# Bricked My Phone! (Updated: Not Bricked but wont Charge)



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

Background: My phone is rooted. I haven't touched any files pertaining to the system nor have I tried removing any bloatware. I have n flashed any ROMs or done anything crazy to where this should happen.

Out of nowhere today my phone started showing up as having no service. I reset my phone and it would freeze on where it says Galaxy S III. I cant get into clockwork to restore a backup but i can get into Odin. i flashed the boot-stock-sprint-sph-l710.tar that i found over on XDA forums (http://forum.xda-dev...d.php?t=1727171) and my phone booted up. After booting up the battery wouldn't charge. A warning showed up saying battery charging is paused because the battery temperature was too low...I turned my phone off and when i turned it back on its not freezing on Galaxy S III again. I tried re-flashing the boot-stock-sprint-sph-l710.rar file but it still freezes at Galaxy S III. Has this happened to anyone else?? Anyone have any ideas on what i could do to fix this problem?? Thanks in advance.

Edit: this is the Sprint variant of the gs3

Update: Was able to use my friend from works' Verizon S3 to charge my battery and updated to the stock ROM in Odin. Phone boots up but battery still won't charge. I still keep getting the same error message: "Charging paused. Battery temperature too high." I tried doing a factory reset also but still get the same error.

Do you think if i brought it to Sprint they would tell me my warranty is voided? It is currently not rooted, Completly stock, Stock recovery, and device status says normal(not custom). The flash counter on Odin says custom and is at 8 tho...do you think they will try to access download mode in the Sprint store or just look at stock recovery/device status?


----------



## zharris23 (Jun 24, 2012)

This is happening to me as well. Any fix for this yet? I am freezing at the Galaxy S III screen as well. I have tried reflashing the boot-stock as well to no avail. Any thoughts?


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

Well im glad I'm not the only one haing this issue. Did you mess with any files or flash anything to have this happen to you? Hopefully this can get fixed...


----------



## KevTN (Jun 13, 2011)

What method did you use to root?


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

i used Odin to install clockwork recovery and flashed _CMW_SuperUser_v3.07.zip from _http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1726088


----------



## KevTN (Jun 13, 2011)

Hmmm..thought you may have rooted with gsm.....

Try this?

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1727171


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

Yeah, if you read my original post i used that when it first bricked. It booted up after i used it but my battery wouldn't charge because of some warning so i turned my phone off. When i tried to turn it back on it went back to being bricked and flashing the stock boot image again does nothing







...thanks anyways tho


----------



## djd338 (Feb 3, 2012)

Wow...please keep us updated on any fix, and what you think may have caused this. Good luck guys and hope you work it out soonest


----------



## KevTN (Jun 13, 2011)

Hmmm Sorry I couldn't help more...I hope that you guys find the fix....I am interested in knowing the work around...


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

All good. I will keep everyone updated if/when i get my phone working again. Its been bricked for almost 2 days now







. guess i may have to wait till a full stock ROM is packaged in Odin (if that's possible) and push it to my phone. I've never had a Sprint phone before, but when I had my Droid X we were able to use a program similar to Odin and flash a .SBF file that included all stock files of the phone and would save you from being bricked. Does anyone know if this exists for Sprint phones? The [background=rgb(245, 245, 245)]boot-stock-sprint-sph-l710.tar file is rather small and does not include the (close to 1gb) of /system files....[/background]


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> All good. I will keep everyone updated if/when i get my phone working again. Its been bricked for almost 2 days now
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That program you are referring to is specific to Motorola phones not specific to which carrier you use.

Odin is that program for Samsung phones.


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

00negative said:


> That program you are referring to is specific to Motorola phones not specific to which carrier you use.
> 
> Odin is that program for Samsung phones.


If you use linux at all you could use sbf_flash as well


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

00negative said:


> That program you are referring to is specific to Motorola phones not specific to which carrier you use.
> 
> Odin is that program for Samsung phones.


Yes i understand that the .sbf files are for Motorola phones only. I was just saying that Odin is similar to RSD-lite.

