i605 Hard-Unbricking via KOBOL's Method :)

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GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
Did you hard brick your Verizon Note 2? Flashed the wrong boot loader, now you're bootlooping and ODIN can't save you??

We all know a ton of users who have had this happen to them, I read it all the time. After stumbling upon another post I figured I had a chance. The instructions are clear but I want to build upon them with my own experience.

So first off many, many thanks to KOBOL for posting his guide which is buried below a ton of other posts in this General Section. I wouldn’t have a working phone without his work!

A bit of background info: I flashed a T-Mobile Note 2, 4.3 ODIN Image for My Verizon Note 2 because I wasn't paying attention... All I saw: "4.3 stock/rooted/deodex with 4.1.2 bootloader" (which I have) and "no wifi fix needed & stock kernel running smooth" (I have wifi fix & custom kernel, both which cause constant reboots) SO... I flashed it and boot-looped. "Good job, dumb dumb" I thought to myself as I gazed upon my hard bricked phone. No ODIN restore could get me out of this one, and I tried for 2 hours...

Then I found Kobol's post on unbricking your phone. I read the instructions, I was very confused at first as to how I was going to get this accomplished, so I am writing up this re-tutorial with new instructions. Make sure you have precision screwdrivers, flat and philips head.

Continue to Post #2 to Unbrick your i605!!
 
Last edited:

GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
Instructions for Unbricking Hard-bricked i605

1a) DOWNLOAD THIS - It contains an IMG file you'll need to restore your 4.1.2 Bootloader, also contains 2 pictures of the resistor you'll need to short. More on that later.

1b) The above download is all you need if you're on 4.1.2.If you're on the newer 4.3 MJ9 Bootloader, download this too and use that IMG instead. the 4.1.2 download is necessary because of the pictures. Not 56k friendly. I will edit when KOBOL reviews this and allows me re-upload his pictures as a separate download.

2) Download and install win32diskimager. it'll write those image files to the micro SD card properly. DO NOT JUST DRAG AND DROP THE IMG... YOU MUST WRITE IT WITH AN IMAGING PROGRAM :)

3) Write the downloaded IMG file to the Micro SD using win32diskimager. Select the source and destination, that's it super easy. Make sure Micro SD is at least 2GB. I used a 32GB it was the only one I had and it worked fine, no need for exactly 2GB micro SD.

4) Open phone, no need to completely dismantle to the screen.... many good videos can be found on youtube. Take out every screw you can see and remove the rear outer plastic casing.

5) Once the board is exposed, remove the black screw that holds the speaker assembly to the phone. Remove and place speaker aside.

6) Remove 2nd screw on the right side along the skinny motherboard strip. Remove all wifi connectors/lcd connectors/camera connectors, etc. The motherboard can now be removed completely.

7) Gently remove the speaker/power button, the power button has a mild adhesive to hold it to the phone, as does the headphone speaker. Peel them off and out of the phone.

8) remove the charging port board from the phone housing, that too has adhesive, peel up carefully and place aside. You'll need this outside and plugged into the board eventually as well.

On to Post #3.
 
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GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
9) TRICKY PARTS... I flipped the board over to expose the resistor KOBOL shows us to short. ** Picture is in the 1st download for 4.1.2 Bootloader ** I then plugged in the phone's LCD cable (the cable that comes out on the top right when viewed from behind; above where the volume rocker is) The motherboard should be flipped over exposing the resistor, the LCD cable is barely long enough to let the phone housing lie flat beside it, which you don't want. You'll want to prop the sceen vertical so you can see it when you do the next few steps. I used an external drive butted against the front of the screen that had rubber feet so it wouldn't slide and scotch tape.

10) Re-attach the power button/headphone speaker to the motherboard. Also plug in your prepared SD card.

11) Place the battery next to the battery terminals, swing the power button over on top of the battery. With one hand, you should be able to hold the motherboard from sliding while your holding both the battery to the terminals, and the power button to the battery. I did this with my left thumb to hold the motherboard from sliding, my left middle finger holding the battery against the contacts of the motherboard, and my left index finger to push the power button which is on top of the battery.

