The Fascinate Development Platform AKA UnBrickable Mod

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AdamOutler

Retired Senior Recognized Developer
Feb 18, 2011
5,224
9,827
Miami, Fl̨̞̲̟̦̀̈̃͛҃҅͟orida
FIrst off I'd like to say Thanks to RootzWiki for the device. They gave me a Fascinate and told me to do what I want with it... So I made it into a development device. Thanks to RootzWiki for the device!


introduction
I'm not kidding when I say UnBrickable. Modifying the OM pins means you can boot from USB, UART or MMC. This makes the phone quite UNBRICKABLE. There is nothing you can do software wise to prevent the device from booting into this mode. We are communicating with the unrewritable, efused IROM on the processor. It's the thing that makes the system on a chip into a "system on a chip".I am here now to tell you how to turn your Samsung Fascinates into a KIT-S5PC110 development board. The KIT-S5PC110 development board is the platform used to develop our phones. There are some differences between this mod and the official development platform. The S5PC110 has a removable internal SDCard and no touchscreen.

Why would you want to do this? When you plug in the battery and connect it to the computer in "off" mode, then press and hold the power button, it will become an S5PC110 board awaiting download of a program to run. This occurs long before anything like software or firmware enters the processor. This is the IROM of the device awaiting commands or a power on signal.

Because it is accepting a memory flash, anything may be put onto the device to perform a boot sequence..... Apple iOS (iPhone4 has the same processor) WP7 (mango supports this processor).

This will be a replacement for JTAG once we are able to make some firmware. How could it possibly be better then JTAG? Let's count the ways....
1. The only part required is a wire.
2. No shipping time.
3. No cost for a box to interface the computer.
4. Permanent.
5. Can be done as a preventive measure.
6. Gives the ability to test new Bootloaders temporarily.
7. Allows development of the entire system.
8. Removes worry about flashing and acts as a backup.

After performing this mod:
Remove the battery, replace the battery, your phone will connect to the computer via USB and await commands. Otherwise it will pretty much act like a Fascinate. See the Special Instructions section.

Modification

You will need:
1. Get someone who knows what they're doing with a soldering iron. If they don't know what flux is, then they don't know what they're doing. You can send me a PM (or email my username@gmail.com) or Connexion2005(aka MobileTechVideos.com) NOTE: I do not work with MobileTechVideos.com.
2. soldering iron - make sure it's sharp, if it's not sharp, then sharpen it, flux it and retin it.
3. flux
4. solder
5. tweezers
6. A relay (possibly- for the wire within to use as a bridge)


performing the modification:
1. tear apart your phone... Make sure to take out your SIM and external SDCard before you do this.
1A. Remove the screws.
1B. Separate the top case from the bottom case
1C. disconnect the display connector and free the camera and button assemblies from the case.
1D. Remove the mainboard

24zw2vo.jpg


2. Perform the mod as follows: Replace the xOM5 resistor from the top position to the bottom position.

*OR: remove the xOM5 resistor and jumper the center pads of xOM5 to the center pads of xOM0 or xOM3.

6r7jnc.jpg



3. reassemble the phone.


Special Instructions

  • This replaces the battery charging sequence. The normal battery charging sequence can be activated by holding power for 4 seconds.
  • To turn on the device, and operate in normal mode, you must hold the power button for 5 seconds.
  • 3 button Download mode works as usual, however you must not have the S5PC110 drivers installed on the computer. You can use your custom rom menu option, adb reboot download, or use a terminal to "reboot download". 301Kohm Factory Mode JIGs work as well, but you must press power to bypass the S5PC110 mode.
  • To enter recovery mode, press and hold power for 3 seconds, then hold volume + and volume - until SAMSUNG is displayed on-screen.


Conclusion

Congratulations. You now have a device which works like a KIT-S5PC110 with an OM Value of 29. Now get to developing some serious custom software. See here for setting up the UART output http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1235219

reading material
Creating your own Samsung Bootloaders: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1233273
KIT-S5PC110 manual: http://www.mediafire.com/?94krzvvxksvmuxh
how to use DNW: http://tinyurl.com/dnw-how-to
Flash using openOCD and DNW: http://www.arm9board.net/wiki/index.php?title=Flash_using_OpenOCD_and_DNW
another DNW example: http://www.boardset.com/products/mv6410.php
ODroid dev center: http://dev.odroid.com/projects/uboot/wiki/#s-7.2


drivers and utilities
This will be an ever expanding list
Windows Drivers http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=678937&d=1312590673
Windows Download Tool DNW: http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=678938&d=1312590673
Windows Command Line Download Tool: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=17202523&postcount=27
Linux DNW Utility: http://dev.odroid.com/projects/uboot/wiki/#s-7.2

firmware
One-Click Resurrector: http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=712232&d=1315349672
Bootloader Hello World by Rebellos http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=698077&d=1314105521
 
