[Q] possible hardbrick

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m4gkman

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2011
105
3
New York
Okay so I have a gs3 that is no longer responding to power buttons or cables or new batteries. Is it possible I can fix it? This all happened when I was trying to flash back to stock.
 

landshark68

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2011
1,265
710
Illinois
Okay so I have a gs3 that is no longer responding to power buttons or cables or new batteries. Is it possible I can fix it? This all happened when I was trying to flash back to stock.

We need quite a bit more info before we can help you out. What version of Android were you running before you tried to flash back to stock, 4.1.2, 4.3, or 4.4.2? Were you stock or running a custom ROM? What version of stock were you trying to flash, 4.1.2 or 4.3? From where did you get the stock file you tried to flash?
 

m4gkman

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2011
105
3
New York
We need quite a bit more info before we can help you out. What version of Android were you running before you tried to flash back to stock, 4.1.2, 4.3, or 4.4.2? Were you stock or running a custom ROM? What version of stock were you trying to flash, 4.1.2 or 4.3? From where did you get the stock file you tried to flash?
sorry about the lack of info I don't have the phone in front of me. I was running 4.3 using hyper drive. I tried flashing the stock 4.3 image and that's when it got stuck.
 

landshark68

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2011
1,265
710
Illinois
sorry about the lack of info I don't have the phone in front of me. I was running 4.3 using hyper drive. I tried flashing the stock 4.3 image and that's when it got stuck.

Looking in the development section, I see Hyperdrive is still on 4.1.2, so if you were running Hyperdrive you were on 4.1.2. The problem may have come from flashing the 4.3 stock image on a rooted, bootlaoder unlocked phone. Were you no longer wanting to have an unlocked bootloader and run custom ROMs, because flashing the 4.3 stock image would have locked you down like that. Are you sure you flashed a stock 4.3 file? If so you would probably have to proceed as if you were already on stock 4.3 just to play it safe. This may be you best chance at regaining a functioning phone:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2581166

Unfortunately since you phone does no boot, there is no way to confirm if it is currently on 4.1.2 or 4.3. That would give us a definitive answer on which fix method to use.
 

m4gkman

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2011
105
3
New York
Looking in the development section, I see Hyperdrive is still on 4.1.2, so if you were running Hyperdrive you were on 4.1.2. The problem may have come from flashing the 4.3 stock image on a rooted, bootlaoder unlocked phone. Were you no longer wanting to have an unlocked bootloader and run custom ROMs, because flashing the 4.3 stock image would have locked you down like that. Are you sure you flashed a stock 4.3 file? If so you would probably have to proceed as if you were already on stock 4.3 just to play it safe. This may be you best chance at regaining a functioning phone:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2581166

Unfortunately since you phone does no boot, there is no way to confirm if it is currently on 4.1.2 or 4.3. That would give us a definitive answer on which fix method to use.
I'm sorry for the lack of information again :/ trying to help a friend out by fixing my old phone. Basically I was having space issues with safe strap so I tried to revert to stock and then this horrible mess happened. What you said is most likely true. I looked at that guide, but if it doesn't respond to any cables or power on how can I flash things to it?
 

landshark68

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2011
1,265
710
Illinois
I'm sorry for the lack of information again :/ trying to help a friend out by fixing my old phone. Basically I was having space issues with safe strap so I tried to revert to stock and then this horrible mess happened. What you said is most likely true. I looked at that guide, but if it doesn't respond to any cables or power on how can I flash things to it?

If you were on safestrap, shouldn't you have had a fully stock ROM in the stock slot? Also from everything I read, you couldn't run Hyperdrive on safestap because you can only run 4.3 TW ROMs on safestrap. If you were running safestrap, that would mean you were on the 4.3 OTA of VRUCML1 and fixes for that would be your best bet, but since the phone won't power on I don't think any of the fixes here would work. Best bet may be to send it out for JTAG repair. I've seen mobile tech videos mentioned a lot for JTAG repairs.
 
