts. I am concerned if my photos/videos are also lost..

I still hope I could able to retrieve my photos/videos after flashing the new firmware.

Moving forward to solve the problem at hand,

As per your post here and the referred post "Deleting Cryption Meta Data" looks to be a difficult problem to solve.

After going through the posts, apparently it requires I777UCKH7-CL503881 FULL Odin3 One-click Downloader.

As this is not currently available in your sig, tried to get it from sammobile/firmware. But there also the stock firmware is on Hotfile server.

As per your suggestion though of trying Jelly bean in place of I777UCKH7-CL503881 FULL Odin3 One-click Downloader.

Refering to the fourth post in this thread,
"For 1": Will be doing it using I777UCMD8 Full Odin Flashable tar from your repository.
"For 2. and 3" Not able to get the kernel from the link. Where can I get the kernel. Is it compatible to the Jelly Bean/
"Follow 4. and 5. then for 6." As per this Siyah kernel does not support Jelly Bean...

any way out?

By all means, it looks like I can't proceed without 'I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full.7z" under I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries from your sig.
Is my understanding correct?

Please help me in making my phone up.

Thanks a lot for your support...

creepyncrawly · Dec 25, 2013

vlmaadir said:
thanks creepyncrawly for the response. Hope you are having a nice holiday break...

Here is what I did with my phone.

1. Went into the receovery mode, selected "wipe cache partition". After successfully wiped chache, re-booted the phone. No use. It was still in boot loop.
2. So again went into the recovery mode and selected wipe data/factory reset. It displayed
-- Wiping data...
Formatting /data...
suddenly, the phone got re-started and again stuck in boot loop. Not sure what happened. Please note that the phone was fully charged.
3. Again went into receovery mode again, it shows up "Deleting Cryption Meta Data" and followed by boot loop....

I guess wiping the cache before going to "wipe data/factory reset" has screwed up my phone. Had I gone directly to "wipe data/factory reset", I could have my phone up and running and could able to use it (ofcourse with all the contacts lost). This is just a guess and I may be wrong.

At this stage, I dont think I have any other option except flashing stock binaries.
Now, I am sure I lost all my contacts. I am concerned if my photos/videos are also lost.. I still hope I could able to retrieve my photos/videos after flashing the new firmware.

Moving forward to solve the problem at hand,

As per your post here and the referred post "Deleting Cryption Meta Data" looks to be a difficult problem to solve.

After going through the posts, apparently it requires I777UCKH7-CL503881 FULL Odin3 One-click Downloader.

As this is not currently available in your sig, tried to get it from sammobile/firmware. But there also the stock firmware is on Hotfile server.

As per your suggestion though of trying Jelly bean in place of I777UCKH7-CL503881 FULL Odin3 One-click Downloader.

Refering to the fourth post in this thread,
"For 1": Will be doing it using I777UCMD8 Full Odin Flashable tar from your repository.
"For 2. and 3" Not able to get the kernel from the link. Where can I get the kernel. Is it compatible to the Jelly Bean/
"Follow 4. and 5. then for 6." As per this Siyah kernel does not support Jelly Bean... any way out?

By all means, it looks like I can't proceed without 'I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full.7z" under I777UCKH7-CL503881 Stock Binaries from your sig.
Is my understanding correct?

Please help me in making my phone up.

Thanks a lot for your support...

You lost any possibility of recovering the contacts from your phone when you performed the wipe data/factory reset. They are stored in the data pertition which was erased. If you did not have them backed up to google server through your google account, then you will not be able to recover them. But I think you had lost them anyway, because you would not have been able to get the phone to boot without performing a wipe data/factory reset.

Your pictures should be fine. They normally are stored on the internal sdcard which is not touched when you perform a wipe data/factory reset, or install new firmware.

The "deleting cryption metadata" message seems to indicate nand read/write corruption. You seem to have found my posts on fixing that. You will need to use the Gingerbread Siyah kernel and the UCKH7 full distribution with Odin3 v1.85. I am not sure if substituting a Jelly Bean kernel and UCMD8 would work for this, and also I don't have a tar of the Jelly Bean sbl.bin.