12) place your smallest precision screwdriver on the resister KOBOL shows you in the picture. Using a screwdriver with the other hand sure beats having to a) solder, good luck! KOBOL is a solder pro and I don't have any soldering irons with tips THAT small, and b) beats using a paper clip or something silly. The screwdriver shorts the resistor with minimal effort. Make sure you apply MILD pressure to the screwdriver to ensure your touching both sides of the resistor's contacts. My screwdriver was exactly the width of the resistor, don't be using grandpa's 1' long screwdriver on that motherboard.

13) READY?!?! OK!! with the resister shorted by the screwdriver in 1 hand, the battery held in place and the power button ready to be pressed in the other... start counting to 5 as soon as you feel the click of that tiny little button. Hold the power button; if you let go, you might slip and now the battery won't be supplying power to the phone, aka this operation will fail.

** Make sure you know how to count to 6 properly, none of this '123456' super-speed counting like we did playing hide and seek growing up. Listen to the tick of a clock if you can or start a timer somewhere. **

14) After counting to 5, remove the screwdriver, I'd suggest keeping the power button held, the phone won't turn off (just like booting the phone for real; holding it after the phone turns on, the phone still turns on right?) And it prevents the battery from disconnecting.

15) If you're lucky, you'll see some text on your screen saying SD something something in red and saying it wrote the file. I was way too excited that this worked and I forgot what it said to be honest. Pretty much it'll be the 1st thing your phone displays that isn't a boot-looping logo!

16) Go ahead and relax. Let the battery disconnect from the board. You can go ahead and semi-reassemble you're phone to test. I placed the board back in the phone housing, plugged in power button/headphone speaker, speaker phone/charing port & circuit, camera, etc... plugged in all wires/connectors, and make sure to put those 2 black screws back in before placing housing back on... (1 for speakerphone/charging port, one for the board)

Post #4
 

GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
17) Power up your phone and you should be greeted with the "Verizon has detected..." blah blah unauthorized software. AWESOME AND CONGRATS! Pull the battery and boot to Download/ODIN mode.

** NOTE ** I have NO IDEA if you can downgrade during this process, no one in KOBOL's thread had yet to confirm as of this writing. Flash whatever you're coming from, you went this far to Un-brick your phone, why do it again? If you went to 4.3, deal with it ;) and restore 4.3 Coming from 4.1.2? restore 4.1.2 then! Besides SafeStrapping is coming soon

18) Restore your phone with a working ODIN image, whether it be a stock keis image, your favorite ODIN image (root66 ODIN is great) etc. etc.

19) After the ODIN restore is complete, you may boot loop but this is normal, you need a factory reset. Pull battery, boot recovery, do a factory reset. You'll be OK now!

20) BASK IN THE GLORY OF YOUR RESTORED VERIZON GALAXY NOTE 2!

I'm sorry I don't have any of my own pictures, it was nerve-racking enough just to get through this and have enough hands to do it. Waking up my girlfriend so I can ask her "hold the battery just like this..." at 2 AM would have been a bad idea..

MANY, MANY, MAAAANY thanks to KOBOL for engineering this very clever recovery process... I would be out a phone right now or shopping online for JTAG devices. All the while be at work with no phone tomorrow and the next day while I wait for a replacement phone to arrive. To think I have insurance and most likely would have been fine to get a replacement (sent rooted & unlocked phones back several times no issues) I did this all so I wouldn't be without my phone for 36 hours!!

May this guide be helpful to even ONE PERSON... please give thanks, and more importantly, message KOBOL and ask him how to send a donation, I will be doing so myself!

Best of luck to all. :good:
 
Last edited:

OffTheChainz

Senior Member
Feb 23, 2014
127
25
Florida
Excellent DIY post! Thank you for sharing your experience and methods!
In your final comments are you mentioning this will also allow you to downgrade for those who did the 4.3 OTA update?
 