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m4gkman

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2011
105
3
New York
If you were on safestrap, shouldn't you have had a fully stock ROM in the stock slot? Also from everything I read, you couldn't run Hyperdrive on safestap because you can only run 4.3 TW ROMs on safestrap. If you were running safestrap, that would mean you were on the 4.3 OTA of VRUCML1 and fixes for that would be your best bet, but since the phone won't power on I don't think any of the fixes here would work. Best bet may be to send it out for JTAG repair. I've seen mobile tech videos mentioned a lot for JTAG repairs.
Lol wow I'm really sorry, I've had a lot going on this week and my brain is all over the place. I was confusing my current s4 and the s3. The s3 was running regular cwm and was running Hyperdrive. I was having usual force closes and such and wanted to flash back to stock and I'm pretty sure I used the wrong file.
 

landshark68

Senior Member
Jan 13, 2011
1,265
710
Illinois
Lol wow I'm really sorry, I've had a lot going on this week and my brain is all over the place. I was confusing my current s4 and the s3. The s3 was running regular cwm and was running Hyperdrive. I was having usual force closes and such and wanted to flash back to stock and I'm pretty sure I used the wrong file.

Oh man, that sucks. Do you think you possibly used an s4 file on your s3? If so, you will definitely have to send it out for JTAG repair if you can't get any response out of it. But it can't hurt to check out that thread I linked earlier and see if the SD card method can work for you. Good luck.
 
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m4gkman

Senior Member
Apr 5, 2011
105
3
New York
Oh man, that sucks. Do you think you possibly used an s4 file on your s3? If so, you will definitely have to send it out for JTAG repair if you can't get any response out of it. But it can't hurt to check out that thread I linked earlier and see if the SD card method can work for you. Good luck.

so i just got back to my apartment, and i actually have the gs3 with me now. when the battery is in, nothing works or responds. however if I pull the battery and plug it in, the red led light comes on. any ideas?
 

BadUsername

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Mar 20, 2013
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    okay so now that im back to normal, is everything unrooted and everything? heres what it says in my about phone,
    https://www.flickr.com/photos/skaterdave/13392301694/in/photostream/

    Yup, unrooted but you're on 4.3 now.

    So you need to follow everything in this thread:
    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2639337

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
    1
    I'm sorry for the lack of information again :/ trying to help a friend out by fixing my old phone. Basically I was having space issues with safe strap so I tried to revert to stock and then this horrible mess happened. What you said is most likely true. I looked at that guide, but if it doesn't respond to any cables or power on how can I flash things to it?

    If you were on safestrap, shouldn't you have had a fully stock ROM in the stock slot? Also from everything I read, you couldn't run Hyperdrive on safestap because you can only run 4.3 TW ROMs on safestrap. If you were running safestrap, that would mean you were on the 4.3 OTA of VRUCML1 and fixes for that would be your best bet, but since the phone won't power on I don't think any of the fixes here would work. Best bet may be to send it out for JTAG repair. I've seen mobile tech videos mentioned a lot for JTAG repairs.
    1
    Lol wow I'm really sorry, I've had a lot going on this week and my brain is all over the place. I was confusing my current s4 and the s3. The s3 was running regular cwm and was running Hyperdrive. I was having usual force closes and such and wanted to flash back to stock and I'm pretty sure I used the wrong file.

    Oh man, that sucks. Do you think you possibly used an s4 file on your s3? If so, you will definitely have to send it out for JTAG repair if you can't get any response out of it. But it can't hurt to check out that thread I linked earlier and see if the SD card method can work for you. Good luck.
    1
    so i just got back to my apartment, and i actually have the gs3 with me now. when the battery is in, nothing works or responds. however if I pull the battery and plug it in, the red led light comes on. any ideas?

    Hard bricked.

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2
    1
    Hard bricked.

    Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

    It worked! you guys are amazing.