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Help help captivate bricked

I posted an answer on XDA too.

Remove the USB cable, remove the battery. Replace battery, hold down the DOWN volume key and then hold power. That should bring you right back to Download screen, you can then retry your flash.

If you had Vibrant firmware flashed already, you might need to use the UP volume key instead (UP volume+Power).
 
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I just told you how to get to download..if you see the little phone, a line and a little computer with the exclamation point in it when you try to power on normally, you're not totally bricked, you're just a bit hosed.

Read my instructions again, THAT is how you get to Download mode (big triangle with a shoveling Android). From there you can try flashing with Odin again.

There is NO WAY to get back to the Captivate firmware at this point (until somebody builds a ROM), but you can flash the Vibrant firmware (.pit and PDA only!) and get (mostly) running again.

If you just copied an update.zip, went into recovery and ran it, and that's why you're bricked, I can understand you not knowing what Odin is. Go to XDA's i9000 development forum, read the 'how to' on flashing the Galaxy S, it's the same process for the Captivate. Links to all the software you need are there.

And for everyone else reading this...if you didn't understand what I was talking about, that's a pretty good indication you shouldn't be doing things in recovery mode just yet. :)
 
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Couldnt he just return the phone and ask for a replacement?

If it wont boot, I dont imagine the Reps could tell he tried to replace system files.
If they are enough of an Android Geek to know what a blown firmware looks
like, they should be hip/cool enough to swap you unless they are hypocrites..:)

Good luck regardless.. and from 20 years of IT experience, I'll share 2 tips.

1. NEVER flash network gear over a wireless connection.

2. NEVER use a laptop to flash anything unless its powered by A/C, rather than battery..

I'm not preaching, I'm sharing things I've learned the hard way.. a few times..lol
 
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i was using odin to flash the ext 3 cache mod when my laptop died leaving me with the screen you described. The problem is that i cant get back to download mode because the international galaxy s uses the home button and the volume key, but the captivate does not have a home button.
 
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Don't confuse Download mode with Recovery Mode. Entering Download mode is the same for all Galaxy S phones:

Unplug USB cable.

Remove battery.

Replace battery.

Hold Volume down. Is it held? Ok, now:

Hold Power Key.

That should almost instantly put you in Download mode.

This is the process for ANY Galaxy. The only variation is if you have Vibrant PDA software on a Captivate, which reverses the UP and DOWN keys.

If you can see the phone-!-computer image, you can always do a battery pull and get into Download mode. Always.

Once in Download mode, DO NOT plug the USB cable back in. Start up Odin3 first, THEN plug in the USB. Odin should find the device you can try reflashing again.
 
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I just told you how to get to download..if you see the little phone, a line and a little computer with the exclamation point in it when you try to power on normally, you're not totally bricked, you're just a bit hosed.

Read my instructions again, THAT is how you get to Download mode (big triangle with a shoveling Android). From there you can try flashing with Odin again.

There is NO WAY to get back to the Captivate firmware at this point (until somebody builds a ROM), but you can flash the Vibrant firmware (.pit and PDA only!) and get (mostly) running again.

If you just copied an update.zip, went into recovery and ran it, and that's why you're bricked, I can understand you not knowing what Odin is. Go to XDA's i9000 development forum, read the 'how to' on flashing the Galaxy S, it's the same process for the Captivate. Links to all the software you need are there.

And for everyone else reading this...if you didn't understand what I was talking about, that's a pretty good indication you shouldn't be doing things in recovery mode just yet. :)

That is what I did. What can I do now to fix it?
 
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I just told you how to get to download..if you see the little phone, a line and a little computer with the exclamation point in it when you try to power on normally, you're not totally bricked, you're just a bit hosed.

Read my instructions again, THAT is how you get to Download mode (big triangle with a shoveling Android). From there you can try flashing with Odin again.

There is NO WAY to get back to the Captivate firmware at this point (until somebody builds a ROM), but you can flash the Vibrant firmware (.pit and PDA only!) and get (mostly) running again.

If you just copied an update.zip, went into recovery and ran it, and that's why you're bricked, I can understand you not knowing what Odin is. Go to XDA's i9000 development forum, read the 'how to' on flashing the Galaxy S, it's the same process for the Captivate. Links to all the software you need are there.

And for everyone else reading this...if you didn't understand what I was talking about, that's a pretty good indication you shouldn't be doing things in recovery mode just yet. :)

There is a way to get to stock now:

 
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If it won't boot or charge at all, removing and reinserting the battery might help. I ran across it once before as well, and that took care of it. Granted I was just using my phone and not flashing it, so I knew that had to be it. Might be a totally different issue for you.

By the way, the couple of times it showed notification bar and black screen for me, I deduced that the launcher had simply crashed. Pressing the home button relaunched it. That was the original problem, and now you seem to be in a bigger mess.
 
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I got a semi-bricked Captivate (SGH-i897) from a friend who borked a ROM upgrade. Trying to boot it normally gets an AT&T flash screen, some animation, a "Galaxy S" boot screen, and then... a black screen. Occasionally it vibrates. That's it. I can boot it with the USB cable plugged in, and get the "battery charging" icon.

I can get it to the recovery menu, but that's not useful without a Samsung-signed ROM image (any links?). I can get it to Download mode (big yellow triangle), but it's not recognized by Windows XP or Linux after that.

I installed the drivers from: here but when I plug the Captivate in (after starting Odin) Windows complains about an unrecognized device. I can plug the thing into my Linux box but Heimdall says it doesn't get a response when handshaking with Loke.

This thing ought to be salvageable, but I'm running low on ideas.
 
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