Help- I messed up my phone bad (stuck on exclamation mark)

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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So I decided to root my Samsung S2 i7777. Had years of experience flashing HTC hero and Hp touchpad. Thought this might be straightforward as well. Proceeded to get ODIN and ATTGalaxyS2RootStockZedomaxKernel.tar. Flashed it and got pass. Phone proceeded to reboot and was stuck on the Exclamation mark. Tried restarting but no luck same thing. Initially had CWM coming in when I tried the Volume and Power button trick but could not do anything beyond that.

Then I decided that maybe my flash was not proper with that file so I took the siyah kernel and flashed that. This was a pass as well and then back to...the exclamation mark. Now, I cannot get CWM and retarating the phone with the USB connected lets me get into the Downloading window, but I cannot do anything beyond it.

What can I do? Do I need to flash a ROM- is that why I am stuck? How should I flash the ROM from ODIN- if I do get CWM back, can I put the ROM on the SD card and flash it using CWM?

Please help- I am getting stressed out and if I do recover from this, I am going to take a break from rooting :):laugh:
 
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Nick281051

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May 5, 2010
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So I decided to root my Samsung S2 i7777. Had years of experience flashing HTC hero and Hp touchpad. Thought this might be straightforward as well. Proceeded to get ODIN and ATTGalaxyS2RootStockZedomaxKernel.tar. Flashed it and got pass. Phone proceeded to reboot and was stuck on the Exclamation mark. Tried restarting but no luck same thing. Initially had CWM coming in when I tried the Volume and Power button trick but could not do anything beyond that.

Then I decided that maybe my flash was not proper with that file so I took the siyah kernel and flashed that. This was a pass as well and then back to...the exclamation mark. Now, I cannot get CWM and retarating the phone with the USB connected lets me get into the Downloading window, but I cannot do anything beyond it.

What can I do? Do I need to flash a ROM- is that why I am stuck? How should I flash the ROM from ODIN- if I do get CWM back, can I put the ROM on the SD card and flash it using CWM?

Please help- I am getting stressed out and if I do recover from this, I am going to take a break from rooting :):laugh:
I think you should head over to the stickies and look for creepyncrawly's thread. It sounds like you should also be able to flash firmware through download mode if kernels are working. Also, stay away from galaxys2root and zedomax in the future

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
 

creepyncrawly

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Sep 3, 2010
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So I decided to root my Samsung S2 i7777. Had years of experience flashing HTC hero and Hp touchpad. Thought this might be straightforward as well. Proceeded to get ODIN and ATTGalaxyS2RootStockZedomaxKernel.tar. Flashed it and got pass. Phone proceeded to reboot and was stuck on the Exclamation mark. Tried restarting but no luck same thing. Initially had CWM coming in when I tried the Volume and Power button trick but could not do anything beyond that.

Then I decided that maybe my flash was not proper with that file so I took the siyah kernel and flashed that. This was a pass as well and then back to...the exclamation mark. Now, I cannot get CWM and retarating the phone with the USB connected lets me get into the Downloading window, but I cannot do anything beyond it.

What can I do? Do I need to flash a ROM- is that why I am stuck? How should I flash the ROM from ODIN- if I do get CWM back, can I put the ROM on the SD card and flash it using CWM?

Please help- I am getting stressed out and if I do recover from this, I am going to take a break from rooting :):laugh:
You shouldn't take a break from rooting. You are just one of a very large group of people that have been blindsided by the galaxys2root website and its rogue developer zedomax. The firmware tools from that site have caused untold problems for people, similar to your problem.

