[How To] Recover From a Hard Brick (SM-900A Only)

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designgears

Inactive Recognized Developer
Feb 9, 2010
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I take no credit for this method, I felt it needed to be re-posted here. I snagged it from Shabbypenguins post over on Phandroid. It was originally for the Boost Mobile SGS3, but works for the Note 3 and several other devices.

What do I mean by hard brick?
Your phone doesn't power up, visibly charge, reach a boot-screen of any kind or go into download mode. Basically, it acts like it won't power on at all. Hard bricked. Even if you nuke the aboot, sbl1, boot, etc... like I did, this method will revive your phone!

This is a great safety net for those who want to test bootloader exploits!


What do you need?
Bricked Galaxy Note 3 (SM-900A)
microSD card (all data will be erased from this sdcard)
microSD card reader
Linux / OS X (can be running in vmware/virtual box on windows)
Unbrick Image (MI9)
Stock Odin Files

Unbricking Instructions
  1. Boot Linux / OS X / VMware / Virtual Box
  2. Download the unbrick image listed in the item's needed list
  3. Open terminal on your OS
  4. Insert your microSD card into the reader
  5. Plug your microSD card reader into your computer
  6. Run
    Code:
    dmesg | tail
    you should see something that mentions where it is mounted via /sdX
  7. Code:
    sudo dd if=/<path_to_debrick.img> of=/dev/sdX
    again where X is the microSD card ignoring the partition numbers as they should be overwritten
    I had to do this a couple times for the image to actually take
  8. Code:
    sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdX
    should show approximately 29 partitions (I just unplugged and replugged the usb, lots of windows popped up from the partitions)
  9. remove the microSD card from the reader
  10. remove the battery and sim from your device
  11. insert your unbrick microSD into your phone
  12. insert the battery and press the power button, it should boot
  13. reboot into Download mode either via adb or Volume Down + Home + Power
  14. use stock odin files to restore your phone

Thanks to the following:
Shabbypenguin for pointing me to this!
gTan64 for finding the fix while repairing their friend's phone.
KAsp3rd for showing Shabbypenguin this and assisting him throughout it
 
Last edited:

mircury

Senior Member
Jul 18, 2007
548
319
Louisville
It was originally for the Boost Mobile SGS3, but works for the Note 3 and several other devices.

We have several people with unrecoverable boot looped devices over in the 900T forum because of failed nandroid restores. They can get to download mode but flashing via odin to stock does not fix it. They are stuck in boot loops even after flashing via odin. In your opinion, would the unbrick image adapted to the 900T help them?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=46313784#post46313784
 

Bladerunner1825us

Senior Member
Jan 17, 2013
296
98
We have several people with unrecoverable boot looped devices over in the 900T forum because of failed nandroid restores. They can get to download mode but flashing via odin to stock does not fix it. They are stuck in boot loops even after flashing via odin. In your opinion, would the unbrick image adapted to the 900T help them?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=46313784#post46313784

I remember on the note 1 sometimes even after restoring stick via odin you would get a bootloop. In that case you had to do a factory reset after flashing stock and it got everything working again. Hopefully yur problems are something that easy to fix.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
 
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shabbypenguin

Inactive Recognized Developer
May 30, 2010
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this is for people who really brick, you overwrite your aboot/sbl's. on the SGS3 this was done by flashing an international rom as their kernel was on MMCBLK0p5 while us SGS3 that was our aboot (bootloader). whats particularly good about this is it means that designgears can nuke his bootloader trying to find exploits/unlock etc and still end up working device by the end of the night (like was done last night). to cut any questions on it, dont bother with trying to sdcard boot the tmobile bootloaders :p

this is more of a in case things go bad kind of scenario where you cant get to download mode, and if this guide is too confusing etc there is always a jtag (mobiletechvideos is one of the big ones on xda i believe).
 

