Help Android Out Out-Of-Band Updates Killed My Phone?

[TrevorX]

Hello,

I have an odd (and extremely annoying) problem. Last night my phone died 'cause it ran out of battery. I was in the car with no way to charge it, but I always carry a spare battery so I pulled over and popped it in and turned the phone back on. Right after the splash screen it had a notification about 'updating Android'. Now this is extremely odd because I haven't installed any firmware updates for at least a year. The phone is set to auto update nearly every app I have installed, but apps don't upgrade the OS.

I drove off again and left it to turn itself on, but by the time I stopped and checked the phone it was hanging at the splash screen. I left it for an hour with no change, and it wasn't responding to any buttons, so I popped the battery out again and reinserted, thinking it must have crashed during boot (it does that sometimes). Nope, just the splash screen. I can't get past it.

I've been doing some reading and it looks like the phone is bricked and I'm going to have to try to recover it. Apart from the massive inconvenience and time involved, I am extremely concerned about losing data - I don't want to lose contacts or messages, hell I don't even want to lose call logs! Quite a few of the recovery guides I've read start with admonitions against flashing to unauthorised firmware, which is all well and good, but I didn't flash unauthorised firmware, I didn't even try to upgrade to official firmware or alter or upgrade the OS in any way - I was on my way to a job and my battery ran out of juice (like it's done thousands of times before - I have several batteries for a reason) but last night it tried to upgrade the OS (apparently) and screwed up.

Now, this phone is WAAAY out of warranty. And I also don't believe this is a Samsung issue anyway - it seems to me that, essentially, Google bricked my phone. And I want Google to damnwell fix it.

As you can see, this is my first time posting here - my phone is a necessary business tool so it has always run authorised firmware installed using Samsung Kies. Non rooted, not hacked or modified precisely so I don't run any risks with this thing. To have an unauthorised update occur without my consent and screw my phone up is beyond ridiculous. My disabled wife and ill 2yo daughter certainly weren't happy about it when they couldn't contact me last night.

So, apart from some discussion about whether Android phones are updating components of the OS in the background (a pretty serious concern IMO) I'm interested in suggestions about how I go about contacting Google about this? I know I can get in touch with them via one of my Google Apps services, but it's inappropriate to use the business support team like that if there's a better way to get in touch.

Finally, if anyone has any suggestions beyond the normal 'use recovery mode to reflash' advice that will help me to save, access or backup all the user data on the phone, that would be very much appreciated - right now I can't get much out of it except the Odin Mode screen.

 

[ironass]

Hello and welcome to Android Forums TrevorX!

Sorry to hear that you are having problems with your SGS2.

First of all, lets clear up a few misnomers...

I've been doing some reading and it looks like the phone is bricked

A, "bricked", phone is one that will not even turn on and usually indicates a fried motherboard which requires a rather expensive repair.

it seems to me that, essentially, Google bricked my phone. And I want Google to damnwell fix it.

Google do not issue the firmware for the Galaxy S2 as Samsung add their TouchWiz overlay to it and issue it. In any case, there have been no updates to the SGS2 for around 7 months and there are not likely to be any in future as the SGS2 has now reached its End of Life. Therefore, it is unlikely that it is an OS update that is causing your issue but rather the impromptu shutdown caused by the battery draining. This is not unlike the problems encountered by PC owners who, instead of using Shutdown, just pull the plug out which can cause problems. Hence the message that you are receiving that the phone is attempting to update, (or optimise), your firmware.

I would recommend that you try this method of recovering your phone first...

1. Boot in Recovery Mode and wipe the cache partition as demonstrated in #2.5 of the Rooting Galaxy S2 - Dummies Guide. This procedure is standard and is not just for rooted phones and will not affect your data.

Failing that...

2. You will need to download and re-flash your stock Samsung firmware via Odin by following the instructions and video in #1.7 of the Jelly Bean update - Dummies Guide. This is a, stock, "no wipe", flash that should not affect any data stored on your phone.

Hope this helps.

 

[TrevorX]

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post, Ironass, I really appreciate it

I tried accessing Recovery Mode (been trying different button orders since last night) and no good - I get the splash screen which disappears after a few seconds, then comes back for a few more, then the screen goes black and nothing else happens. Well and truly screwed :-/

I am certainly familiar with the issues potentially caused by killing power to a PC - that occurs if a file critical to loading or operating the OS was being written to when power was disconnected. However, I'm unsure why critical OS files are being written to in the context of a device like a phone - surely all such files are created at the time the OS is updated (firmware patched), and then it is essentially read-only from there? Updating or editing such files without making it clear to the user that their phone is in a potentially volatile state seems to be like playing Russian Roulette with hundreds of millions of devices...

I'm going to go and try to flash the stock firmware - at least I know I can get into Odin Mode :-/

Thanks again!