Last edited:

bigwilly90210

Senior Member
Nov 18, 2009
449
67
that is absolutely incredible. now if only i had the time to actually mess with this.. damn. stupid work, wife and kid. lol. top score bro, no doubt. hopefully some wicked awesome person will pick this up and do some crazy **** to our phones. i'm game. :p
 

DroiDAddicT14

Senior Member
Apr 23, 2010
127
4
West Islip
www.facebook.com
Wow, I know how to solder lol but i'd be too scared to do this haha. Its really impressive from what I've read lol and I would love to see results about the iOS being put on the fascninate.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using xda premium
 

juanv145

Senior Member
Oct 4, 2010
71
2
Statesville, NC
my mind = blown..now I just wish i knew someone skilled enough to perform this! You deserve a box of cookies bro! (Stashed with cash! Lol)
 

shilohdrummer

Senior Member
Jan 8, 2011
168
22
although the phone will be UNBRICKABLE ... this mod has a high chance of making the phone BREAKABLE.... GET IT?:D:D:D:D

But dang, what do you have to do to be this GENIUS.
 

elmanortega

Senior Member
Aug 31, 2009
1,481
129
45
perez zeledon
amazing work man
question i have a incredible s that i brick flashing the eng-off software
how much would you charge me to unbricked this sucker?
 

Bierce22

Senior Member
Nov 10, 2010
1,675
150
canton ga
Hey adam would it be possible for the samsung continuum to see this spec wise there almost exactly the same with the exception of screen size and that stupid ticker. Reason why im asking is I thought this could only be done with a snap dragon processor.

Sent from my SCH-I400 using XDA App
 

alisabki

Senior Member
Dec 28, 2010
73
4
Kota Bharu
Google Pixel 2
That's cool man. my 7 months bricked Galaxy Tab will be life again if i can find someone who can understand this. i'll pay him of course.

..//is the mobiletechvideos.com guys do this kind of method?
 

AdamOutler

Retired Senior Recognized Developer
Feb 18, 2011
5,224
9,827
Miami, Fl̨̞̲̟̦̀̈̃͛҃҅͟orida

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  • 21
    FIrst off I'd like to say Thanks to RootzWiki for the device. They gave me a Fascinate and told me to do what I want with it... So I made it into a development device. Thanks to RootzWiki for the device!


    introduction
    I'm not kidding when I say UnBrickable. Modifying the OM pins means you can boot from USB, UART or MMC. This makes the phone quite UNBRICKABLE. There is nothing you can do software wise to prevent the device from booting into this mode. We are communicating with the unrewritable, efused IROM on the processor. It's the thing that makes the system on a chip into a "system on a chip".I am here now to tell you how to turn your Samsung Fascinates into a KIT-S5PC110 development board. The KIT-S5PC110 development board is the platform used to develop our phones. There are some differences between this mod and the official development platform. The S5PC110 has a removable internal SDCard and no touchscreen.

    Why would you want to do this? When you plug in the battery and connect it to the computer in "off" mode, then press and hold the power button, it will become an S5PC110 board awaiting download of a program to run. This occurs long before anything like software or firmware enters the processor. This is the IROM of the device awaiting commands or a power on signal.

    Because it is accepting a memory flash, anything may be put onto the device to perform a boot sequence..... Apple iOS (iPhone4 has the same processor) WP7 (mango supports this processor).

    This will be a replacement for JTAG once we are able to make some firmware. How could it possibly be better then JTAG? Let's count the ways....
    1. The only part required is a wire.
    2. No shipping time.
    3. No cost for a box to interface the computer.
    4. Permanent.
    5. Can be done as a preventive measure.
    6. Gives the ability to test new Bootloaders temporarily.
    7. Allows development of the entire system.
    8. Removes worry about flashing and acts as a backup.

    After performing this mod:
    Remove the battery, replace the battery, your phone will connect to the computer via USB and await commands. Otherwise it will pretty much act like a Fascinate. See the Special Instructions section.