mwazeer

Senior Member
May 23, 2011
555
146
Kuwait
this is for people who really brick, you overwrite your aboot/sbl's. on the SGS3 this was done by flashing an international rom as their kernel was on MMCBLK0p5 while us SGS3 that was our aboot (bootloader). whats particularly good about this is it means that designgears can nuke his bootloader trying to find exploits/unlock etc and still end up working device by the end of the night (like was done last night). to cut any questions on it, dont bother with trying to sdcard boot the tmobile bootloaders :p

this is more of a in case things go bad kind of scenario where you cant get to download mode, and if this guide is too confusing etc there is always a jtag (mobiletechvideos is one of the big ones on xda i believe).

Sir in note 3 case original bootloader is there even custom recovery is there but stock rom flashed by odin still you are not able to come out of bootloop even you make full wipe after. This is strange as odin or kies emaegeny recovery firmware not come to save you this time. My phone in service center and still not hear from them anything..

Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
 
Last edited:

shabbypenguin

Inactive Recognized Developer
May 30, 2010
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Sir in note 3 case original bootloader is there even custom recovery is there but stock rom flashed by odin still you are not able to come out of bootloop even you make full wipe after. This is strange as odin or kies emaegeny recovery firmware not come to save you this time. My phone in service center and still not hear from them anything..

Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

the "download mode" with red text? if thats what it is you need to pull battery, put it back in. power on as if you were going to download mode and the red text will be missing, flash stock rom and then wipe in stock recovery and youll be all set :)
 
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mwazeer

Senior Member
May 23, 2011
555
146
Kuwait
the "download mode" with red text? if thats what it is you need to pull battery, put it back in. power on as if you were going to download mode and the red text will be missing, flash stock rom and then wipe in stock recovery and youll be all set :)

Sir there is no red text and its normal download mode with knox counter 0x1.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
 

mwazeer

Senior Member
May 23, 2011
555
146
Kuwait
Are you using the stock odin files? It should boot into recovery after flashing and wipe the device and install a few more files.

Yes we used all type of odin 3.04. To 3.09 and flash pure stock rom and then wipe everything in stock recovery and still get bootloop and missing baseband version so no network and no imei number. This problem come after nadroid backup restore not for me but many xda members of internional note and t mobile. All are crying. Some get replacement some of there phone in service center and no body report about result from service center.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium
 

jtl999

Senior Member
Sep 7, 2012
143
22
Looks interesting. Getting my Note 3 soon for app/ROM development. One question. Will this work on Telus Note 3? It's Canadian. If not is there a method smiler to this? Really value my devices and don't want to hardbrick them.:confused:
 

HookedOnDroids

New member
Nov 11, 2013
3
1
Samsung Galaxy NOTE 3 UnRoot-Bricked-Fixed

Sir in note 3 case original bootloader is there even custom recovery is there but stock rom flashed by odin still you are not able to come out of bootloop even you make full wipe after. This is strange as odin or kies emaegeny recovery firmware not come to save you this time. My phone in service center and still not hear from them anything..

Sent from my GT-I9505 using xda premium

SOLVED!!!!

Had the same issue and its cuz the USB debugging was turned off in the Developer apps to my luck I had it on, but turned it off 1 week prior to my ph crashing... :crying: lol I tried EVERYTHING for 3 days and I'm tech savy lol :confused: What I ended up doing was using my fiance's note 3 to back up all her files via the SD card on her phone and then loaded it into mine and it worked like a charm. It's even a free app :D from the play store called "Root Browser" and NO you do not have to root their phone to copy their files... :eek: Copy the files, on the broken phone do the recovery mode (Volume Up + Home Key + Power Button) then load from external source. Be sure to wipe your data and all that before installing on the broken ph.... and bada-bing bada-bang! FIXED! :angel:

I suggest downloading that in the future and keeping that spare SD card in the GUN SAFE!!! just in case you happen to re-root your phone later lol

Hope this helps out since I about threw my Note 3 at the wall from all the looping frustration...lol Tried Odin, Kies3 and nothing... even the ABD cmd and no luck.... Idk why I didn't think about doing that in the past lol GOOD LUCK!:fingers-crossed:

---------- Post added at 01:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:14 AM ----------

We have several people with unrecoverable boot looped devices over in the 900T forum because of failed nandroid restores. They can get to download mode but flashing via odin to stock does not fix it. They are stuck in boot loops even after flashing via odin. In your opinion, would the unbrick image adapted to the 900T help them?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=46313784#post46313784

SOLVED!!!!

