[HOWTO] Recover from a HARD BRICK [N900V] [MJE/NC2/NC4]

[ween101]

What a sigh of relief when I saw this posting I though for sure my Note 3 and my hard earned $60 bucks where about to make and unscheduled trip to Texas. Though I'm not out of the woods yet

I had the original 4.3 installed, rooted (towelroot), and Safestrap (JB) installed
I booted into Safestrap and installed hltevzw_root_odex_nc2.zip
I then fired up Odin v3.09 and loaded n900v_kk_firmware.tar.md5.zip
Once complete the phone shut down and would not power back on (I tried just battery, battery & power cord, no battery power cord)
There are no signs of life.

I have tried 2 different 32gb MicroSD cards using the unbrick images N900VVRUCNC2_UNBRICK and N900VVRUBMJE_UNBRICK
Still will not power on or vibrate

I have even attempted to use a jig but no luck powering on.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[bossnyce]

I have the same problem where you updating from mj7 like I did thats the only debrick/unbrick.img I cant find

 

[ween101]

It was I was installed the stock 4.3 image and was trying to update to 4.42 when it all came crashing down

 

[hsbadr]

An unbrick image may only be viable on a 32GB+ MicroSD. It must be at least the size of the eMMC chip on-board.

WRONG!!! I recovered from Hard Brick using a 4GB MicroSD. POINT.

It depends on the device & the size of debrick image created.

 

[ween101]

WRONG!!! I recovered from Hard Brick using a 4GB MicroSD. POINT.

It depends on the device & the size of debrick image created.

May I ask what I am doing wrong then? I have had no success using this method with various microSD cards

Thanks in advance I'm getting desperate

 

[hsbadr]

May I ask what I am doing wrong then? I have had no success using this method with various microSD cards

Thanks in advance I'm getting desperate

The recovery from hard brick using this method is NOT 100% guaranteed & really needs patience with many trials. I failed to recover several times using 64GB Extreme & 32GB Ultra SanDisk cards. Then, I tried with a very old 4GB card that I wasn't even using & finally recovered!

How did you brick your device? Some situations always fail & may need a JTAG service. I feel that most/all hard bricks could be recovered with this method though.

I've received many thanks with successful recovery & someone reported a failure. I can fix your device with ~90% probability, but I don't want to open the door & receive many devices especially if you can really do it yourself.

 

[hsbadr]

MicroSD Card Type/Size/Format

you may need to try micro sd cards with different types/sizes & format as exfat before writing an unbrick image according to your bootloader!

 

[ween101]

you may need to try micro sd cards with different types/sizes & format as exfat before writing an unbrick image according to your bootloader!

Exfat I didn't think of that have been formatting in fat32 will give that a try
If I format the microSD exfat and then write the image does win32 Disk Imager reformat the card to fat32 ?

Thanks for the insight

 

[hsbadr]

Exfat I didn't think of that have been formatting in fat32 will give that a try
If I format the microSD exfat and then write the image does win32 Disk Imager reformat the card to fat32 ?

Thanks for the insight

Actually, old SD cards may work better (device will recognize them easily during boot & if device's bootloader doesn't boot, it'll use the extSD). I haven't tested the ExFAT format, but it has been reported by a user who has successfully recovered from a hard brick using this guide.

 

[hsbadr]

@moe, would you share your experience with this guide & ExFAT format? Thanks!

 

[ryanbg]

May I ask what I am doing wrong then? I have had no success using this method with various microSD cards

Thanks in advance I'm getting desperate

If you plug your device into a computer, and it does not emulate as 'QHSUSB_BULK or DOWNLOAD' or something similar, this method will not work. You will need a device replacement. AKA if the USB is dead, it won't work. Also, make sure you are writing the image correctly. Use win32diskimager on Windows, or dd on Linux/OS X.

The recovery from hard brick using this method is NOT 100% guaranteed & really needs patience with many trials. I failed to recover several times using 64GB Extreme & 32GB Ultra SanDisk cards. Then, I tried with a very old 4GB card that I wasn't even using & finally recovered!

How did you brick your device? Some situations always fail & may need a JTAG service. I feel that most/all hard bricks could be recovered with this method though.

I've received many thanks with successful recovery & someone reported a failure. I can fix your device with ~90% probability, but I don't want to open the door & receive many devices especially if you can really do it yourself.

JTAG is disabled on SM-N900V, and there are no JTAG pads or headers on the board. They are programmed via USB using a hex programmer. Most production 8974 boards are JTAG disabled via QFPROM. Your only option is to program via direct ISP to eMMC, or device replacement.

 

[ween101]

If you plug your device into a computer, and it does not emulate as 'QHSUSB_BULK or DOWNLOAD' or something similar, this method will not work. You will need a device replacement. AKA if the USB is dead, it won't work. Also, make sure you are writing the image correctly. Use win32diskimager on Windows, or dd on Linux/OS X.


JTAG is disabled on SM-N900V, and there are no JTAG pads or headers on the board. They are programmed via USB using a hex programmer. Most production 8974 boards are JTAG disabled via QFPROM. Your only option is to program via direct ISP to eMMC, or device replacement.

I appreciate the knowledge yep I get sign of life when I plug the phone via USB from the PC
Sounds like the phone might be taking a vacation then

 

[OrangeAndBlueDroid]

I am trying to flash a Rom on note 3. I have flashed many many times newbie but it has been about a year. Every time I flash and I reboot I get the black screen. Yes I have busy box installed and went through installation, as well as SS. Any recommendations?