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roflcoptersoisoi

Senior Member
Mar 4, 2014
65
15
If someone would help me put setup my micro sd for the flash i would try a downgrade. I dont have a micro sd to sd adapter for my laptop.......
 

bigshotrob22

Senior Member
Oct 3, 2010
1,306
712
Tucson
I tried this for a bout a 2 hours. I got a white screen a few times. Weird thing is I couldn't get it to boot and when I finally did I was able to boot into Odin mode only

Sent from my LG-VS980 using xda app-developers app
 
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iooooooc

Member
Mar 9, 2014
19
7
Yea I was attempting to downgrade. I noticed the resistor was broken so now I need to fix the resistor and try this again

Sent from my LG-VS980 using xda app-developers app


Can't wait...took my phone apart last week and had the same reaction you did in KOBOL's original thread (this crap is WAY to small)...I am looking forward to see if this downgrade is possible. I will keep you posted if I get around to trying this method before you get the chance to fix that resistor...
 

bigshotrob22

Senior Member
Oct 3, 2010
1,306
712
Tucson
Can't wait...took my phone apart last week and had the same reaction you did in KOBOL's original thread (this crap is WAY to small)...I am looking forward to see if this downgrade is possible. I will keep you posted if I get around to trying this method before you get the chance to fix that resistor...

Sounds good. I got a message to appear on the screen but right after the screen went crazy and that's when I noticed the resistor was broken.

Sent from my LG-VS980 using xda app-developers app
 

GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
Sounds good. I got a message to appear on the screen but right after the screen went crazy and that's when I noticed the resistor was broken.

Aww shucks, yea that puppy is really tiny so best of luck. When it's time to remove it you can nuke it real quick with a soldering iron and pull it off with tweezers. Pre-tin the new resistor and then blast it onto the board. that'll be pretty tricky.

FYI to those who continue onwards to fix their phones... do not short it while giving it power for more than 5 seconds. KOBOL mentioned that in his original post and I headed to it, it appears that resistor can be damaged so be careful. I guess after several hours of attempts it gave out. Best of luck, bigshotrob22.

Excellent DIY post! Thank you for sharing your experience and methods!
In your final comments are you mentioning this will also allow you to downgrade for those who did the 4.3 OTA update?

Thank you! I didn't mean to insinuate that a 4.3 downgrade could be possible with this method, more like I was mentioning people were contemplating doing it. If I was on the 4.3 bootloader I'd have tried it, I think this is more of a backdoor homebrew j-tag to restore. I'm interested to see if it can be done too!
 

roflcoptersoisoi

Senior Member
Mar 4, 2014
65
15
Any tips on shorting this? I'm going to test this for a downgrade this weekend.


Sent from my RM-915_nam_usa_228 using Tapatalk
 

GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
Be careful!

Any tips on shorting this? I'm going to test this for a downgrade this weekend.

I plan on using a pair of fine tip tweezers...

I had used a very small precision screwdriver, like one you would get in an eye glass kit. It worked just fine for me. You don't need to grab the sides of the resistor, there is enough metal on top of it to short it with a screwdriver. Just be careful, everyone.

I don't know how you'd get a new resistor on the board, that is a bit beyond my technical abilities. Maybe with a magnifying glass, a needle-tipped soldering iron and a very steady hand??
 

jkiwitt

Member
Feb 9, 2012
5
2
I have successfully unbricked two Sch-I605 by writing image to sd card . One I used a usb jig for 5 seconds the other by using three buttons to get in download mode I did not have to short resistor and those two were bricked.after screen said sdcard is loaded to emmc I pulled battery then reflashed with odin. One was on 4.3 the other was 4.12. Thanks to all involved for making this possible. I now have two working notes with unlocked bootloaders.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:

GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
Same issue, different solutions? Unlocked 4.3??

