[Q] i777 Dead?

You should be able to boot the phone after performing a wipe data/factory reset from within recovery. To enter recovery, hold all three buttons (vol+ vol- & pwr) continuously until the boot screen appears the second time, then release all three. You can perform a wipe data/factory reset from stock 3e recovery, or from a custom recovery, depending on which you have, it doesn't matter. That being said, you success will depend perhaps on what you flashed. I am assuming by ClockworkMod and TWRP you mean I-777 kernels containing those recoveries, as the I-777 does not have a separate recovery because the recovery is built into the kernel. If the kernel version does not match the system version (UCMD8 is Jelly Bean) then the phone would not boot even after a reset. But you could flash the full I777UCMD8 again, and then it should boot. If you have additional questions or issues, let us know.

Berthfield said:

Retried flashing the I77UCMD8 using odin 1.83 but it still wont boot. I also realized that when I try to access recovery it doesn't actually shut down, but gives me a black screen from which it will reboot if left for approximately five minutes. Is there anyway to get access to adb, like perhaps flashing a. insecure bootloader or something?

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Since you get a pass in Odin when you flash the full UCMD8 distribution, you should be able to get into recovery. Pull the battery for at least 30 seconds, then put the battery back into the phone and hold all three buttons continuously until you see the Samsung logo appear, the screen to go black, the Samsung logo appear a second time, and the screen to go black a second time, then release all three buttons.

If this does not boot the phone into recovery mode, then please describe in detail in your next post exactly what happens when you follow this procedure.

And, if the phone will not boot into recovery, then I will need additional information in order to troubleshoot the issue further. You have not given much information about the phone. What is the history of the phone before the problem manifested? Has this been your phone since new, or did you get it from another user? What was it running before the problem. Exactly what happened when the phone stopped working. Are you an individual trying to get his personal phone going, or a business trying to fix a phone to sell? Give me as much information as you can possibly think of.

creepyncrawly said:

...

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

On a side note, very honored to have issued your 3,001 'thanks'. I swear you should have triple that amount, due to the quality and depth of help you've given to the community - and continue to do so.

We appreciate that you aren't new to the android platform or to the galaxy-line. Regarding the i777, you are in good company, and if we know NOTHING about any other device, we know the i777 very well. We're here to help.

You mentioned that you flashed several recoveries to the device. For future reference, the recovery for the i777 is packaged with the kernel, and is not installed separately. Even the often-troublesome temporary flash-recoveries that can be found, are actually a kernel/recovery combination. The s959g (straight talk's s2) has the same partition layout as the i9100 and i777 (and several other s2's), and DOES use a separate partition for recovery.

The fact that desktop ODIN indicates PASS when the flash is complete tells us that all of the factory nand images flashed successfully (including boot). It is very common that the device needs to have the factory data reset even after the factory images have been installed via desktop ODIN, but of course that requires access to recovery. If after a successful factory flash, the vol+ & vol- & power button held-concurrently-until-recovery (<--while NOT plugged into a USB port) truly doesn't get you to recovery, then that would be a new one for me as well; all other signs (as you have stated them) point to a correctly functioning device.

I'm hesitant to point you to flash a custom kernel;
there's some unnamed part of the procedure affecting the process, and flashing another boot image won't be helpful
-or-
there's a hardware failure, and flashing another boot image won't be helpful
-or-
you're using an incorrect method to get to recovery, and flashing another boot image won't be helpful

If you want to try it anyway, custom_kernel_twrp_v2.7.1.0.tar file via desktop odin might be worth a try.
^^this will trip the flash counter
^^this will install any custom firmware, but will not boot anything below android 4.4.x

I apologize for the hijack @creepyncrawly

Berthfield said:

Okay. I am a student who repairs phones part-time, I am not new to the android platform or to the galaxy line however this is the first I am experiencing this particular problem.

This phone is a unlocked and refurbished device that was purchased recently by my cousin. He claims he was just installing an app when it shut down and refused to boot back up. I initially took it with the intentions of wiping the data and returning it, however I was unable to access the recovery menu.