I am currently trying to upload the needed files to my dev-host account. It is going very slow. I and my family will be going out for Christmas dinner and I will update the links you need in the Download Repository when I get home later this evening, assuming the upload goes through successfully.

Edit: The required files are up and linked in the Download Repository.

vlmaadir · Dec 26, 2013

creepyncrawly said:
You lost any possibility of recovering the contacts from your phone when you performed the wipe data/factory reset. They are stored in the data pertition which was erased. If you did not have them backed up to google server through your google account, then you will not be able to recover them. But I think you had lost them anyway, because you would not have been able to get the phone to boot without performing a wipe data/factory reset.

Your pictures should be fine. They normally are stored on the internal sdcard which is not touched when you perform a wipe data/factory reset, or install new firmware.

Relieved that I would be able to recover pictures/videos, at least..

The "deleting cryption metadata" message seems to indicate nand read/write corruption. You seem to have found my posts on fixing that. You will need to use the Gingerbread Siyah kernel and the UCKH7 full distribution with Odin3 v1.85. I am not sure if substituting a Jelly Bean kernel and UCMD8 would work for this, and also I don't have a tar of the Jelly Bean sbl.bin.

Shall be following the instructions in this post.
For the first step, I would be using "I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full.7z".
For step 3, I believe I should be using SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3 kernel tar, as my phone would still be in boot loop. However I am not able to get SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3 kernel tar as the Media fire link provided here is not working. Can you please provide the tar?

After successfully flashing SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3 kernel tar, I should be able to perform steps 4 and 5. I don't have any SD card. do I still need to do step 5. Doing this would not effect my pictures/videos, right?

For step 6, I shall be flashing Siyah kernel tar using Odin.

I understand I should be disconnecting the USB cable everytime I complete a flshing. Is this correct?

Please let me know if I am missing any thing.

I am currently trying to upload the needed files to my dev-host account. It is going very slow. I and my family will be going out for Christmas dinner and I will update the links you need in the Download Repository when I get home later this evening, assuming the upload goes through successfully.

Edit: The required files are up and linked in the Download Repository.

Thanks a lot for your support.

creepyncrawly · Dec 26, 2013

vlmaadir said:
Relieved that I would be able to recover pictures/videos, at least..

Shall be following the instructions in this post.
For the first step, I would be using "I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full.7z".
For step 3, I believe I should be using SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3 kernel tar, as my phone would still be in boot loop. However I am not able to get SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3 kernel tar as the Media fire link provided here is not working. Can you please provide the tar?

After successfully flashing SGH-I777_ClockworkMod-Recovery_5.0.2.3 kernel tar, I should be able to perform steps 4 and 5. I don't have any SD card. do I still need to do step 5. Doing this would not effect my pictures/videos, right?

For step 6, I shall be flashing Siyah kernel tar using Odin.

I understand I should be disconnecting the USB cable everytime I complete a flshing. Is this correct?

Please let me know if I am missing any thing.

Thanks a lot for your support.

Don't use the post you linked above. Follow the sequence in this post instead. The correct links are included. Follow the steps in order 1 - 6.

vlmaadir · Dec 30, 2013

creepyncrawly said:
Don't use the post you linked above. Follow the sequence in this post instead. The correct links are included. Follow the steps in order 1 - 6.

thanks for the response, creepyncrawly.

Problem at hand for me is more like the one given in this thread (Deleting Cryption Meta Data). I was thinking of following post 4 of this thread. Moreover there are couple of success stories when these steps are followed in the same thread.

The the sequence in this post you referred above looks to be a different problem.

Are you sure, you still want me to follow the later one (one which has flashing the secondary boot loader)?

Would be waiting for your response....

creepyncrawly · Dec 31, 2013

vlmaadir said:
thanks for the response, creepyncrawly.

Problem at hand for me is more like the one given in this thread (Deleting Cryption Meta Data). I was thinking of following post 4 of this thread. Moreover are couple of success stories when these steps are followed in the same thread.

The the sequence in this post you referred above looks to be a different problem.

Are you sure, you still want me to follow the later one (one which has flashing the secondary boot loader)?

Would be waiting for your response....