I have successfully unbricked two Sch-I605 by writing image to sd card . One I used a usb jig for 5 seconds the other by using three buttons to get in download mode I did not have to short resistor and those two were bricked.after screen said sdcard is loaded to emmc I pulled battery then reflashed with odin. One was on 4.3 the other was 4.12. Thanks to all involved for making this possible. I now have two working notes with unlocked bootloaders.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

Please explain the conditions the phones were in a bit more, I'm curious as to how you did it without the resistor trick. I was able to boot my phone to download mode but I couldn't flash it with ODIN for PC because it would write fail. Perhaps I could have re-flashed the phone by using the SD only, no resistor shorting necessary?

I think the resistor shorting is for people who are truly F'ed and have no Download mode, booting etc. I would love to get more clarification on this. I'll append my original post/guide and leave out the entire disassembling process and just have the users use the SD image KOBOL provided.

There's a few scenarios I can imagine:

1) Bricked like I was, flashed right phone, but wrong carrier firmware. Download mode only, can't write anything to NAND, boot-looped constantly - SD Card re-image Only?
2) Bricked with NO use-able interface. Download mode is toast, no life from phone whatsoever. (Perhaps flashed not only wrong carrier bootloader like I did, maybe user flashed completely different phone firmware?!) - Resistor trick??
3) Bricked via flashing correct firmware that is somehow corrupted. ODIN froze mid-flash, cable unplugged accidentally, etc. - SD Card re-image Only?

I would like to verify the repairable condition of any bricked state so I can at least know exactly what to do to fix it. The opening line of my OP is "flashed wrong firmware now you're bootlooping?" but there are so many ways to make this happen that require different solutions.

Let me know about those 2 phones when you can, thanks. and WAIT A SEC... I just noticed your statement, "I now have two working notes with unlocked bootloaders." So did you unlock 4.3 with this method?!
 

GiGaLeOnZa

Member
Nov 3, 2011
41
41
Did my research, looks like a jig forces download mode yes? so I see 3 things happening...

1) you CAN access Download Mode manually with 3-button power up. No ODIN flashing can save you but the SD Card trick works. I did the resistor method anyways because I didn't try it with SD-Only. This is still a soft brick I guess, if it can be fixed via SD and not a teardown. Worked for me because I had correct phone, but improper carrier firmware so Download Mode still worked??

2) you CAN'T get to Download Mode so you use a jig which forces Download Mode. I'm assuming if Download Mode can't even be accessed pre-jig or pre-resistor attempt... how is the firmware capable of being re-written from SD?

3) you CAN'T access Download Mode and you don't have a jig, so you use the resistor technique. It sort of does what the jig does only forces it at the board level and requires a teardown.

Next time I F-up my phone, I'll try and restore it via SD-Only. Otherwise, we might be able to skip this resistor-technique and use a jig instead. More info on USB Jigs here
 
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iooooooc

Member
Mar 9, 2014
19
7
I have successfully unbricked two Sch-I605 by writing image to sd card . One I used a usb jig for 5 seconds the other by using three buttons to get in download mode I did not have to short resistor and those two were bricked.after screen said sdcard is loaded to emmc I pulled battery then reflashed with odin. One was on 4.3 the other was 4.12. Thanks to all involved for making this possible. I now have two working notes with unlocked bootloaders.

Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk

Could you please clarify? I just attempted the three button method and was able to access download mode, but nothing will write from my SD card. Is there another step I need to do to get the .img to write once I am in download mode? I am attempting to downgrade from 4.3 to 4.1.2
 

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  • 11
    Did you hard brick your Verizon Note 2? Flashed the wrong boot loader, now you're bootlooping and ODIN can't save you??

    We all know a ton of users who have had this happen to them, I read it all the time. After stumbling upon another post I figured I had a chance. The instructions are clear but I want to build upon them with my own experience.

    So first off many, many thanks to KOBOL for posting his guide which is buried below a ton of other posts in this General Section. I wouldn’t have a working phone without his work!

