T-Mobile Galaxy S II Overclock Boot Loop [Download/Recovery Mode Inaccessible]

schmooterpie · July 17th, 2012, 07:42 PM

My type of boot loop has only been seen a couple times, hard to find a thread on google so i’m asking you guys, I did root my phone but i never flashed any roms on my T-Mobile Galaxy SII, i only used the root privileges to backup using titanium backup, then i wanted to overclock my device and so i downloaded the Overclock Widget from Google Play Store, i set the widget to be underclocked when the screen is off and overclocked when it’s on, Half way through the day after i did that, the phone went into boot loop, i’ve experienced bootloop before of my Galaxy S Vibrant and a couple times on my Galaxy S II, But i could always access Download and Recovery Mode, Now my phone will only shut off if i take out the battery and when i do put the battery in, I don’t have to push the power button to boot it, it does it itself, when the first “On” Vibrate happens the Samsung logo comes up, then the ‘Samsung Galaxy S II Android 4g Tmobile’ boot screen shows up, the loading bar fills a fourth of the way and a white line flashes on the screen as the screen blacks out, another vibration and then the vibrations won’t stop until i take out the battery. The situation is a bit different when i plug my usb into the phone into my computer, the computer doesn’t recognize the phone at all neither does odin, kies, or ADB Shell. All the phone does in that situation is show the empty battery screen with a loading circle not moving in the middle. Then the screen turns black and back to boot loop until i take the battery out, I can access Download and Recovery Mode, but only for about 2 seconds, not long enough for Odin to recognize and flash, or to move down the menu to any option in Recovery. I have been able to boot fully every once in a while but all i got accomplished was Restoring the phone to Factory settings [I also saw my battery was at 82% so it wasn't dead or anything], I then set up the phone as a new T-Mobile Galaxy S II Android 4.0.3 ICS Phone, everything was fine until my screen timed out when i set it down for a minute, then the boot loop started again, so then i had the hunch that this was all because i set the phone to underclock while the screen was on standbye, but ever since i figured that part out i wasn’t able to boot the phone fully again, I’ve been trying to use ADB Shell to freeze the phone as soon as it recognizes it before it goes back into boot loop but it isn’t enough time. So my question is, any fixes to this excluding a USB Jig [My last resort]? Please and thank you for reading this.

alextop30 · July 18th, 2012, 12:07 AM

Looks like you understand a lot from this type of technology. So I got 2 kind of general questions.

1. Have you tried to let the phone just sit without battery for like 20 to 30 minutes make sure all the juice is down from it before you put the battery in again?

2. Did you install a different kernel before you started messing with the cpu clock?

schmooterpie · July 18th, 2012, 12:49 AM

1.) Yes several times, sometimes it would work and let me in until the screen timed out again but i haven't been able to do it and i let it sit for about 2 hours, like an hour ago.
2.)Nope the only things i've done that required superuser permissions is Titanium Backup and OverClock/UnderClock Widget.

Atma · July 18th, 2012, 12:42 PM

Have you tried holding both volume buttons, plugging in the usb cable and then manually enter your info into Kies under tools for an emergency firmware recovery? You'll need the S/N # under the battery. I don't know if it will work while in a boot loop, but this has helped other people when Kies didn't recognize their phone.

If nothing works you can contact mobiletechvideos.com. They have a fairly inexpensive JTAG service and a lot of good reviews.

schmooterpie · July 19th, 2012, 01:07 AM

The attached picture is all i see in kies when i have my phone connected while it's on bootloop, where do i put in my S/N Number?

Atma · July 19th, 2012, 05:32 AM

Can you click the button where it says recovery code?

Bandaid · July 19th, 2012, 06:56 AM

I just realized he asked for help in two different places lol.

Try this:

Once it boots up hook up the mini usb plug so that it will force is to go to download mode. From there you can odin another rom or go stock.

alextop30 · July 19th, 2012, 09:23 AM

I am sorry I have been a little absent here as I asked the questions first but I cannot seem to come up with anything more useful than the guys above me here. The only thing is to boot into download mode long enough to give Odin time to start patching the rom and recovery.