Had the same issue and its cuz the USB debugging was turned off in the Developer apps to my luck I had it on, but turned it off 1 week prior to my ph crashing... lol I tried EVERYTHING for 3 days and I'm tech savy lol What I ended up doing was using my fiance's note 3 to back up all her files via the SD card on her phone and then loaded it into mine and it worked like a charm. It's even a free app from the play store called "Root Browser" and NO you do not have to root their phone to copy their files... Copy the files, on the broken phone do the recovery mode (Volume Up + Home Key + Power Button) then load from external source. Be sure to wipe your data and all that before installing on the broken ph.... and bada-bing bada-bang! FIXED!

I suggest downloading that in the future and keeping that spare SD card in the GUN SAFE!!! just in case you happen to re-root your phone later lol

Hope this helps out since I about threw my Note 3 at the wall from all the looping frustration...lol Tried Odin, Kies3 and nothing... even the ABD cmd and no luck.... Idk why I didn't think about doing that in the past lol GOOD LUCK!
 

desiboston

Member
Jul 25, 2010
23
2
I am confused and holding on to buying the note 3 yet due to these issues. Is sm 900A different than 9005A? Does att sell 2 different versions?
 

rockinandroid

Senior Member
Apr 22, 2012
621
73
SOLVED!!!!

Had the same issue and its cuz the USB debugging was turned off in the Developer apps to my luck I had it on, but turned it off 1 week prior to my ph crashing... :crying: lol I tried EVERYTHING for 3 days and I'm tech savy lol :confused: What I ended up doing was using my fiance's note 3 to back up all her files via the SD card on her phone and then loaded it into mine and it worked like a charm. It's even a free app :D from the play store called "Root Browser" and NO you do not have to root their phone to copy their files... :eek: Copy the files, on the broken phone do the recovery mode (Volume Up + Home Key + Power Button) then load from external source. Be sure to wipe your data and all that before installing on the broken ph.... and bada-bing bada-bang! FIXED! :angel:

I suggest downloading that in the future and keeping that spare SD card in the GUN SAFE!!! just in case you happen to re-root your phone later lol

Hope this helps out since I about threw my Note 3 at the wall from all the looping frustration...lol Tried Odin, Kies3 and nothing... even the ABD cmd and no luck.... Idk why I didn't think about doing that in the past lol GOOD LUCK!:fingers-crossed:

---------- Post added at 01:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:14 AM ----------



SOLVED!!!!

Had the same issue and its cuz the USB debugging was turned off in the Developer apps to my luck I had it on, but turned it off 1 week prior to my ph crashing... lol I tried EVERYTHING for 3 days and I'm tech savy lol What I ended up doing was using my fiance's note 3 to back up all her files via the SD card on her phone and then loaded it into mine and it worked like a charm. It's even a free app from the play store called "Root Browser" and NO you do not have to root their phone to copy their files... Copy the files, on the broken phone do the recovery mode (Volume Up + Home Key + Power Button) then load from external source. Be sure to wipe your data and all that before installing on the broken ph.... and bada-bing bada-bang! FIXED!