    A bit of background info: I flashed a T-Mobile Note 2, 4.3 ODIN Image for My Verizon Note 2 because I wasn't paying attention... All I saw: "4.3 stock/rooted/deodex with 4.1.2 bootloader" (which I have) and "no wifi fix needed & stock kernel running smooth" (I have wifi fix & custom kernel, both which cause constant reboots) SO... I flashed it and boot-looped. "Good job, dumb dumb" I thought to myself as I gazed upon my hard bricked phone. No ODIN restore could get me out of this one, and I tried for 2 hours...

    Then I found Kobol's post on unbricking your phone. I read the instructions, I was very confused at first as to how I was going to get this accomplished, so I am writing up this re-tutorial with new instructions. Make sure you have precision screwdrivers, flat and philips head.

    Continue to Post #2 to Unbrick your i605!!
    7
    17) Power up your phone and you should be greeted with the "Verizon has detected..." blah blah unauthorized software. AWESOME AND CONGRATS! Pull the battery and boot to Download/ODIN mode.

    ** NOTE ** I have NO IDEA if you can downgrade during this process, no one in KOBOL's thread had yet to confirm as of this writing. Flash whatever you're coming from, you went this far to Un-brick your phone, why do it again? If you went to 4.3, deal with it ;) and restore 4.3 Coming from 4.1.2? restore 4.1.2 then! Besides SafeStrapping is coming soon

    18) Restore your phone with a working ODIN image, whether it be a stock keis image, your favorite ODIN image (root66 ODIN is great) etc. etc.

    19) After the ODIN restore is complete, you may boot loop but this is normal, you need a factory reset. Pull battery, boot recovery, do a factory reset. You'll be OK now!

    20) BASK IN THE GLORY OF YOUR RESTORED VERIZON GALAXY NOTE 2!

    I'm sorry I don't have any of my own pictures, it was nerve-racking enough just to get through this and have enough hands to do it. Waking up my girlfriend so I can ask her "hold the battery just like this..." at 2 AM would have been a bad idea..

    MANY, MANY, MAAAANY thanks to KOBOL for engineering this very clever recovery process... I would be out a phone right now or shopping online for JTAG devices. All the while be at work with no phone tomorrow and the next day while I wait for a replacement phone to arrive. To think I have insurance and most likely would have been fine to get a replacement (sent rooted & unlocked phones back several times no issues) I did this all so I wouldn't be without my phone for 36 hours!!

    May this guide be helpful to even ONE PERSON... please give thanks, and more importantly, message KOBOL and ask him how to send a donation, I will be doing so myself!

    Best of luck to all. :good:
    5
    9) TRICKY PARTS... I flipped the board over to expose the resistor KOBOL shows us to short. ** Picture is in the 1st download for 4.1.2 Bootloader ** I then plugged in the phone's LCD cable (the cable that comes out on the top right when viewed from behind; above where the volume rocker is) The motherboard should be flipped over exposing the resistor, the LCD cable is barely long enough to let the phone housing lie flat beside it, which you don't want. You'll want to prop the sceen vertical so you can see it when you do the next few steps. I used an external drive butted against the front of the screen that had rubber feet so it wouldn't slide and scotch tape.

    10) Re-attach the power button/headphone speaker to the motherboard. Also plug in your prepared SD card.

    11) Place the battery next to the battery terminals, swing the power button over on top of the battery. With one hand, you should be able to hold the motherboard from sliding while your holding both the battery to the terminals, and the power button to the battery. I did this with my left thumb to hold the motherboard from sliding, my left middle finger holding the battery against the contacts of the motherboard, and my left index finger to push the power button which is on top of the battery.

    12) place your smallest precision screwdriver on the resister KOBOL shows you in the picture. Using a screwdriver with the other hand sure beats having to a) solder, good luck! KOBOL is a solder pro and I don't have any soldering irons with tips THAT small, and b) beats using a paper clip or something silly. The screwdriver shorts the resistor with minimal effort. Make sure you apply MILD pressure to the screwdriver to ensure your touching both sides of the resistor's contacts. My screwdriver was exactly the width of the resistor, don't be using grandpa's 1' long screwdriver on that motherboard.

