The Epic Development Platform AKA UnBrickable Mod

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duce102

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,535
507
North Carolina
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
Holding the power button and 1 goes into download mode and holding the power button and the menu button on the keyboard boots into safe mode. I'm not sure of any other hidden key combos ATM.

I'll go through and check other combos to see what I can come up with when I get Odin to work on my computer again, which will be soon.
 
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xboxfanj

Recognized Developer
Apr 24, 2011
7,313
7,797
St. Louis
Btw, sorry if the irc didn't help. Apparently there's no way that we know of. And also, for the record, the guy was serious when he said we have a lot of possible combinations. Keyboard, capacitive, and hardware buttons.

Sent from my SPH-D700 using Tapatalk
 

MДЯCЦSДИT

Inactive Recognized Developer
Nov 21, 2010
6,563
4,616
Also, there is no "magic button" on the back of the device. the indentation is on all Samsung device.

Great group of noobs on that irc network.

Noobnl is an amazing guy... Same with a couple others. Some are annoying (like me (unintententionally))

Sent from my epic that didn't have CIQ before it was cool :)
 
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That's absolutely as far as possible from relevant. we need a hardware reset, not a software reset.

And being belligerent helps, how? As said, it's still being looked for.

One would say you shouldn't promise what you can't deliver. Is there a combination of keys that you've heard of that we can test? There are plenty of people testing overclock kernels that could try things when the phone locks. We have as much to gain as you do.
 
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AproSamurai

Inactive Recognized Developer
Jul 4, 2010
1,668
1,183
Van Nuys, CA
github.com
It was random answers being thrown at him without any proper answer truthfully. Right now we're unsure if we've a key combination to reset our devices, but people started to naturally in hope through whatever they could out there. It was massacre-ish in the IRC during this point of time so his annoyance is noted.
 

duce102

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,535
507
North Carolina
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
Everybody is really excited for this and we all want it badly and I'm sure everyone is willing to help. But then again not everyone knows much about hardware mods so a lot of people need layman terms and hand holding to help out in the long run. But calling people "retards" isn't cool. Rob wouldn't like to see that mess anywhere.


And when Adam said he needed a hardware reset function, I figured pressing a button was under the hardware category.
 
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duce102

Senior Member
Feb 4, 2011
1,535
507
North Carolina
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
Has anybody actually gotten this to work? I may actually need it. :-/

I posted in their thread for device support asking him if he would pick up support for us again, he deleted my post so I assume he's still mad at us for not being able to find a hardware reset button/combo. Hardware reset button/combo meaning a button/combo that we could press at any time from the phone loading bml1 to everything being loaded with the OS running and being completely frozen. The HP Touchpad has a combo (holding power and home buttons for 30 sec. will reset the device) that works the same way whether in recovery, bootloader, or multiple different OSs (webOS, Android, Ubuntu). I haven't been able to find this combo for the Epic.

Edit: although we do have the rough draft of plans available, no one has confirmed it works. If you perform the mod, please take lots of notes and many hi-res pics :)


I thought you had to actually send your phone to Adam?

Sent from my SPH-D700 using xda premium

Adam wanted to get another phone to perform the mod on so he could make his instructions more directed toward the Epic, since the directions we have right now are kind of vague. Adam was also willing to perform the mod for those who didn't feel able enough to perform the mod themselves. But if you feel able enough, more power to ya and please post hi-res pics and notes. I would have had this done a long time ago (along with the video out mod), if I hadn't lost access to the electronics lab at school. =/

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using Tapatalk 2
 
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  • 18
    This modification will go like this: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1206216

    After that, unbricking your Epic will be like this...

    See here for full instructions: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1242466

    Of course I don't OWN an Epic so I will work with someone who does.

    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 Droid Charge 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, 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 an Epic. 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 also speak to myself(my username @gmail.com) or Connexion2005(aka 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

    ****VIDEO OR PICTURES NEEDED*****

    2. Perform the mod as follows: Replace the xOM5 resistor from the right position to the left position.
    *OR: remove the xOM5 resistor and jumper the center pads of xOM5 to the center pads of xOM0.


    2hf86zc.jpg


    Thanks to pre2epic4g for donating the board for teardown!
    23msar5.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.


    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=705515&d=1314762609
    Bootloader Hello World by Rebellos http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=698077&d=1314105521
    10
    I have one im willing to let him use. The screen is cracked and waiting for a fellow member to send me a new one. The screen works its just cracked on the outer layer. If Adam just needs to use it to mod it then return it id be glad to donate it for a lil while for the community. Adam pm me if ur interested.
    5
    So did this ever work out?

    Sent from my SPH-D700

    Im sending it today...
    4
    Ive been in contact with Adam..Im not going to wait for the screen to come in but everything works. Ill probably sent it tomorrow if feel better.
    3
    I'd like to chime in here...

    The reference to someone already sending an Epic to Adam.
    That did already happen, it was for the initial tear down to figure the mod out.
    But we still need a device to actually be modded and confirmed that it's working as expected.
    This is again where Adam comes in, he's done this for a few devices already, and has the ability to get changes (if needed) done to the software used to get this fully working and tested.
    He's also right about how small this stuff is (smaller than video card components), I know I wont ever be doing it, I'd be sending it to someone I know can.
    Let's not let this turn into a negative discussion. ;]

    All that being said, I've also been on the lookout for a cheap Epic this mod could be applied to.
    So far I missed out on what seems to have been the perfect opportunity from lack of funds.
    But I still check on ebay every now and again.

    [edit]
    That's crazy...enough to work! I'm gna call up all the local Sprint stores in my area tomorrow morning and ask. I'll report back tomorrow to share how my "mission" went :p
    [/edit]
    Best of luck to you on your mission!

    =]