Update: I tried re flashing CWM and after a second attempt my phone booted up. After booting up i was connected to Sprint network (received emails, tweets ect...) but my phone was at 1% battery life and I had the same problem saying that charging is paused due to battery temperature being too high. i left my phone on for a little bit but decided to turn it off to see if it would charge while powered off. It now stays illuminated when charging but keeps showing a yellow triangle and thermostat so i know its not charging. I'm afraid to go into download mode and flash CWM or the boot image again in fear of the phone dying in the process and screwing things up even further.

Do you think that this may just be a defected phone? The only possible thing i can think that may have caused this of was restoring an app in TB with data from my Droid X. But I only restored app with data from 2 games and amazon app store... I didn't flash any Mods ROMs or touch any system files.









My contract with Verizon with my Droid X ends July 15th so i still have a few weeks to fix this problem.

Any other advice/ suggestions is greatly appreciated

Thanks


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> Yes i understand that the .sbf files are for Motorola phones only. I was just saying that Odin is similar to RSD-lite.
> 
> Update: I tried re flashing CWM and after a second attempt my phone booted up. After booting up i was connected to Sprint network (received emails, tweets ect...) but my phone was at 1% battery life and I had the same problem saying that charging is paused due to battery temperature being too high. i left my phone on for a little bit but decided to turn it off to see if it would charge while powered off. It now stays illuminated when charging but keeps showing a yellow triangle and thermostat so i know its not charging. I'm afraid to go into download mode and flash CWM or the boot image again in fear of the phone dying in the process and screwing things up even further.
> 
> ...


I would try another battery or charger first since you have it booting now. I think there are apps to see the charge/discharge rate as well might try one of those and see what they report

Or charging via usb instead of plugging it into a wall or using a car charger, whichever method you aren't using currently


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

Might try a factory reset as well to remove any of app data and reinstall all that minus the stuff you used from your titanium backup and see if it works normally

Edit: nevermind that should of been cleared out when you wiped and install cyanogen the last time


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

00negative said:


> Might try a factory reset as well to remove any of app data and reinstall all that minus the stuff you used from your titanium backup and see if it works normally


I cant do a factory reset since I don't have stock recovery anymore and i cant get into CWM to restore/reset stock. I've tried to boot into CWM but freezes on the Galaxy S III screen so i can't even restore the backup I made before it was rooted. I need to find someone in Louisiana that i can borrow their battery or phone to charge a battery before i start messing with it again. Either that or buy the separate battery and charger from the Sprint store. Charging from wall and PC doesn't work. Maybe if i flashed CWM a couple more times it may actually go through and i may be able to get in, but i need to find another battery first so i don't die in the middle of flashing.

I appreciate the suggestions. everything helps


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> I cant do a factory reset since I don't have stock recovery anymore and i cant get into CWM to restore/reset stock. I've tried to boot into CWM but freezes on the Galaxy S III screen so i can't even restore the backup I made before it was rooted. I need to find someone in Louisiana that i can borrow their battery or phone to charge a battery before i start messing with it again. Either that or buy the separate battery and charger from the Sprint store. Charging from wall and PC doesn't work. Maybe if i flashed CWM a couple more times it may actually go through and i may be able to get in, but i need to find another battery first so i don't die in the middle of flashing.
> 
> I appreciate the suggestions. everything helps


Edit: missed that you couldn't get into CWM now

Are you wiping cache, dalvik, format system, etc before you are re-installing rom. Might try system format before next one, after you get a battery or just get an external battery charger for your current battery so it can get charged up to flash


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

00negative said:


> Edit: missed that you couldn't get into CWM now
> 
> Are you wiping cache, dalvik, format system, etc before you are re-installing rom. Might try system format before next one, after you get a battery or just get an external battery charger for your current battery so it can get charged up to flash


I haven't even flashed any ROMs (as there are none for the Sprint variant yet) so I haven't had the need to wipe cache or data. The only file i flashed in CWM is the superuser.zip file for which wiping was not necessary. Some people have soft/hard bricked from flashing GSM ROMs (Thankfully I'm smart enough to realize this would definitely mess up your phone). I'm not exactly sure what caused my phone to do this(besides restoring app data from my DX).