I guess some pre existing preperation is necessary - load up the rom/stock image into odin. While odin is active on your computer try putting the phone into download mode and hopefully the yellow square appears in odin so you can begin the flash. I think once it starts flashing it will prevent the phone from restarting itself so if you can get it to that point you might be able to save it!

Also I think the reason this happened is that stock Kernel does not allow very much flexibility with overclocking. As far as I have read one of the best kernels to OC on is dark venom kernel from the XDA and that one has limit of 1.7 or 1.8. I guess this is just an afterthought that's why I am editing the post.

schmooterpie · July 19th, 2012, 12:18 PM

I can click the recovery code but it opens to a window telling me to input the recovery code from the other computer that my device is connected to. So i guess that isn't for the serial number

Again, once in download mode the bootloop starts again

I've tried so many times to get the timing right but only once has odin recognized it, it was a good thing i preloaded the stock into odin and clicked it as soon as it showed up but it just shut off and went back into bootloop again after 2 seconds.

Atma · July 19th, 2012, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmooterpie

I can click the recovery code but it opens to a window telling me to input the recovery code from the other computer that my device is connected to. So i guess that isn't for the serial number

Ok, I'm home from work and can check Kies now. I gave you the wrong info. Look in tools under Firmware Upgrade and Initialization. That's where you put in the S/N and model name - SGH-T989

schmooterpie · July 19th, 2012, 07:53 PM

This is all i see when i type my info in the boxes :/ My phone is connected to the computer on boot loop as i did this

Atma · July 19th, 2012, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by schmooterpie

This is all i see when i type my info in the boxes :/ My phone is connected to the computer on boot loop as i did this

I don't know what's up with the Chinese characters. I'm not sure what to do except maybe uninstall, redownload and reinstall Kies.

Sorry, wish I could come up with some other options.

schmooterpie · July 20th, 2012, 04:47 PM

That's okay, thanks for the help i'll try that and if not i suppose i can go for the jig

schmooterpie · August 6th, 2012, 01:19 PM

I got my Jig today, i downloaded the drivers, odin, the ics stock rom and got set up.
I put the battery in the phone, it immediately turned on, i put the jig in and it still went into bootloop. And so i figured i probably did it wrong. So i tried again, this time pluging both the jig and my battery in at the same time. It worked, it got me to download mode. But about 5 seconds later the entire screen flashed blue and white and then it shut off and went back into download mode. I don't even think it reset the counter that says if i've rooted the phone before. I would at least like to reset that counter so i can take it to tmobile. Any ideas now guys?

Atma · August 6th, 2012, 01:42 PM

I've never used a jig so I can't help much there. If you have only rooted, you don't have to worry about the counter. It only changes if you flash a custom rom.

If your in download mode and its not boot lopping, maybe try Kies Firmware Upgrade and Initialization or Odin again.

schmooterpie · August 6th, 2012, 01:59 PM

OH! i accidentally put that it went back into download mode after it flashed the screen, i meant bootloop, so i still can get my computer enough time for any program to finish doing anything to the phone

Atma · August 6th, 2012, 05:51 PM

Looks like you're back to square one.

If its under warranty, try to get a new one. If not, check out MobileTechVideos. They can do JTAG repair for $50. I've seen a lot of recommendations for them.

schmooterpie · August 6th, 2012, 08:39 PM

Just got back from tmobile, they didnt detect anything and said i am under warranty, haha the tmobile guy was like 'you're lucky the manufacturer can't tell you rooted this.' and i just smiled and said 'rooted? is that like the jailbreak thing for iphones?' he laughed and ordered me a new phone. It's in the mail. I wish i had been able to fix this and help anyone else with this problem but it seems i completely destroyed my phone :/

Atma · August 6th, 2012, 08:47 PM

Glad you're getting a new one.

Be careful overclocking it!