To recover your phone, you need to first flash back to stock. Since you want to root the phone, and ultimately install custom firmware, you should first flash UCKH7 stock plus root package using the one-click downloader which you can get from the guide about how to flash custom binaries without incrementing the flash counter. The link for the guide is in my signature. Read the guide and follow it's directions. That should get you going again. If for some reason you have any trouble, post back here and we'll try to help you out.
 

g.kupster

Member
Jul 31, 2012
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I think you should head over to the stickies and look for creepyncrawly's thread. It sounds like you should also be able to flash firmware through download mode if kernels are working. Also, stay away from galaxys2root and zedomax in the future

Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
Thanks I checked it out..seems like putting the Stock back on might help me. Just so that I understand this better before I do it, am I installing the UCLE5_Stock_Rooted.tar using ODIN and that is enough to get me through.

Thanks
 

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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You shouldn't take a break from rooting. You are just one of a very large group of people that have been blindsided by the galaxys2root website and its rogue developer zedomax. The firmware tools from that site have caused untold problems for people, similar to your problem.

To recover your phone, you need to first flash back to stock. Since you want to root the phone, and ultimately install custom firmware, you should first flash UCKH7 stock plus root package using the one-click downloader which you can get from the guide about how to flash custom binaries without incrementing the flash counter. The link for the guide is in my signature. Read the guide and follow it's directions. That should get you going again. If for some reason you have any trouble, post back here and we'll try to help you out.
Thanks for stopping by. I did not see your post when I posted my reply to the previous poster..I am so worried that I might screw it up more that I wanted to be doubly sure about this. from what I read, I am doing Step 2c as indicated below. Am I correct?:confused:

Thanks




2c.) How to root by flashing Entropy512's Return/Unbrick to Stock, Kernel + Rooted System Package with Modem using Odin3 One-Click Downloader (Windows)
 

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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UPDATE: I did download the "Odin3 One-Click Downloader Stock I-777 UCKH7 with Root no BL" package and extracted the file. Double clicked on it with the phone connected and all I see are the words I777- UCKH7 with Root with a lot of empty boxes below. Went to Odin and I see the phone connected (Com has yellow box) but nothing else is ticked off. Clicking Start does not do anything at all.

At my wits end- will not get any sleep tonite if I don't fix it.

Thanks in advance
 
Mar 8, 2010
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Springfield, MO
I had a similar thing happen after trying to make a backup of the stock rom with Rom Manager (Yes, I know now, thanks much.)

If you keep trying new kernels/roms and it never clears up, you're pretty much stuck with wiping data. It won't wipe your sdcard, but more and more apps are sticking their data in the phone's memory rather than on the sdcard, so if you can get a backup at all, you really should.

Source: Was up until 2:30 the other night trying to make my phone work again. The above is a GUESS - it's probable I missed something that creepyncrawly wouldn't.
 

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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Ok more progress..turned off the phone and started 'I777UCKH7 OCD With Root.exe". Got the same window with lot of empty boxes. Had turned off the phone by this time and disconnected it. Now, I connected the phone and pressed the volume buttons. Phone goes into Download mode. Now, the Odin3 window has a Com port for the phone. Now I press start and it goes through a bunch of things before it declares "FAIL" in red. What do I do?
 

creepyncrawly

Senior Member
Sep 3, 2010
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Evidently, the zedomax product you originally flashed, or perhaps the siyah kernel that you flashed second, has made some undesired modification. I'd like to know exactly which package you flashed for each one of these first before I suggest which way to start correcting the problem. Can you please post working links for each of the two downloads that you used? You should still be fine, and will be able to recover the phone.
 

snipe2nite

Senior Member
Aug 1, 2011
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Evidently, the zedomax product you originally flashed, or perhaps the siyah kernel that you flashed second, has made some undesired modification. I'd like to know exactly which package you flashed for each one of these first before I suggest which way to start correcting the problem. Can you please post working links for each of the two downloads that you used? You should still be fine, and will be able to recover the phone.
This stuff makes me so sad seeing these threads............ Thanx for helping him Creepy, ALWAYZ with 100% accurate info!!! Looks like this is the page he got the tar from in the zip on step 3 http://galaxys2root.com/galaxy-s2-root/how-to-root-att-galaxy-s2-sgh-i777/ Much respect Creepy.....
 
