[Q] Phone hard bricked after unlocking bootloader

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Velovix

Member
Jun 16, 2014
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So it seems I've really put myself into a bad spot, here.

I recently rooted my phone (Verizon S3) using towelroot, which seemed to work exceedingly well, so I decided to try to make a NANDroid backup using ClockworkMod. I installed ROM Manager, set that up, and chose the "restart in Clockwork recovery mode option", which didn't work. I soon realized I forgot to unlock my bootloader so, at the recommendation of a few sites, used EZ-Unlock to try to do that. The app reported that it was successful, so I tried restarting my phone in Clockwork recovery mode again. To my utter horror, my phone did not turn on, and has not turned on since.

When I say that it doesn't turn on, I mean that it gives me no audio, vibrational, or visual feedback, almost like there's no battery in the phone. I've pulled the battery and also attempted to do the fix outlined in a video, but to no avail. (I would post the link if the forum allowed me to. The title of the video is "Unbrick hard bricked Verizon Galaxy S3 running 4.3 Jelly Bean")

Feel free to scold me all you like for my irresponsibility and stupidity, it's probably deserved. Any help will be hugely appreciated, though! Thank you so much!

Edit: I guess I should mention that this is my first time doing this sort of thing to an Android device. However, I do like to think I "know my way around", as they say. (although I guess not enough to avoid messing things up!)
 
Last edited:

Darke5tShad0w

Senior Member
Nov 18, 2013
1,261
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TheXboxCast
So it seems I've really put myself into a bad spot, here.

I recently rooted my phone (Verizon S3) using towelroot, which seemed to work exceedingly well, so I decided to try to make a NANDroid backup using ClockworkMod. I installed ROM Manager, set that up, and chose the "restart in Clockwork recovery mode option", which didn't work. I soon realized I forgot to unlock my bootloader so, at the recommendation of a few sites, used EZ-Unlock to try to do that. The app reported that it was successful, so I tried restarting my phone in Clockwork recovery mode again. To my utter horror, my phone did not turn on, and has not turned on since.

When I say that it doesn't turn on, I mean that it gives me no audio, vibrational, or visual feedback, almost like there's no battery in the phone. I've pulled the battery and also attempted to do the fix outlined in a video, but to no avail. (I would post the link if the forum allowed me to. The title of the video is "Unbrick hard bricked Verizon Galaxy S3 running 4.3 Jelly Bean")

Feel free to scold me all you like for my irresponsibility and stupidity, it's probably deserved. Any help will be hugely appreciated, though! Thank you so much!

Edit: I guess I should mention that this is my first time doing this sort of thing to an Android device. However, I do like to think I "know my way around", as they say. (although I guess not enough to avoid messing things up!)

You need to report your post so it can be moved to the Verizon s3 forums where you can get help for your problem.
 

Velovix

Member
Jun 16, 2014
8
0
Do what the guy above suggested. Oh just so you know when you are on 4.3 you can not unlock your bootloader. Only root. Also once on 4.3 you can not downgrade to any earlier firmware versions. You can thank Verizon for that.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

That's awful. I guess I was looking at a guide for a non-Verzion phone. Thank you for the information, though.
 

Velovix

Member
Jun 16, 2014
8
0
So, if I understand my situation, I guess the question now is: How can I lock my bootloader back up while it's hardbricked, correct?
 

SlimSnoopOS

Senior Member
Jan 29, 2011
8,052
3,348
So, if I understand my situation, I guess the question now is: How can I lock my bootloader back up while it's hardbricked, correct?

No. Your only focus is on getting the phone to boot back up. The only method that we have to do so is the bootloader/hardbrick thread by SpryroDazee posted at the top of our Q/A section.