Sent from my SM-N900V using XDA Free mobile app

 

[ryanbg]

I appreciate the knowledge yep I get sign of life when I plug the phone via USB from the PC
Sounds like the phone might be taking a vacation then

What version were you running? NC4?

 

[ween101]

What version were you running? NC4?

These were the steps I took

I had the original 4.3 installed, rooted (towelroot), and Safestrap (JB) installed
I booted into Safestrap and installed hltevzw_root_odex_nc2.zip
I then fired up Odin v3.09 and loaded n900v_kk_firmware.tar.md5.zip
Once complete the phone shut down and would not power back on (I tried just battery, battery & power cord, no battery power cord)
There are no signs of life.

the hltevzw_root_odex_nc2.zip was installed ok so I'm assuming NC2?

Thanks

 

[anticloud]

what I have done...

.
I TAKE NO CREDIT FOR CORE METHOD. I APPLIED IT FOR OUR DEVICE !

To make long story short, I've hard bricked my device while trying to patch/unlock the bootloader after successfully flashing a custom kernel (this tripped knox counter). After reading all guides that addresses the problem for other devices, I'm posting a 100% working solution for the most hated disaster in the Android rooting/flashing world. Moreover, this is very promising info for testing bootloader exploits.


What is Hard Brick?

Hard brick is the state of android device that occurs when your device won’t boot/respond/charge at all. This is mainly caused by flashing corrupted firmware, damaged bootloader, incomplete flashing in Odin/Download mode, or interrupted OTA upgrade. You can't recover from hard brick by traditional methods since your phone is ~dead & you can't enter any Recovery or Download Modes; You'll need to use JTAG (expensive service), USB JIG (cheap, but no gurantee), or this free guide/files to get it repaired.


What do you need?

- Hard Bricked Device: Samsung Galaxy Note 3 (N900V)
- Micro SD Card: 4/8/16/32 GB micro SD card
- Unbrick Image: working dump with the same bootloader/version
- Image Writer: native commands on Linux/MacOSx or Win32 Disk Imager on Windows


How to recover?

1- Download Unbrick Image for your bootloader (MJE, NC2 or NC4) from here
2- If you're using Windows, download Win32 Disk Imager
3- Backup all files in the micro SD card you 'll use
4- Write the Unbrick Image to your micro SD card using Win32 Disk Imager or Linux/MacOSX commands
5- Remove battery, Insert micro SD card & then the battery
6- Hold Power + Home + Volume Down to enter Download Mode by bootloader on SD card
7- Flash Stock firmware via Odin & Enjoy

YOU MAY NEED TO TEST MICRO SD CARDS WITH DIFFERENT TYPES/SIZES & FORMAT AS EXFAT BEFORE WRITING AN UNBRICK IMAGE ACCORDING TO YOUR BOOTLOADER!

For Developer Edition, you need to create your own Unbrick Image since I can't share it for the device-specific bootloader. Just run this Unbrick Image Creator in recovery & it'll create "/sdcard/Unbrick_Files" in your internal SD card.

For more details, read the guides provided bellow in the credits section.


Downloads:

All files you may need are available in this folder.


Credits:

- designgears - for this guide
- Shabbypenguin - for this guide
- theramsey3 - for this guide
- dstruct2k - for this guide
- -Mr. X- - for this guide


Thanks to:

- @soundrizm - for creating the MJE image from his device
- @jrbxx7 - for creating the NC2 image from his device
- @K03WL3R - for creating the NC4 image from his device
...

XDA:DevDB Information
How to recover from a HARD BRICK, Tool/Utility for the Verizon Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Contributors
hsbadr

Version Information
Status: Stable

Created 2014-08-01
Last Updated 2014-08-27

What I have done - is break out odin and the pit file. of course we are talking the condition where it gets stuck at the samsung logo. flashing the pit seems to upright the phone and in 99% of the cases, well, it brings me back to the last OS etc. depends on how bad the flash went, right?


anyway -

 

[hsbadr]

What I have done - is break out odin and the pit file. of course we are talking the condition where it gets stuck at the samsung logo. flashing the pit seems to upright the phone and in 99% of the cases, well, it brings me back to the last OS etc. depends on how bad the flash went, right?

Hard Brick = Dead-like situation = No logos/charging...

What is Hard Brick?

Hard brick is the state of android device that occurs when your device won’t boot/respond/charge at all. This is mainly caused by flashing corrupted firmware, damaged bootloader, incomplete flashing in Odin/Download mode, or interrupted OTA upgrade. You can't recover from hard brick by traditional methods since your phone is ~dead & you can't enter any Recovery or Download Modes; You'll need to use JTAG (expensive service), USB JIG (cheap, but no gurantee), or this free guide/files to get it repaired.

 

[Penz89]

Can this method works for other samsung devices such as galaxy s2? thanks @hsbadr

 

[hsbadr]

Can this method works for other samsung devices such as galaxy s2? thanks @hsbadr

The method may work, but you need to create unbrick image from S2 device with the same bootloader.

 

[keynith]

So i bricked my dev note 3 last year by doing the nvbackup in terminal mode. After a couple months i decided to try different things to see what happened. Somehow i got the bootloader changed to the retail one. So i know no more dev edition, but do you think i could fix it even if it ended up being a retail version? Last thing i odined on it was a stock rom to see if that would just flash a stock bootloader and rom so i could use it, but that did nothing

Sent From My Galaxy Note 3