[WARNING] Samsung 4.0.4 firmwares (Official / Leaked) may lead to HARDBRICK

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shahrozeumar

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
314
84
Karachi
Flash Siyah v5.0.1 via Odin in download mode and get rid of the triangle first using triangle away app. Then after doing a full wipe flash NeatROM or Alliance rom or any other stock based with android version 4.1.2. Thats how I got rid of 4.0.4.

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
 
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K0wneD

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2013
248
201
Omaha
And what about upgrading to JB through some custom rom? Will that be safe ?

Because I don't expect a JB official firmware to be pushed by Samsung in my region (India) any time soon , if at all

it should be safe if u follow my instructions now.
1) go to philz cmw6 page and flash the kernel matching your firmware
2)download any custom based rom based on 4.1.2 for example neat,alliance,disaster,biftor anything of your choice.
3)go to philz cmw6 and wipe date,cache and dalvik..cmw6 is safe for wiping:good:,only cmw5 is unsafe for wiping
4)then flash your custom rom and enjoy.
 

ShunSeb47

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2011
246
78
Mumbai
Hi guys, I am on 4.04 XXLQ6 with Siyah v4.15+, I'd like to install Paranoid android, please guide me how to proceed so I avoid the brick.

Thank you :)
 

pietsukkel

Senior Member
May 24, 2006
126
20
Found out the hard way...

Well, I found out the hard way... I was running XXLQ6 stock firmware last week I performed a wipe. After about two minutes the phone went off permanently...:crying:
After looking for a solution I came across this post, too late for me unfortunately...
 

shahrozeumar

Senior Member
Dec 22, 2012
314
84
Karachi
Well, I found out the hard way... I was running XXLQ6 stock firmware last week I performed a wipe. After about two minutes the phone went off permanently...:crying:
After looking for a solution I came across this post, too late for me unfortunately...

So you performed it in CWM or stock recovery?

Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium
 

Voodoo_X

Member
Jan 16, 2011
21
8
I bought yesterday my SGS2 with XWLPD kernel and 4.0.3 stock android version.
I've been reading all I can of this hardbrick emmc bug and I understand that the potential phones are the ones with a "insane chip" and 4.0.4 stock kernel.

Of course nobody wants to brick their phone and neither do I... :silly:

Because of this, with XWLPD kernel and 4.0.3 stock do I get any risk of brick when rooting with CF-root that comes with CWM 5.5 and stock kernel?

Any better method to root and stay with stock kernel (for now)?


Thank you in advance.
 

dinos3

Senior Member
Dec 31, 2011
1,028
138
I bought yesterday my SGS2 with XWLPD kernel and 4.0.3 stock android version.
I've been reading all I can of this hardbrick emmc bug and I understand that the potential phones are the ones with a "insane chip" and 4.0.4 stock kernel.

Of course nobody wants to brick their phone and neither do I... :silly:

Because of this, with XWLPD kernel and 4.0.3 stock do I get any risk of brick when rooting with CF-root that comes with CWM 5.5 and stock kernel?

Any better method to root and stay with stock kernel (for now)?


Thank you in advance.
4.0.3 is safe...
 
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Voodoo_X

Member
Jan 16, 2011
21
8
Mine was rooted the very first day. As long as the GS3 LOL

Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium

I needed one day to read stuff, choose method, ..... Just trying not to brick my phone.
Maybe tomorow I will try philz or siyah kernel as long as this 4.0.3 version is safe.

My biggest problem is my stock kernel version that is not so popular (XWLPD) for custom releases like philz new touch kernel or even latest cf-root kernel.

As CF-root has CWM 5.5.x, I wanted to put an upgraded version of CWM (i think is 6.0.2.8) but don't know how to do it.

Can i simply just root the phone by CWM temp recovery (Philz method 1) and then with RomManager install CWM6.x ? No brick? :confused:
Or is there any problem in flashing kernels of different versions like XWLSE (philz example: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1877270).



My last phone was the Commtiva Z71. Things were quite easier and there were not so many methods to root and flash recovery.
Not even brick... Ahah... Funny phone =)


Sorry for the noobice on SGS2 and the little off topic.
 

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  • 201
    To all of i9100 users having flashed the latest 4.0.4 firmware (Official / Leaked) with stock kernel, PLEASE BE AWARE that using cwm to erase data/factory reset OR to restore a nandroid backup MAY BRICK YOUR PHONE !!!! Trust me, I just got mine bricked and by searching a litlle bit I discovered I'm not the only one -> see here and here ... and the number is growing ...