I guess my plan moving forward from now is to buy an external charger and keep trying to get into CWM to restore my non-rooted stock ROM, or wait till a full stock Odin package is created.


----------



## nybs31 (Jan 6, 2012)

He already said that he hasn't flashed any roms yet. He had only rooted. So why would he need to wipe dalvik and cache? Op, do you think your phone has some kind of issue maybe saying your battery isn't charging when it actually is and the low battery temperature is just a glitch? Just a thought. Maybe getting a battery status app is a good idea.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

Sorry got ahead of myself, but I would do wipe to remove that data you're questioning before you restore the back up once you get into clockwork recovery.

Just a crazy thought but does the battery in your working phone come anywhere close to fitting in s3? If it is just too small it still should work if you can hold it tight on the contacts. Might prove out if it is just a battery issue


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

nybs31 said:


> He already said that he hasn't flashed any roms yet. He had only rooted. So why would he need to wipe dalvik and cache? Op, do you think your phone has some kind of issue maybe saying your battery isn't charging when it actually is and the low battery temperature is just a glitch? Just a thought. Maybe getting a battery status app is a good idea.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


He did say he restored some data from an old phone via titanium backup, that is why I would recommend wiping data, format system etc


----------



## nybs31 (Jan 6, 2012)

00negative said:


> Sorry got ahead of myself, but I would do wipe to remove that data you're questioning before you restore the back up once you get into clockwork recovery.
> 
> Just a crazy thought but does the battery in your working phone come anywhere close to fitting in s3? If it is just too small it still should work if you can hold it tight on the contacts. Might prove out if it is just a battery issue


His working phone is a droid x. I wouldn't think 2 different manufacturers of phones would have the same battery and/or connection locations.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## nybs31 (Jan 6, 2012)

00negative said:


> He did say he restored some data from an old phone via titanium backup, that is why I would recommend wiping data, format system etc


Yes he said he restored app data not system data.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

nybs31 said:


> He already said that he hasn't flashed any roms yet. He had only rooted. So why would he need to wipe dalvik and cache? Op, do you think your phone has some kind of issue maybe saying your battery isn't charging when it actually is and the low battery temperature is just a glitch? Just a thought. Maybe getting a battery status app is a good idea.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


It actually says battery temp too high (noticed after i got it to boot up the second time). i think it charges just a bit n then shuts off n then just a bit n shuts off....Just enough for it to stay alive. I don't want to turn my phone back on until i get a-hold of a fully charged battery in risk of further messing up my device. i feel that the state it is in now can still be fixed it just may take some time for correct files to come out since i can still get into download mode, or messing around to get back into Recovery to flash a backup.

@negative don't think that will work/could be dangerous if it powers down while flashing in Odin. My phone is at my house so i will have to check when i get off work.


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

nybs31 said:


> His working phone is a droid x. I wouldn't think 2 different manufacturers of phones would have the same battery and/or connection locations.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


Just throwing out ideas, not hearing ideas on how to help him from you just on how mine wont work or aren't right.

Plus just by me throwing post to his thread maybe someone will see it that knows of a definite fix


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

nybs31 said:


> Yes he said he restored app data not system data.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


Fully wiping the device should he get into recovery isnt going to hurt him.

He either has some sort of software issue causing the battery charging issue. Or he has had a hardware failure most likely due to a quality issue from Samsung but maybe a small chance something he has flashed has caused a component to not work in the manner its suppose to and caused the failure


----------



## nybs31 (Jan 6, 2012)

00negative said:


> Just throwing out ideas, not hearing ideas on how to help him from you just on how mine wont work or aren't right.
> 
> Plus just by me throwing post to his thread maybe someone will see it that knows of a definite fix


I apologize if I came across as trying to shoot your ideas down. That is not what I intended. The switching batteries idea is great as a matter of fact because I was just reading in this s3 forum that maybe a 2100 MA extended battery from a nexus might work. Again I apologize if I offended you.

Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> @negative don't think that will work/could be dangerous if it powers down while flashing in Odin. My phone is at my house so i will have to check when i get off work.