The two sequences are not really that different. The "deleting cryption meta-data" message seems to indicate nand read/write corruption. The sequence in the thread that you posted includes flashing someone's 5.0.2.3 kernel, for which both links are dead, and which I'm not really sure is necessary. It also has you flash the same Siyah kernel and the same stock UCKH7 full tar. It also has you perform a wipe data/factory reset, which should be part of both sequences, and it has you format SD card, which I don't believe has anything to do with recovering the system. The difference in sequence may or may not matter. Here are the two sequences in short form:

"Deleting cryption metadata"
1. UCKH7 full tar
2. Some 5.0.2.3 recovery (which is no longer available)
3. Siyah kernel v2.6.14 tar
4. Done.

"nand r/w corruption"
1. Siyah kernel v2.6.14 tar
2. UCKH7 full tar
3. Done.

Or if that doesn't do it

1. UCKH7 SBL
2. Siyah kernel v2.6.14 tar
3. UCKH7 full tar
4. Done.

creepyncrawly · Jan 2, 2014

@vlmaadir,

Please post your results once you try this. The information will be helpful for everyone.

vlmaadir · Jan 2, 2014

creepyncrawly said:
@vlmaadir,

Please post your results once you try this. The information will be helpful for everyone.

Sure... Will certainly do without fail. Not yet tried...

thanks for the support.

vlmaadir · Jan 3, 2014

creepyncrawly said:
@vlmaadir,

Please post your results once you try this. The information will be helpful for everyone.

Started trying to install siyah kernel.

I opened the odin 1.85 and connected the phone thru USB. Phone displayed Downloading screen. But, COM port does not get yellow in Odin.
I have the battery in the phone. I think I am not using the same cable which I got it from Samsung (used a secondary cable).

I didn't know what to do. so closed odin. Removed the phone from USB.

sorry if these are dumb questions...
should I have the battery out of the phone before I connect?
should I use the original cable only? I don't have the original cable, though.
should I have any drivers installed?
I didn't know what to do. so closed odin. Removed the phone from USB. Now, the phone is displaying "Downloading" "Do not trun off target!!"..... What should I do now. can I switch-off the phone using power button or if it doesn't work then by removing the battery, ?

Please some one help asap..

thanks,

creepyncrawly · Jan 3, 2014

vlmaadir said:
Started trying to install siyah kernel.

I opened the odin 1.85 and connected the phone thru USB. Phone displayed Downloading screen. But, COM port does not get yellow in Odin.
I have the battery in the phone. I think I am not using the same cable which I got it from Samsung (used a secondary cable).

I didn't know what to do. so close odin. Removed the phone from USB.

sorry if these are dumb questions...
should I have the battery out of the phone before I connect?

No. You would only do this if you can not get into download mode any other way.

should I use the original cable only? I don't have the original cable, though.

Cable could be one reason that Odin doesn't see the phone, but the more likely reason is either drivers, or usb port.

should I have any drivers installed?

You must have "SAMSUNG USB driver for mobile phones" installed on the Windows pc. If you have the required drivers, you will see the above line in Windows Uninstall or Change a program dialog. If you need them, download them from the Samsung site, or from here.

I didn't know what to do. so close odin. Removed the phone from USB. Now, the phone is displaying "Downloading" "Do not trun off target!!"..... What should I do now. Thinking of removing the battery

Pull the battery is ok, or hold the power button for about 10 seconds will reboot the phone.

Please some one help asap..

thanks,

vlmaadir · Jan 3, 2014

Awesome.. it worked.

It worked.. thanks a lot creepyncrawly...

It was drivers issues.. once installed everything worked....

1. Installed Siyah kernel v2.6.14 tar using odin 1.85. Rebooted. It displayed Samsung galaxy i9000 with a yellow triangle.
2. then installed I777UCKH7-CL503881-Full (UCKH7 full tar) using one click downloader. It uses different version of odin, but fine.
3. and thats it.. it is all Done.

Fyi.. it did not ask for any unlock code when I inserted my local SIM (remember, I am currently outside US).

and finally the most important.. My Pictures are intact..... :good:

creepyncrawly.... you are awesome buddy.... Thanks a lot again.

Hope this post would be useful for all of you over there... If any questions to know what I did in detail... pls don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks and signing-off with a lot of joy..

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[Q] AT&T Samsung Galaxy S2 SGH-i777 stuck in a boot loop

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