I suggest downloading that in the future and keeping that spare SD card in the GUN SAFE!!! just in case you happen to re-root your phone later lol

Hope this helps out since I about threw my Note 3 at the wall from all the looping frustration...lol Tried Odin, Kies3 and nothing... even the ABD cmd and no luck.... Idk why I didn't think about doing that in the past lol GOOD LUCK!


what files did you download off your wife phone onto sd card....using rom toolbox with root explorer....sorry for newb question...any help appreciated....
 

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  • 34
    I take no credit for this method, I felt it needed to be re-posted here. I snagged it from Shabbypenguins post over on Phandroid. It was originally for the Boost Mobile SGS3, but works for the Note 3 and several other devices.

    What do I mean by hard brick?
    Your phone doesn't power up, visibly charge, reach a boot-screen of any kind or go into download mode. Basically, it acts like it won't power on at all. Hard bricked. Even if you nuke the aboot, sbl1, boot, etc... like I did, this method will revive your phone!

    This is a great safety net for those who want to test bootloader exploits!


    What do you need?
    Bricked Galaxy Note 3 (SM-900A)
    microSD card (all data will be erased from this sdcard)
    microSD card reader
    Linux / OS X (can be running in vmware/virtual box on windows)
    Unbrick Image (MI9)
    Stock Odin Files

    Unbricking Instructions
    1. Boot Linux / OS X / VMware / Virtual Box
    2. Download the unbrick image listed in the item's needed list
    3. Open terminal on your OS
    4. Insert your microSD card into the reader
    5. Plug your microSD card reader into your computer
    6. Run
      Code:
      dmesg | tail
      you should see something that mentions where it is mounted via /sdX
    7. Code:
      sudo dd if=/<path_to_debrick.img> of=/dev/sdX
      again where X is the microSD card ignoring the partition numbers as they should be overwritten
      I had to do this a couple times for the image to actually take
    8. Code:
      sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdX
      should show approximately 29 partitions (I just unplugged and replugged the usb, lots of windows popped up from the partitions)
    9. remove the microSD card from the reader
    10. remove the battery and sim from your device
    11. insert your unbrick microSD into your phone
    12. insert the battery and press the power button, it should boot
    13. reboot into Download mode either via adb or Volume Down + Home + Power
    14. use stock odin files to restore your phone

    Thanks to the following:
    Shabbypenguin for pointing me to this!
    gTan64 for finding the fix while repairing their friend's phone.
    KAsp3rd for showing Shabbypenguin this and assisting him throughout it
    6
    this is for people who really brick, you overwrite your aboot/sbl's. on the SGS3 this was done by flashing an international rom as their kernel was on MMCBLK0p5 while us SGS3 that was our aboot (bootloader). whats particularly good about this is it means that designgears can nuke his bootloader trying to find exploits/unlock etc and still end up working device by the end of the night (like was done last night). to cut any questions on it, dont bother with trying to sdcard boot the tmobile bootloaders :p

    this is more of a in case things go bad kind of scenario where you cant get to download mode, and if this guide is too confusing etc there is always a jtag (mobiletechvideos is one of the big ones on xda i believe).
    3
    I think we might have accomplished this method using a slightly different technique, but using odin. The thread is right in the Q&A thread for the tmobile note 3 variant. I believe what we could have accomplished is actually for all, variants of the galaxy note 3. @designgears, @shabbypenguin, or anyone else that thinks this is worth a look..

    i dont have teh time to browse through teh many tmobile note 3 q&a threads, any chance of a link?

    so long as the file is dumped properly and from that model. most qualcomm devices support it, just about anything from the s4 (MSM8960) and more recent with an sdcard should be able to sdcard boot.

    http://shabbypenguin.com/getdownload.php?file=Tools/Unbrick-Creator.zip

    have someone flash that in recovery. it dumps the first 200MB's of mmcblk0 you can then follow this guide with swapping out teh files. the zip will dump the image and then zip it up and keep it all on the sdcard, thus allowing it to be smaller. due to phone inconsistencies id suggest having a verizon person dump theirs for it, tmobiel for theirs, n9005 for theirs etc etc. the only one i dont think it will work on is the exynos based samsung devices.
    2
    I just unbrick my GN3 with this method. http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2559715 . I flashed all the files with ODIN, and finally got my note 3 to reboot and PASS. Hope this help others.
    2
    Hi shabbypenguin,

    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2531224 is the thread that msmery42 is referring to. We're flying blind, but you guys have left quite the trail of information behind yourselves. I think we've found two methods of making the "unbrickable mod" SD Card, however I'm stone cold out of ideas on how to get the N900T into SD Card mode.