Yeah I don't recommend flashing anything with holding a battery in place just would tell you if the battery itself was the issue before you bought a battery or charger

How are you installing CWM though, are you using adb?


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

nybs31 said:


> I apologize if I came across as trying to shoot your ideas down. That is not what I intended. The switching batteries idea is great as a matter of fact because I was just reading in this s3 forum that maybe a 2100 MA extended battery from a nexus might work. Again I apologize if I offended you.
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I500 using Tapatalk 2


No problem. They may not be the same from different mfg. I am still waiting on Verizon to send me the phone to even see what the battery looks like

But I have even heard of people running wire leads to connect stuff that isn't identical or wouldn't fit just to try to get a phone to boot in a pinch


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

00negative said:


> How are you installing CWM though, are you using adb?


Using Odin to push the clockwork.tar file. I've never used adb before because this is only my second android phone and it wasn't necessarily needed for the DX. I'm a fast learner tho if you know of something for me to try in adb. I understand how it works and am somewhat familiar with it.


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> Using Odin to push the clockwork.tar file. I've never used adb before because this is only my second android phone and it wasn't necessarily needed for the DX. I'm a fast learner tho if you know of something for me to try in adb. I understand how it works and am somewhat familiar with it.


Might help if you have issues getting CWM installed and working next time you try.

I won't go through steps for it but if you google search you will find tons of info on setting it up and pushing files back and forth


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

Update: Was able to use my friend from works' Verizon S3 to charge my battery and updated to the stock ROM in Odin. Phone boots up but battery still won't charge. I still keep getting the same error message: "Charging paused. Battery temperature too high." I tried doing a factory reset also but still get the same error.

Do you think if i brought it to Sprint they would tell me my warranty is voided? It is currently not rooted, Completly stock, Stock recovery, and device status says normal(not custom). The flash counter on Odin says custom and is at 8 tho...do you think they will try to access download mode in the Sprint store or just look at stock recovery/device status?


----------



## johndoe86x (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> Update: Was able to use my friend from works' Verizon S3 to charge my battery and updated to the stock ROM in Odin. Phone boots up but battery still won't charge. I still keep getting the same error message: "Charging paused. Battery temperature too high." I tried doing a factory reset also but still get the same error.
> 
> Do you think if i brought it to Sprint they would tell me my warranty is voided? It is currently not rooted, Completly stock, Stock recovery, and device status says normal(not custom). The flash counter on Odin says custom and is at 8 tho...do you think they will try to access download mode in the Sprint store or just look at stock recovery/device status?


I wish I could give you a few more suggestions, but I am too unfamiliar with Odin. If I were you I would talk to an ADB expert as any software problem I can think of can be fixed with the right commands. As far as taking it to Sprint goes, they would probably just turn it on... I don't see them hooking it up to any debugging/dev software.


----------



## pizzlewizzle (Jun 13, 2011)

i talked to samsung and they asked if i downloaded anything to my phone n said i should try factory reset(which i already did) and they said to bring it to sprint and they may offer a replacement or a reflash... would a reflash be them going into download mode and flashing the stock rom (in which they would see my flash counter up to 8 and custom) and tell me I'm screwed?


----------



## 00negative (Jul 25, 2011)

pizzlewizzle said:


> i talked to samsung and they asked if i downloaded anything to my phone n said i should try factory reset(which i already did) and they said to bring it to sprint and they may offer a replacement or a reflash... would a reflash be them going into download mode and flashing the stock rom (in which they would see my flash counter up to 8 and custom) and tell me I'm screwed?


Pretty sure they would see your counter at some point if you took it in, but at this point the worst that could happen is they would deny you an exchange and you would be stuck paying out of pocket for a replacement but if you never take it in looks like you will be doing that anyway.

So give it a shot, you never know you might run into someone at the Sprint store that likes to root and rom themselves and gives you a break or if you have been a good customer for awhile they might give you a break.

Edit: Or you figure out way to reset counter before you go in. But sounds like you have a hardware failure at this point so don't think flashing anything will fix your issue.


----------