    13) READY?!?! OK!! with the resister shorted by the screwdriver in 1 hand, the battery held in place and the power button ready to be pressed in the other... start counting to 5 as soon as you feel the click of that tiny little button. Hold the power button; if you let go, you might slip and now the battery won't be supplying power to the phone, aka this operation will fail.

    ** Make sure you know how to count to 6 properly, none of this '123456' super-speed counting like we did playing hide and seek growing up. Listen to the tick of a clock if you can or start a timer somewhere. **

    14) After counting to 5, remove the screwdriver, I'd suggest keeping the power button held, the phone won't turn off (just like booting the phone for real; holding it after the phone turns on, the phone still turns on right?) And it prevents the battery from disconnecting.

    15) If you're lucky, you'll see some text on your screen saying SD something something in red and saying it wrote the file. I was way too excited that this worked and I forgot what it said to be honest. Pretty much it'll be the 1st thing your phone displays that isn't a boot-looping logo!

    16) Go ahead and relax. Let the battery disconnect from the board. You can go ahead and semi-reassemble you're phone to test. I placed the board back in the phone housing, plugged in power button/headphone speaker, speaker phone/charing port & circuit, camera, etc... plugged in all wires/connectors, and make sure to put those 2 black screws back in before placing housing back on... (1 for speakerphone/charging port, one for the board)

    Post #4
    4
    Instructions for Unbricking Hard-bricked i605

    1a) DOWNLOAD THIS - It contains an IMG file you'll need to restore your 4.1.2 Bootloader, also contains 2 pictures of the resistor you'll need to short. More on that later.

    1b) The above download is all you need if you're on 4.1.2.If you're on the newer 4.3 MJ9 Bootloader, download this too and use that IMG instead. the 4.1.2 download is necessary because of the pictures. Not 56k friendly. I will edit when KOBOL reviews this and allows me re-upload his pictures as a separate download.

    2) Download and install win32diskimager. it'll write those image files to the micro SD card properly. DO NOT JUST DRAG AND DROP THE IMG... YOU MUST WRITE IT WITH AN IMAGING PROGRAM :)

    3) Write the downloaded IMG file to the Micro SD using win32diskimager. Select the source and destination, that's it super easy. Make sure Micro SD is at least 2GB. I used a 32GB it was the only one I had and it worked fine, no need for exactly 2GB micro SD.

    4) Open phone, no need to completely dismantle to the screen.... many good videos can be found on youtube. Take out every screw you can see and remove the rear outer plastic casing.

    5) Once the board is exposed, remove the black screw that holds the speaker assembly to the phone. Remove and place speaker aside.

    6) Remove 2nd screw on the right side along the skinny motherboard strip. Remove all wifi connectors/lcd connectors/camera connectors, etc. The motherboard can now be removed completely.

    7) Gently remove the speaker/power button, the power button has a mild adhesive to hold it to the phone, as does the headphone speaker. Peel them off and out of the phone.

    8) remove the charging port board from the phone housing, that too has adhesive, peel up carefully and place aside. You'll need this outside and plugged into the board eventually as well.

    On to Post #3.
    4
    I just wanted to let everyone know that this definitely works to downgrade 4.4.2. I used the 4.1.2 image from the first post. I tried for about an hour to short that resistor with a screwdriver. I couldn't get it to work. At one point I got a screen that said "SD CARD MODE" at the top, but below that it said to press up button to reboot and down button to flash, but the volume up and down buttons didn't do anything. Eventually I cut a small piece of wire and stripped both ends. After about 15 minutes of trying with that, I got it. I saw the same screen that a user posted earlier in the thread. From there I was able to unlock the bootloader, upgrade to TWRP 3, and then install the latest nightly cyanogenmod.