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g.kupster

Member
Jul 31, 2012
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Evidently, the zedomax product you originally flashed, or perhaps the siyah kernel that you flashed second, has made some undesired modification. I'd like to know exactly which package you flashed for each one of these first before I suggest which way to start correcting the problem. Can you please post working links for each of the two downloads that you used? You should still be fine, and will be able to recover the phone.
The first one was http://galaxys2root.com/galaxy-s2-root/how-to-root-att-galaxy-s2-sgh-i777/

The second one was http://galaxys2root.com/galaxy-s2-root/how-to-root-ics-on-att-galaxy-s2-sgh-i777/

Now I know I need to stay away from galaxy2root. Thanks for looking at this. The status of the phone is I can go into Download mode by pressing volume buttons and connected to USB. ODIN can see the phone (COM is yellow with number). Nothing happens beyond that..:(
 

creepyncrawly

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Sep 3, 2010
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The first one was http://galaxys2root.com/galaxy-s2-root/how-to-root-att-galaxy-s2-sgh-i777/

The second one was http://galaxys2root.com/galaxy-s2-root/how-to-root-ics-on-att-galaxy-s2-sgh-i777/

Now I know I need to stay away from galaxy2root. Thanks for looking at this. The status of the phone is I can go into Download mode by pressing volume buttons and connected to USB. ODIN can see the phone (COM is yellow with number). Nothing happens beyond that..:(
The zedomax rooting kernel you flashed first is for Gingerbread version UCKH7, and was posted last October, shortly after the phone was released. If you had UCKH7 on the phone before you flashed that, it should have booted up fine. Most people I have heard about are able to use that rooting kernel successfully. So I need more information in order to be able to trouble shoot your situation.

First, are you sure your phone is SGH-I777, and not SGH-I727?

What firmware was installed on the phone before you flashed the zedomax kernel?

Has any other modification been done on the phone since or even before you had it?

The second kernel you flashed, the Siyah kernel, is an ICS kernel, version 3.4.2. The phone will not boot if the kernel and the system have different versions installed. So I need as much detailed information as possible so know what to do next.
 

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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The zedomax rooting kernel you flashed first is for Gingerbread version UCKH7, and was posted last October, shortly after the phone was released. If you had UCKH7 on the phone before you flashed that, it should have booted up fine. Most people I have heard about are able to use that rooting kernel successfully. So I need more information in order to be able to trouble shoot your situation.

First, are you sure your phone is SGH-I777, and not SGH-I727?

What firmware was installed on the phone before you flashed the zedomax kernel?

Has any other modification been done on the phone since or even before you had it?

The second kernel you flashed, the Siyah kernel, is an ICS kernel, version 3.4.2. The phone will not boot if the kernel and the system have different versions installed. So I need as much detailed information as possible so know what to do next.
The phone is SGH-I777 from AT&T. (I'll check the phone when I get home and reconfirm) The phone had the ICS installed (through the Kies update) before I (stupidly) tried the Zedomax Kernel. I just bought the phone new so no other modification had been done. After I had installed the Zedomax I had been able to see CWM if I did the power Volume trick but I cannot do it now since I installed the Siyah.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you need more info.
 

creepyncrawly

Senior Member
Sep 3, 2010
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The phone is SGH-I777 from AT&T. (I'll check the phone when I get home and reconfirm) The phone had the ICS installed (through the Kies update) before I (stupidly) tried the Zedomax Kernel. I just bought the phone new so no other modification had been done. After I had installed the Zedomax I had been able to see CWM if I did the power Volume trick but I cannot do it now since I installed the Siyah.

Hope that helps. Let me know if you need more info.
OK. The phone was new, and most likely came with Gingerbread 2.3.6 UCKK6 installed. You updated it using kies to ICS 4.0.3 UCLE5. Just asking for your confirmation here.