As I had no idea what rom was on it before, other than the fact that it was a samsung original, I proceeded to trying to flash various recoveries hoping that one would load from which I could install a custom rom. Failing that I then went on to flashing the I777UCKH7 firmware which also failed to boot and/or access recovery. Unsure what to do next I then attempted to flash the I777UCMD8 firmware which also did not boot. I then made a second attempt at flashing the I777UCKH7 firmware and .pit file from your download repository which also failed to boot.

All were loaded using Odin versions 1.82, 1.83 or 1.85 (Mostly 1.85). They all returned a "Pass" status but would be stuck on the "Samsung" screen when they rebooted. It was at this point having run out of ideas that I made the O.P.

I have also tried leaving the battery out and then following your instructions for recovery, when I do so I get a black screen. If i leave it in that screen for some time (approximately 5 mins) it will reboot and again be stuck on the "Samsung" screen.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

cyril279 said:

I apologize for the hijack creepyncrawly

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

On the contrary, your input is valuable and desired.

@Berthfield,

If there was actual nand damage in any partition that was flashed, you would not get a pass in Odin, as far as I know. Since you are unable to boot into any recovery, this indicates a problem with the nand memory, possibly a corruption issue. Please try the following (you might try accessing recovery after each step, and if you get to it, perform a wipe data/factory reset):

Instructions to clear nand read/write corruption. Instructions are specific; do them in order, and don't skip.

Odin3 v1.85 is recommended.

1) Download the Tar version of Siyah 2.6.14 Kernel. Flash it in PDA. Without ticking Re-Partitioning

2) Flash the Tar.md5 of the full stock Gingerbread distribution from the Download Repository, I777UCKH7 including the bootloaders and everything, in the PDA slot.

3) If that is successful you are done. If it is not, then:

4) Download the SBL Bootloader from the Download Repository. Flash it as PDA in ODIN, without ticking Re-Partitioning. (Please observe normal bootloader flashing caution.)

5) Flash the Kernel, as in step 1.

6) Flash the full stock Gingerbread distribution, as in step 2.

Yes, that is correct. That is the original stock gingerbread from when the phone was first released.

I agree that it is a puzzle. Just to be sure, you followed the directions exactly? I'm not sure why, but the sequence will clear nand read/write corruption. You might try once again with the SBL -> Siyah Kernel -> Full Gingerbread, just to make sure.

1) Flash the SBL by itself and pull the battery.
2) Flash the Siyah kernel by itself and pull the battery.
3) Flash the full Gingerbread stock and pull the battery.
4) Enter recovery and perform a wipe data/factory reset.
5) Reboot.

Berthfield said:

Did the above and it is still a no go.

I have come to realize that the phone seems to think it is in recovery mode when I attempt to enter it as if it is plugged in while on the black screen it doesn't display the charging animation. This occurs regardless of the kernel/recovery combo that is on the phone and while in that state it is also not detected by the computer. To rule out possible problems I have also attempted the flash on a different computer with a different cable and it is still the same.

I remember reading about the ICS hard-brick bug and that it was possible to brick the phone is a large enough file was written to memory. Is it possible that this could be my problem or would Odin return a error if the chip was damaged? Also I am not sure if this matters but I find it odd that after flashing the Siyah kernel and CWM the phone still hasn't tripped its custom binary counter.

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

Evidently, this situation is beyond my experience.

My understanding is that if emmc memory is damaged within a given partition, then Odin will not be able to successfully flash that partition. While I don't know exactly how Odin functions, I believe there are checks within the flashing sequence for each partition. So as stated before, it is assumed that if you get a pass in Odin, there is not emmc damage, at least not within the various partitions that Odin flashes.

There was one case I remember with the emmc super brick bug where the phone would boot, but would not function correctly. Evidently in that case, a small portion of the emmc memory was damaged. The usual symptom of that bug was a hard brick.

The charging issue could be hardware or it could be a failing or failed battery. Have you tried another battery?

Flashing the Siyah kernel and not tripping the flash counter is more than a little odd. The code that governs that behavior is in the secondary boot loader as far as I know, and you have reflashed that. Please bear in mind that anything I say is speculation, but this issue give me a lot of reasons to think it is a failed hardware issue.