s4 mini won't boot

[droid2501]

I have a Samsung S4 Mini on the Verizon network (SCH-i435). I restarted my phone this morning and it took a much longer than usual to boot. My screen showed the Verizon logo for about 5-10 minutes and when the phone finally booted I was greeted with the utility to set up the phone (pick language, setup email, etc. etc.). I was confused because I had done this already a few months ago when I bought the phone. I skipped the steps and I was greeted with the stock home screen (all my custom shortcuts and widgets were gone). All my marketplace apps were still installed, but some of them had been reset (had to reconfigure waze, winamp, etc). My best guess is that there was an OTA update or some security patch that reset everything. Finally I got things running again the way I liked them. I was using my phone and suddenly it went dead. I tried to restart it but nothing showed on the screen. Oddly enough the phone just vibrates over and over again, but the screen remains black. No matter what I do I can't boot it. The only way I could stop it from vibrating was to pull out the battery. Is there any hope to recover this phone? Thanks.

 

[SSHLord-R]

Did you try to enter recovery mode?

 

[droid2501]

Yes, I followed the instructions on the manufacturer site. I held down the home button, up volume, and powered the device on. A small bit of text appeared for a split second, it was so fast I couldn't read it. It disappeared and the screen went black and the same vibrate pattern started up again.

 

[droid2501]

I got a video camera and managed to capture the text that was being displayed. Here is a screenshot...



It looks like...
MMC: mmc_read fail
Movinaand Checksum Confirmation Fail

Any hope of fixing this?

 

[SSHLord-R]

I asked for recovery cause it was easier to reset to factory the phone. If that's not working, i don't know if there's hope for it to enter download mode, for manual flashing with odin.

 

[droid2501]

I'm able to get into download mode. Is there a ROM I can flash with? This S4 Mini is the Verizon phone so it is the SCH-i435, I didn't think there were any custom roms I could use with this phone.

 

[SSHLord-R]

Stock rom.
Try http://www.sammobile.com/firmware and see if your firmware is there.

 

[Mortitheon]

Download this for KitKat: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/31291/I435VRUBNE1_I435VZWBNE1_VZW.zip/

Download this for Jelly Bean (If you had KitKat DO NOT flash the Jelly Bean) :
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/27312/I435VRUAMK5_I435VZWAMK5_VZW.zip/

If you don't know what you had, flash the KitKat one.
Download Odin, Extrect the downloaded file, Press PDA in Odin and insert the extracted tar.md5 file. Make sure your phone is read with the "COM:**" and start. For detailed info, search on google. Good Luck.

 

[droid2501]

Download this for KitKat: http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/31291/I435VRUBNE1_I435VZWBNE1_VZW.zip/

Download this for Jelly Bean (If you had KitKat DO NOT flash the Jelly Bean) :
http://www.sammobile.com/firmwares/download/27312/I435VRUAMK5_I435VZWAMK5_VZW.zip/

If you don't know what you had, flash the KitKat one.
Download Odin, Extrect the downloaded file, Press PDA in Odin and insert the extracted tar.md5 file. Make sure your phone is read with the "COM:**" and start. For detailed info, search on google. Good Luck.

Thanks for the links. I got the files you said and googled for tutorials. I found quite few and followed the instructions., but I keep getting the error message.... There is no PIT partition. Here is the Odin readout...

<ID:0/004> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I435VRUBNE1_I435VZWBNE1_I435VRUBNE1_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/004> Odin v.3 engine (ID:4)..
<ID:0/004> File analysis..
<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/004> Initialzation..
<ID:0/004> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/004>
<ID:0/004> There is no PIT partition.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

Any ideas? I googled around for a bit but didn't find anything. Is there a PIT file specific for the SCH-i435?

 

[Mortitheon]

Thanks for the links. I got the files you said and googled for tutorials. I found quite few and followed the instructions., but I keep getting the error message.... There is no PIT partition. Here is the Odin readout...

<ID:0/004> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I435VRUBNE1_I435VZWBNE1_I435VRUBNE1_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/004> Odin v.3 engine (ID:4)..
<ID:0/004> File analysis..
<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/004> Initialzation..
<ID:0/004> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/004>
<ID:0/004> There is no PIT partition.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

Any ideas? I googled around for a bit but didn't find anything. Is there a PIT file specific for the SCH-i435?

I am not sure since this is the first time for me with experience with that phone...

In Odin, make sure Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time check boxes are only two that are selected. DO NOT SELECT ANY OTHER OPTION! Click the AP/PDA button and select that file you downloaded earlier with extension I435VRUBNE1_I435VZWBNE1_VZW.tar.md5 Click the CSC button and select file with CSC in its name. Ignore if there is no such file. Click the PIT button and select the .pit file. Ignore if there is no such file. (You should have this file, do it if you are having that error) Now, once you are ready, hit the START button to begin the flashing process.

If you have any other problems please ask.

 

[droid2501]

(You should have this file, do it if you are having that error)

Where do I get this file from? I looked at many Odin tutorials but none of them seem to say where I can get it. My phone is dead so if it's something that I need to extract/transfer from my phone then I'm out-of-luck.

I think I'll just contact Verizon and see if my phone is under warranty and if they can send me a new one. It may be easier than combing the web for a tutorial that more fully explains what this PIT file is and why I need it.

In the future should I disable Verizon OTA updates? I suspect a error during the update is what caused this problem in the first place.

 

[Mortitheon]

Where do I get this file from? I looked at many Odin tutorials but none of them seem to say where I can get it. My phone is dead so if it's something that I need to extract/transfer from my phone then I'm out-of-luck.

I think I'll just contact Verizon and see if my phone is under warranty and if they can send me a new one. It may be easier than combing the web for a tutorial that more fully explains what this PIT file is and why I need it.

In the future should I disable Verizon OTA updates? I suspect a error during the update is what caused this problem in the first place.

The file should be one of the extracted files in the file you have downloaded from my links. If the file is not there, then most probably Verizon modded the phone to not be able to flash via Odin Mode.

The error during the update may have happened because of low battery, making your phone shut down during the update, which is serious.

You can check yourself if your phone is under warranty (excluding the warranty period)
-Just go to download mode and you will see: KNOX WARRANTY VOID: [if it is 0x0, than it you are still under warranty, but if it says 0x1, you are not.]

Yeah, you should go to the place you have bought the phone from, if none of the above steps worked for you.

Good Luck.

 

[droid2501]

I looked at the links you sent me and I searched the samsung site but I could not find that PIT file. I bought it back into my local Verizon store and they gave me a new S4 Mini. The tech didn't say much about why it broke, he only said that it was still under warranty so I was covered. To avoid something like this happening again I wanted to disable updates on my new S4 Mini. I rooted my new phone, purchased Titanium Backup, and Froze SDM. Is there anything else I have to do?

 

[Mortitheon]

I looked at the links you sent me and I searched the samsung site but I could not find that PIT file. I bought it back into my local Verizon store and they gave me a new S4 Mini. The tech didn't say much about why it broke, he only said that it was still under warranty so I was covered. To avoid something like this happening again I wanted to disable updates on my new S4 Mini. I rooted my new phone, purchased Titanium Backup, and Froze SDM. Is there anything else I have to do?

You got the same version of your previous phone?

 

[droid2501]

Yes, that's all they would do for free. They did offer me a Droid Turbo for and extra $100.00 but I really don't like the large phones they're coming out with these days so I declined.

 

[Mortitheon]

Then you shouldn't get OTA Updates. I don't think that it was needed since the problem you got earlier was because of a faulty firmware from Verizon, which is unlikely or your phone had no battery while your phone was updating.