Then you tried to root with zedomax kernel, which is a Gingerbread 2.3.4 UCKH7 kernel, which explains why it flashed successfully, but failed to boot, since you can't have a Gingerbread kernel and an ICS system together. You were able to boot into ClockworkMod Recovery in the kernel though. We can't blame this problem on zedomax. That kernel usually works ok. You started modifying your phone before you were familiar enough with the phone and it's firmware. The error of flashing a Gingerbread kernel onto an ICS system was yours.

Next you flashed the Siyah v3.4.2 ICS kernel. This kernel should be compatible with the UCLE5 system files that are on the phone. It seems to me that the phone should now boot, and I'm not really sure from this sequence what might have been altered that prevented the phone from booting and also prevented the Odin flash back to stock from succeeding. The only thing you have flashed so far is two kernels. No other partitions should have been touched.

What kind of error message do you get when you try to boot into recovery mode using vol+ vol- Pwr?
 

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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OK. The phone was new, and most likely came with Gingerbread 2.3.6 UCKK6 installed. You updated it using kies to ICS 4.0.3 UCLE5. Just asking for your confirmation here.

Then you tried to root with zedomax kernel, which is a Gingerbread 2.3.4 UCKH7 kernel, which explains why it flashed successfully, but failed to boot, since you can't have a Gingerbread kernel and an ICS system together. You were able to boot into ClockworkMod Recovery in the kernel though. We can't blame this problem on zedomax. That kernel usually works ok. You started modifying your phone before you were familiar enough with the phone and it's firmware. The error of flashing a Gingerbread kernel onto an ICS system was yours.

Next you flashed the Siyah v3.4.2 ICS kernel. This kernel should be compatible with the UCLE5 system files that are on the phone. It seems to me that the phone should now boot, and I'm not really sure from this sequence what might have been altered that prevented the phone from booting and also prevented the Odin flash back to stock from succeeding. The only thing you have flashed so far is two kernels. No other partitions should have been touched.

What kind of error message do you get when you try to boot into recovery mode using vol+ vol- Pwr?
That seems correct (with regards to the sequence of events of the phone).

The error message is just the words "SAMSUNG GALAXY SII GT1900"..with a huge exclamation at the bottom. It stays like that until I do a battery pull.
 

creepyncrawly

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Sep 3, 2010
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That seems correct (with regards to the sequence of events of the phone).

The error message is just the words "SAMSUNG GALAXY SII GT1900"..with a huge exclamation at the bottom. It stays like that until I do a battery pull.
Please verify this - the screen says "Samsung Galaxy SII GT-I9100" assuming yours was a typo. Yellow triangle with exclamation mark?

This is what you get when you try to boot the phone normally, and also when you try to enter recovery mode using the three button method, vol+ vol- and power?
 

g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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Please verify this - the screen says "Samsung Galaxy SII GT-I9100" assuming yours was a typo. Yellow triangle with exclamation mark?

This is what you get when you try to boot the phone normally, and also when you try to enter recovery mode using the three button method, vol+ vol- and power?
Yes, that is correct. It was a typo. I get the exclamation mark when I do the normal boot. I am going to confirm this evening if I get the same error with the 3 button method.
 
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g.kupster

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Jul 31, 2012
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Post the answer when you have your phone in hand and I'll suggest something to try.
Ok, I tried that just now and I got a message 'Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again'. There is an image of a cell phone and computer with an exclamation mark between them
 

creepyncrawly

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Sep 3, 2010
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Ok, I tried that just now and I got a message 'Firmware upgrade encountered an issue. Please select recovery mode in Kies and try again'. There is an image of a cell phone and computer with an exclamation mark between them
I'm not working from first hand experience, but I'm fairly good at correlating information and making deductions. Something in the sequence of events doesn't add up to me. You're sure you have the I777? You pulled the battery and looked at the label?

At this point any suggestions that I can offer are based on educated speculation. The first thing to try would be to flash an ICS kernel using Odin, but you have already done that. I would suggest that you try that again, but discard the tar you already have and download the tar again, from here. That may be the same place you downloaded it before, not sure. Be sure to use the original USB cable that came with the phone.