 

[TrevorX]

Using both Odin 1.85 and 3.09 trying to upload firmware I9100XWLSH_I9100XSALSA_I9100XXLS9 from the SamMobile Firmware site I get "Failed!". All threads completed (succeed 0 / failed 1).

Yay :-/

 

[TrevorX]

I did notice this line in the CNet guide:

Another vital thing to remember is that you'll need to enable USB debugging from within your phone's settings. Go to Settings > Applications > Development, and tick the box that says 'Enable USB Debugging'.

I have no way of knowing whether or not USB debugging has been switched on - I would expect not as the phone is stock. Could this be getting in the way?

 

[lunatic59]

I did notice this line in the CNet guide:I have no way of knowing whether or not USB debugging has been switched on - I would expect not as the phone is stock. Could this be getting in the way?

Does Odin recognize the device? If the box turns yellow when you plug in the phone with the serial number displayed, you should be okay. I don't have my S2 in front of me, but if memory serves, on Android 2.x go to menu>settings>applications>development. Android 4.x moved it to find it more easily under menu>settings>developer options.

Don't forget to run Odin as administrator.

 

[TrevorX]

Can't access that menu because the phone won't boot, hence the ado ;-)

Yes, of course, running Odin as Administrator. First thing I tried after it failed the first time.

I'm going to install Windows from scratch onto a spare drive tomorrow just to eliminate software/firewall/AV/configuration oddness as possible causes.

 

[lunatic59]

Turn your phone off. Pull battery for a few seconds and then replace it. Plug the usb cable into your PC, but not your phone. Launch Odin. Hold the vol. down and vol. up buttons and plug in the usb cable to the phone. Keep holding the buttons and it should boot into download mode. Odin should soon show your device as online and you'll be able to flash it.

 

[TrevorX]

Thanks for your suggestion, lunatic59. Unfortunately pressing up and down volume buttons simultaneously while connecting the USB cable with Odin open does nothing - the phone just shows the battery charging icon after a few seconds. This happens whether I'm using Odin1 or Odin3.

I also tested with a clean OS (fresh install of Windows 7 Pro x64) just to eliminate any configuration or software oddness. I didn't test with multiple PCs at this stage, but I don't expect my PC hardware is causing problems, I think the phone is just screwed given that none of the various download or recovery menus are available - only the Odin menu works, but that doesn't seem to allow firmware to be uploaded to the phone.

Here's a screenshot of the result from Odin3:

Odin1 actually never fails, it just sits there forever (left it overnight ~12 hours before giving up).

So this is all rather depressing. What options (if any) do I have from here?

 

[lunatic59]

Have you tried flashing CWM or TWRP recovery? If Odin will flash those, you might still be able to reinstall the firmware.

 

[TrevorX]

Thanks for the suggestion. Nope, haven't tried either - from a quick initial look, TWRP looks to have the best success - which would you advise?

I've also seen it suggested that people who can't get their phones into Download Mode use a USB Jig - do you think that would be helpful in my case?

 

[lunatic59]

Thanks for the suggestion. Nope, haven't tried either - from a quick initial look, TWRP looks to have the best success - which would you advise?

I've also seen it suggested that people who can't get their phones into Download Mode use a USB Jig - do you think that would be helpful in my case?

A lot of people swear by TWRP. I use CWM, but that's neither an endorsement or a warning. It's pretty much whichever you feel most comfortable with as both have their quirks.

I built my own jig, only because I wanted to, but I never had an issue getting into download mode (odin mode) using the USB cable. You can get jigs on Amazon too for a few $$.

Here's how you build one ...

Spoiler

You will need a cheap micro USB cable ... the cheaper the better because you will be cutting out the micro USB connector with a razor knife (x-acto works just fine). Then you need to go to a Radio Shack and buy the 5-pack of 100K ohm resistors for $1.29 (you only need three, but 300k single resistors are harder to find) and a soldering iron with a fine point.

Slice the insulation off the cable and disconnect all the wires. Then you will need to solder the three resistors in series and connect the ends to pin 4 and pin 5 of the micro USB connector.

The connections will be (when viewing the connector as shown) the furthest most left connection on top (pin 4) and on bottom (pin 5)

You end up with this:

Once you've built your jig, then power off the phone (battery pull would be advised in your case) then with the phone off, plug in the jig. In a few seconds it should boot into download mode and away you go.

 

[TrevorX]

Thanks again for your helpful and informative reply.

I just downloaded CWM from here and tried to upload it with the following result:

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I assume I'm correct continuing to use the AP upload button?

I checked out TWRP but couldn't find a package for the i9100. For example, this page talks about CWM and TWRP, but then goes on to only provide links to CWM, completely ignoring TWRP. I can see TWRP is built into various custom ROMs - what do I need to do/use/download in my case?