    Modification

    You will need:
    1. Get someone who knows what they're doing with a soldering iron. If they don't know what flux is, then they don't know what they're doing. You can send me a PM (or email my username@gmail.com) or Connexion2005(aka MobileTechVideos.com) NOTE: I do not work with MobileTechVideos.com.
    2. soldering iron - make sure it's sharp, if it's not sharp, then sharpen it, flux it and retin it.
    3. flux
    4. solder
    5. tweezers
    6. A relay (possibly- for the wire within to use as a bridge)


    performing the modification:
    1. tear apart your phone... Make sure to take out your SIM and external SDCard before you do this.
    1A. Remove the screws.
    1B. Separate the top case from the bottom case
    1C. disconnect the display connector and free the camera and button assemblies from the case.
    1D. Remove the mainboard

    24zw2vo.jpg


    2. Perform the mod as follows: Replace the xOM5 resistor from the top position to the bottom position.

    *OR: remove the xOM5 resistor and jumper the center pads of xOM5 to the center pads of xOM0 or xOM3.

    6r7jnc.jpg



    3. reassemble the phone.


    Special Instructions

    • This replaces the battery charging sequence. The normal battery charging sequence can be activated by holding power for 4 seconds.
    • To turn on the device, and operate in normal mode, you must hold the power button for 5 seconds.
    • 3 button Download mode works as usual, however you must not have the S5PC110 drivers installed on the computer. You can use your custom rom menu option, adb reboot download, or use a terminal to "reboot download". 301Kohm Factory Mode JIGs work as well, but you must press power to bypass the S5PC110 mode.
    • To enter recovery mode, press and hold power for 3 seconds, then hold volume + and volume - until SAMSUNG is displayed on-screen.


    Conclusion

    Congratulations. You now have a device which works like a KIT-S5PC110 with an OM Value of 29. Now get to developing some serious custom software. See here for setting up the UART output http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1235219

    reading material
    Creating your own Samsung Bootloaders: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1233273
    KIT-S5PC110 manual: http://www.mediafire.com/?94krzvvxksvmuxh
    how to use DNW: http://tinyurl.com/dnw-how-to
    Flash using openOCD and DNW: http://www.arm9board.net/wiki/index.php?title=Flash_using_OpenOCD_and_DNW
    another DNW example: http://www.boardset.com/products/mv6410.php
    ODroid dev center: http://dev.odroid.com/projects/uboot/wiki/#s-7.2


    drivers and utilities
    This will be an ever expanding list
    Windows Drivers http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=678937&d=1312590673
    Windows Download Tool DNW: http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=678938&d=1312590673
    Windows Command Line Download Tool: http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=17202523&postcount=27
    Linux DNW Utility: http://dev.odroid.com/projects/uboot/wiki/#s-7.2

    firmware
    One-Click Resurrector: http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=712232&d=1315349672
    Bootloader Hello World by Rebellos http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=698077&d=1314105521
    1
    Wow your really smart

    Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
    1
    So I bricked my phone and try this UnbrickableMod, but I got a problem... the USB keep disconnecting and reconnecting like every second except when I press and hold the power button, the USB connection will stick as long as I keep holding the power button, I can download the HIBL to the device while holding the power button but not with Sbl, anyone ever experience this too? And @AdamOutler do you know the location of the second UART pin of this Fascinate?

    @AdamOutler, great work BTW.

    -----

    For the UART I got it from your post at rootzwiki... From the log I got from the UART it look like the phone keep restarting, I got 'Uart negotiation Error' over and over, is that normal?
    1
    Turn out the HIBL loaded and executed after all, but it will stuck at 'Calling IBL Stage2', any ideas why?

    ----

    Got it working, so the problem is because of I'm using 64-bit version of smdk-usbdl, using 32-bit version all worked as expected.
    1
    Okay so when in the pic it said, "...or jumper one of the center pins on xOM5 to the one next to it" it means something like this -->
    xOM0
    QU3bWldD9zzHQ1KYimxBRogFZwuU551SsdSx7ym9LlQ

    or
    xOM3
    ad6c5m-f-dpvzZVLGUWF1A5gxmBTDlllL29QxDg0Fj0

    and this is to be done without removing the xOM5, correct?

    I was just confused as it was also said to "...remove the xOM5 resistor and jumper the center pads of xOM5 to the center pads of xOM0 or xOM3."

    You must remove xOM5. you can jumper the pad to XOM3 or 0.