    Actually confirmed firmwares having the emmc bug :
    XXLQ5/6/7/B - ZCLPL - XWLPM/O/T/U - MUGLD3‎(?)


    Here's how to BRICK your phone :
    -Flash the 4.0.4 firmware with/without its pit file
    -Use any 4.0.4 based kernel - stock or modified (ex cf-root)
    -Go to cwm and do a wipe data & wipe cache and/or perform a nandroid restore of any previous firmware
    => The process begins normally but it may/will switch off at any time without waking up ever again !!!!!

    Symptoms of 4.0.4 HARDBRICK :
    -Phone dead
    -No power up
    -No boot
    -No download mode (odin mode)
    -No charging (usb/ac)
    -Not detectable by pc / jtag
    -Usb jig & jtag useless
    -With battery(charged) inserted, phone(off) gets hot near the camera lens
    -JUST A PIECE OF PLASTIC !!!!
    -You feel really stupid about trying all this new stuff


    And now here's how to avoid 4.0.4 hardbrick :
    -DO NOT flash any stock 4.0.4 firmware ;)
    -If on 4.0.4 stock firmware, keep away from stock kernel (ex: use siyah kernel or latest speedmod)
    -Use "eMMC Brickbug Check" app to verify whether you have an insane ship or not
    -Backup your apps (titanium backup) and backup all (cwm) and copy all data from internal sdcard
    -DO NOT wipe any partition or data
    -Flash any official 4.0.3 stock firmware in download mode via odin (do not use mobile odin)
    -Do not get tempted again by any unsafe leaked or official firmware !!!


    Downgrade from 4.0.4 :
    -Reboot the phone in download mode (Home+Vol.Down+Power)
    -Use Odin to flash a safe kernel (ex. siyah) then reboot to cwm (Home+Vol.Up+Power)
    -Optionally do a nandroid backup then perform a data wipe/factory reset
    -Use advanced menu in cwm to reboot in download mode to flash your preferred "safe" firmware


    While waiting for someone to find a way to revive such bricked phones, I hope you guys take care of your precious S2, you only know its value when it's gone ;)
    9
    You can find so many good customized firmware compilations out there :). But because of so many asking for a safe all-in-one stock package I decided to share my stock ROM variant.

    I've repackaged the stock GT-I9100 XWLQ2 firmware with CSC NEELP6 and hardcore's SpeedMod K3-32 kernel and the old GB jig-resettable bootloader ready to flash via Odin thus beeing pure stock (no theme no root no nothing) but safe because hardcore disabled MMC_CAP_ERASE functionality in his kernel. The jig-resettable bootloader will do it's job to get rid of the yellow triangle too ;) . This package works fine for me. It is non-wipe.


    Flash it via PC Odin WITHOUT doing any wipe before (for safety reasons regardless what version you're coming from). After you've finished installation, you can do any wipe in SpeedMod kernel's included CWM. And of cause: DO YOUR BACKUPS before you try this package, I'm not responsible for any inconvenience ...

    • If you like: After installing the firmware package you can root it flashing this SU-BB-Tweaks-XWLQ2-signed.zip from internal or external SD-Card via CWM. It contains ChainsDD's SuperUser.apk 3.1.3 and BusyBox 1.20.2 plus some minor tweaks (battery indicator, emo icons).

    On request: the original XWLQ2 bootloader is here if someone wants to flash it in favor of the provided old GB jig-resettable one. Doing so won't increase your digital binary counter but will require another solution (Chainfire's Triangle Away) if you need to reset the counter in the future.

    25.11.2012:
    Updated stock ROM XWLQ2 with CSC NEELP6 and SpeedMod kernel K3-32. Also updated original bootloader and SU/Busybox zip package to XWLQ2.

    28.10.2012:
    Updated stock ROM XWLPY with CSC NEELP6 and SpeedMod kernel K3-32.

    20.10.2012:
    Updated stock ROM XWLPY with CSC NEELP5 and SpeedMod kernel K3-31. Also updated original bootloader to XWLPY. New: added SU/Busybox zip package to be flashed via CWM.

