[Q] Note II stuck on boot screen (Not Rooted!)

N074N008 said:

Hi everyone!

My friend has a Sprint Galaxy Note II that's stuck on the Samsung logo and I have no idea how to fix it. They had been having weird problems with it for a while before this started. For instance, it would start working in "slow motion", It would run out of storage space very quickly, and for a couple of days before this happened my friend was having a hard time getting it to charge (the light wouldn't even come on.). Now, whenever they plug it in, it shows the battery icon but... It's sort of stuck. It has the loading icon on the battery, but it doesn't go around and around like it should. They tried pulling the battery out and then turning it back on, but it just shows the Samsung logo. The logo doesn't do that blue glowing thing either. They have VERY IMPORTANT information on it, so doing a factory reset isn't an option. It is NOT ROOTED. it has never been rooted or modified in any way. I had to confiscate it so they wouldn't break it out of frustration, so it's in my possession now. As I said, WIPING IT ISN'T AN OPTION. Can you please help me fix it?

Thanks in advance!

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I would suggest trying to get it to boot into download mode. While powered off press and hold vol -, home key, and power. If it goes into download flash a custom recovery (twrp suggested) and use file manager to copy important information to an external sdcard.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Try a different charger/usb cord and if that don't work maybe it's time for a new battery as that one sounds like it might be no good and completely dead.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Free mobile app

N074N008 said:

Thanks jlmancuso! I feel like I should know this already, but I won't lose any files in the process of rooting, will I? I've only rooted one phone before and it was my S4. I rooted it straight out of the box, so I didn't have any files on it. It's very important that I don't lose the files on my friend's phone. Do you (or anyone else here) know of a way to get the files off without rooting it? Or a way to get it working again without losing the important files?

Thanks!

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Well actually if you follow the steps i gave you then you are not actually rooting only installing a recovery. This will not cause you to lose any info and will aid you later to get the phone running again.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

N074N008 said:

Thanks again jlmancuso! You're awesome!
How do I flash the custom recovery? I always thought I knew a lot but I guess I don't...
If you can continue to help me with this, that would be great!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

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Well here are the basics

Using a windows pc with samsung drivers installed along with odin. Boot phone into download mode and connect to pc. Open odin and uncheck the reboot option. Click the pda button and select the twrp recovery file i linked. Once it flashes (should only take a moment) disconnect the phone and remove battery. No insert and remove battery several times very quickly. This prevents the phone from automatically booting. Now boot into recovery mode and use the built-in file manager to copy important data from internal sdcard to an external card.


Volume down + home button + power button = download mode

Volume up + home button + power button = recovery mode

Make sure you hold all three keys till you see the bootscreen


Twrp link.... http://goo.im/devs/OpenRecovery/t0ltespr/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.7-t0ltespr.img.tar


Now have linked you to twrp because it has a built-in file manager but if you want to install aosp 4.4 custom roms or backup/restore stock 4.3 roms then you will want to use philz 6.07.9

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N074N008 said:

Sorry it took me so long. The phone will boot into both recovery and download mode. We spoke to someone at our local Sprint store who was able to determine that the problem is not being caused by the battery, the charging port, or any other hardware. He told us that we have two options: we can either flash the custom recovery, or he can try to flash it back to the official software, which isn't supposed to wipe it. My friend has been without a phone for a long time, but they aren't sure what to do. They really don't want to lose any data because there are pictures and text messages that are needed for a legal issue. Can you help us figure this out? Thanks again!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

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Well now you talked with Sprint let me fill you in on something. Sprint techs know very little. If you let them re-flash it then you will lose the data.

As I stated earlier flash twrp recovery and use its file manager to move things from your internal sdcard to an external sdcard.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Yes but it will be a bit more involved. Are the real important? They are stored in a database file.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

N074N008 said:

Yes, they are VERY important. My friend needs them as proof in a legal matter.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

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Ok I will double check the location of the file. Couple of questions first. What os was installed stock? 4.1.2, 4.3, or 4.4.2? Second are there mms messages that you need? Last what os is on your pc? This way I can gather up links to the needed software.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

N074N008 said:

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you. 1. My PC has Windows 7. 2. There were important MMS messages. 3. We don't know about the version of Android, but we think it might have been 4.4.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

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Okay. I will gather up everything I can and get you a nice guide (well readable anyways) made. Will be a day or two.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

N074N008 said:

Thank you so much! :thumbup:

Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Okay first off here is a list of things you will need.

1. twrp recovery http://goo.im/devs/OpenRecovery/t0ltespr/openrecovery-twrp-2.6.3.7-t0ltespr.img.tar

2. odin 1.85 http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...6_0obQ6fr_QnBsA&bvm=bv.68693194,d.aWw&cad=rja

3. samsung usb drivers http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/c...NG_USB_Driver_for_Mobile_Phones_v1.5.33.0.exe

4. sdcard (anything over 1 GB will be fine) inserted in phone

Now steps to perform

1. On your pc install odin and then samsung drivers
2. Place the twrp-xxxx.tar file into the odin folder
3. Boot phone into download mode -- with power off press and hold vol -, home key, and Power
4. It will boot and ask you to press vol + to continue
5. Open the odin program and uncheck auto reboot
6. Click on the button that says PDA and then select the TWRP file
7. Connect phone to PC
8. Click on start and it will flash the recovery
9. After it says done disconnect phone from pc and remove battery
10. Now with battery out press and hold vol +, home key, and power
11. It should boot into TWRP
12. Go to mounts and mount /data and /system if they are not already mounted
13. Back to main menu and choose Advanced...File Manager
14. Select data ... data ... com.android.providers.telephony ... databases
15. Now copy mmssms.db, mmssms.db-shm, mmssms.db-wal to sdcard (press on the file ... Copy file ... external_sdcard)
16. Once all the files are copied press the (Up A Level) till you are back to the root
17. Select system then build.prop Copy to external_sdcard



Now you have all the important sms/mms files and you can power off your phone. Remove the sdcard and copy (dont move) those files to your PC.

Now you have a couple of choices. You can extract the database files and try and use them in court or you can fix the phone and place the database files back where they came from.


If you plan on putting the files back on the phone (suggested method) then you will need to open the build.prop with a text editor (wordpad is fine). Then look through it for the version you were running. Below is part of a build.prop the two red lines are what you want to know. This will tell me what the original rom was so I can get you a link and instructions on how to flash it.


ro.build.id=KOT49H
ro.build.display.id=Community Rom
ro.build.version.incremental=Beta 2
ro.build.version.sdk=19
ro.build.version.codename=REL
ro.build.version.release=4.4.2
ro.build.date=Thu May 8 00:01:36 KST 2014
ro.build.date.utc=1399474896
ro.build.type=user
ro.build.user=dpi
ro.build.host=SWDD5716
ro.build.tags=release-keys
ro.product.model=SPH-L900
ro.product.brand=samsung
ro.product.name=t0ltespr
ro.product.device=t0ltespr



If you plan on just extracting the files let me know and I will get you links and info on how to do that.


If you have any questions about the steps or problems performing any step just let me know (dont skip any step) and I will help you.

N074N008 said:

Thank you SO much! :thumbup:
I still have Odin and the Samsung drivers on my computer from last November when I rooted my S4, will those work? By the way, my friend wants me to ask you if there's a way to get a list of her text messages from Sprint. Do you know of a way? Thanks again!

Sent from my SPH-L720 using XDA Free mobile app

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The drivers and odin you have should be fine. Now I dont know if sprint can/will have the messages. I know most providers can do a list of calls. I can only suggest that she call Sprint and ask.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app