    We first got a unbrick image of 70MB, decided it was too small, upped it to over 200MB, decided that was too small too, and then settled for 310MB. The command we're using to grab the unbrick.img is "dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/unbrick.img bs=1024 count=317440". I'm using a Knoppix Live CD to use the terminal to create the SD card with the command "dd if=/dev/mmcblk0 of=/sda2/media/unbrick.img" I think my primary hard drive was /sda2/media... I don't happen to have my laptop next to me but you get the idea. The unbrick.img was copied from the SD Card to the root of my hard drive before booting into Linux.

    So, now that the card is made, insert it into the phone, power on, win, right? Well, I never was able to get into SD Card Mode. I'd just REALLY like someone to confirm that something needs to be shorted out on the board. I've tried just about every single button combination with the battery in, with the battery out but with the phone plugged into the computer. I've also tried starting it with my 3300k auto ignition cable from my NSPRO box while holding down all the buttons. Nothing will boot it into anything. The screen is dead black, no lights come on (no blue lights or red lights), but there is a COM port. The dreaded QCHSUSB port. So it does still power on, but it has nothing to boot to. I've tried inserting the SD Card, then inserting the battery, then powering it on, as is suggested in the original post here (albeit for the N900A) but nothing ever happens.



    Also, the second method for creating the SD Card involves putting some kind of bootloader file in the bootloader tab of Odin, checking T Flash, inserting a SD Card into the phone, plugging up the phone, and hitting Start on Odin. NOW, this is from the i9300 leaked documentation for the "Samsung SD Card JTAG", and there is a supplied file in there to load into the bootloader tab of Odin...but I don't know if it's just the stock i9300 bootloader or if it's some modified file that triggers Odin to pull the bootloader from the phone and load it into the SD Card (OR if it overwrites the bootloader of the phone with the file AND writes it to the SD Card too?) Either way, noobtoob flashed the N900T firmware on his N900T through Odin with T Flash checked, and it definitely wrote to the SD Card. Now, did it write the correct information or not? I don't know. BTW, we just tried it this way after we couldn't get the N900T to boot into SD Card mode with the unbrick images we made in the terminals. IMO, I think the issue lies in SD Card mode, not the images or SD Cards. Just figured I'd document what T Flash might be used for in Odin for simplicity of this process (I'd still rather use the terminal...lol).
    ive never heard of odin writing the files for people so that's cool to hear about, ill have to research more into it all. anyways, 200MB's should be more than plenty to have it, 128MB's was all that was absolutely needed on the s3/s4 I just use 200mb's as a rule of thumb because I have a lot of people dumping from a lot of devices and id much rather get a safety buffer than anything else. if you have a laptop i would imagine sda1/2 etc would be your main hard drive and sdb would be the microsd card. this sdcard booting has been found on the lg og pro, sgs3, sgs4, a handful of samsung msm8930 devices, lg motion/spirit and more. all of which have just been a matter of having the sdcard formatted properly, having teh correct size, and putting the sdcard in. when i first showed it to designgears he didnt believe me but he zero'd out the aboot on his brand new note 3 and loaded right back up using his sdcard.

    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2439367 this is where i learned about the sdcard booting, there is a video which should follow exactly the same for ya (minus using different files). if you still arent able to get it all working then i would definitely recommend checking out mobiletechvideos, the work they do is top notch and will get you sorted out in no time. :)