    07.09.2012:
    Updated stock ROM XWLPX with CSC NEELP5 and SpeedMod kernel K3-31. Also updated original bootloader to XWLPX.

    26.08.2012:
    Updated stock ROM XWLPU with CSC NEELP5 and SpeedMod kernel K3-31. Also updated original bootloader to XWLPU.

    09.08.2012:
    hardcore released SpeedMod kernel K3-31 I'm using for two days now. I updated my custom package with the new kernel today.
    5
    My thought was to use riffbox to clear everything on the chip, the whole partition layout and such, then repartition the chip, install bootloader etc.
    I wrote earlier that I'm able to tart the phone in recovery mode, only all I see onscreen is the s2 logo, but adb kinda works, it auto-reboots after appr. 3-4 minutes.
    But I'm able to start several utils trought adb such as parted.
    Only thing is that the phone hangs and reboots a minute later :p
    If, and I say IF, it is just a corrupted partition table, and not phycial errors, it should be possible to recover from this error with jtag and nand wr directly, my experience with the riffbox is that It doesn't use recovery mode or download mode, it reads/writes the nand/emmc directly.
    I found a video on youtube where they recovered a s2 with emmc bug, but lame ass me forgot to save the link, this is why I orderd a molex port, jtag adapter and such.

    But off course, correct me if I'm wrong and you can prove something else ;)
    If you've suffered from the Superbrick bug due to wiping on an affected kernel, it is not a corrupted partition table. It's low-level damage to the internal structures of the eMMC chip that is well known to be unrecoverable via JTAG. (Josh at mobiletechvideos.com apparently gets 3-5 devices damaged like this per day - he can't repair them.)

    From the perspective of the CPU, the chip has a large chunk of physical damage to a memory region that is close to the partition that was wiped in size and location. (So wiping data usually leaves a bootable device, wiping /system will often hit the bootloader with "splash damage".) Any attempt to touch those regions will hang it.

    The good news is that it isn't really physical damage even though it behaves like physical damage - it's such low-level data corruption that the methods for repairing it are not part of the JEDEC eMMC standard - they're Samsung vendor-specific commands which are currently undocumented. The hope is that in a week and a half, I will be receiving documentation on these commands from the Samsung engineers I'm meeting with.
    4
    what was the story youve sold to service center ???


    Samsung and Google are well aware of this issue since May and are working on a fix since, but as they said fix is being developed and needs extensive testing and who knows how long could it take

    so as much your initiative is ok ... it is completley useless as Samsung is well aware of chips that they ordered and witch of those are affected.
    got also all the information on what causes this issue - now they just need to develop a stable working fix and push it public

    or maybe they did their numbers and it came out that percent of the devices/mb/chips affected is ok to just handle it via service center repairs

    oh, and they well know that it is a isue wit stock samung recovery or whatever you call it - the one that comes with firmware - so your source is hmm wierd :)

    ---------- Post added at 05:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:01 PM ----------

    ref -> plus.google.com/111398485184813224730/posts/21pTYfTsCkB
    Well, you're apparently quite clueless, since the contacts at Samsung referenced in that post ARE the ones I'm talking to.

    And no, they are NOT aware that people are suffering damage in stock recovery. They believe that it is totally safe, and have asked me to try and find devices that have suffered damage from stock recovery for analysis. I've passed 3 reports to them so far, but if there are two reports of stock XWLPM doing damage, that's more evidence that nonsecure erase isn't as safe as they think it is.

    Also, XXLQ5 is evidence that they, unfortunately, have not been working as hard on the fix as claimed... I've indicated to my contacts that the XDA community is extremely disappointed with this recent development. We were told one thing back in May, but the results with XXLQ5 are the exact opposite - instead of having fixes deployed, a previously safe device has been put in danger.
    4
    Ok but folks: what about the solution.... Is the affected chip version 0x19 upgradeable by software to 0x25 which is supposed to have the issue addressed? This is what I wish to know if is even possible

    Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

    Possible? Yes, however the process fully wipes the chip. In addition, Samsung considers that information to be even more proprietary than the reset-without-upgrade sequence, which alone is proving difficult to get.

    The underlying bug can be rendered a non-issue by protecting the chip from ever seeing dangerous commands (which is why I9100 kernels previous to this one were safe). I am extremely disappointed in Samsung in that they claimed to be working on deploying a fix for this issue, but took a previously unaffected device and added the trigger conditions to its kernel.