[Q] My phone will not boot up/cannot Access Recovery Mode. ( Samsung Galaxy S3)

Well.....I'm not expert but I can tell you its not hard bricked. So you're safe for now. I suggest checking out how to flash another OS using download mode. I believe it involves using your sd card as a "bootable media". (Like, usb stick for windows 7)

Do some research about that. And I think it should work.

Try this!

ABCordova said:

Hi guys,

I have a Samsung Galaxy S3 I747m, running Cyanogen Mod and as of right now, it will not turn on. It will begin the boot animation and the freeze once it reaches the end. I cannot access Recovery Mode but I can access Download Mode. This all began when my version of gapps started glitching, or at least Google play Store. I downloaded a new gapps and tried to install it without wiping out the dalvik cache or uninstalling the old gapps. Yes I am a noob at this and an idiot.

Please guys if anyone of you has the patience to tell me what I need to do to get my phone operational again. please do so. My family is not doing well financially right now and can't afford another phone. Please give me some hope. Please.

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I would try and flash a new recovery image either twrp or cwm through download mode using Odin and try getting back into recovery and clean flash cyanogenmod and gapps all over again. Basically start from scratch and see if it fixes the problem, if you can get in to recovery mode after flashing a new image you may only need to wipe cache/dalvik to fix it but I'd start with trying your best to get a recovery image reflashed and the ability to get into recovery mode. You can find the images for recovery at the official sites either twrp or clockwork recovery and the instructions on how to flash them anywhere by searching through Google! Hope this helps you

From download mode you can flash a stock firmware with Odin unless you have installed the stock 4.3 update. This will wipe your phone but you will have it booting and recovery back.

ABCordova said:

Another user here suggested flashing Clockwork Recovery. Which one one in your opinion is the best option and what are the disadvantages/advantages of both?

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As for your previous post, the Clockwork downloads are under the 'Rom Manager' tab here: http://www.clockworkmod.com/.
Twrp recovery here: http://teamw.in/project/twrp2 (Hit 'Get TWRP for your device' then this link at bottom of page 'Download - Odin Flashable Tar:').

Which you chose depends on which you had before the issue and whether you want to restore a previous backup once recovery is restored. If you are not going to be restoring a back up, I'd recommend the TWRP file as it can be flashed with Odin.

Your other option is to Flash a stock firmware from Odin and start from scratch. This can be the more labor intensive way because you then need to setup the phone again and get it back to how you like it. The benefit of this method is that it wipes absolutely everything, including whatever problem had you screwed in the first place. Because I tinker with my phone a lot, I always have everything important stored on an external SD. Pictures, Titanium Backup, Nandroid, etc. If you have backups of everything you need off the phone, I'd recommend that you Odin it. If you do not have things backed up try installing recovery first and getting the phone to boot. In the end if you do chose this method you should still wipe as there was obviously something that really buggered your phone and a wipe will be the best way to fix that so it doesn't recur. That's my opinion anyway.

ABCordova said:

Apparently I can access Recovery Mode now!! However, it still does not boot up. I backed up all my filed to my external 8GB SD card, and then wiped the dalvik Cache. Nothing. I did a full Factory reset and still nothing. AM I missing a step? Is there a step I should take before or after clicking full wipe? The phone boots all the way to cyanogen mod logo, where an arrow spins around it. However, that's all it does.

Any ideas?

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So you can access recovery mode?

*Before you follow the next steps, understand everything will be deleted from your PHONE, NOT sdcard.*
You have to wipe everything clean. That means(in recovery mode):

1. Wipe Data/factory reset
2. Wipe cache partition
3. Wipe dalvik cache

Then you would install your rom. From there everything should work. Also, are you installing CM10.2? 10.1? 11? (I personally suggest 10.2.)