# DESPERATE-Bricked my vzw siii? PLEASE HELP!



## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

Hey guys, please help.

I rooted my SIII today (I just got it, I'm not a newb at rooting and stuff) and I tried to flash a rom and it wouldn't boot. After reading one thread about fixing soft boot on another forum I became under the impression I had to do that in order to fix it. Basically it involved flashing like a VRALEC and one other file on odin and then a stock root66 file to get back to stock. When I flashed the root66 file oding just got stuck on erasing, I tried it multiple times.

Right now I'm in a stage where it won't let me into recovery, and I can only get into download mode, that's pretty much all my phone will let me do right now. It's important I get this fixed tonight and have my phone tomorrow so to anyone who can help me tonight with step by step instructions and links, a donation will be thrown your way.

Thank you so much! Once again, I have the verizon model.


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

Go to the Verizon Development forum. One of the first posts is how to root your phone using Odin to flash rooted stock firmware. Doing so will enable you to restore your phone easily.

So read the instructions, download the files, run Odin, and if for some reason it bootloops afterwards just load recovery mode and wipe data and you'll be good.

Edit: read your post again. Just run Odin. It's the only way to fix what you got. Redownload the files, just in case you got a bad dl. But as long as you're using Odin properly, you'll be set. Read the directions to use it VERY carefully, make sure you're not making a dumb mistake (not trying to be rude, I make some myself and that's the easiest way for things to go wrong)


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

TenderloinShadow said:


> Go to the Verizon Development forum. One of the first posts is how to root your phone using Odin to flash rooted stock firmware. Doing so will enable you to restore your phone easily.
> 
> So read the instructions, download the files, run Odin, and if for some reason it bootloops afterwards just load recovery mode and wipe data and you'll be good.
> 
> Edit: read your post again. Just run Odin. It's the only way to fix what you got. Redownload the files, just in case you got a bad dl. But as long as you're using Odin properly, you'll be set. Read the directions to use it VERY carefully, make sure you're not making a dumb mistake (not trying to be rude, I make some myself and that's the easiest way for things to go wrong)


I've used odin in the past, it definitely wasn't an error in using it properly. A bad dl is definitely possible. I'll give it a shot, will report back. Now that I'm calmed down a little I'm comfortable doing it, whenever I get frustrated like that I just take my battery out and walk away.


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

That yellow triangle thing is exactly what I was getting, but I can't get in a system right now to install that app. Let's hope I can just flash the stock rom in odin and it will work. SOOO SLOOOW!

I'm nervous this slow dl will give me a bad file. I wish there was an MD5 given...


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

Waiting on the veclac2 or whatever it's called to finish up, then off to the rom. The guide I was using on another forum told me to do nand erase all at the part I got stuck on and I'm reading things about that maybe bricking your device... I hope that didn't happen to me.


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

Nope, the first one flashed fine but on the rom I get this:









I'm desperate and I don't know what to do.


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

I'm literally freaking out right now. I never thought I could get to a hard brick so fast. I mean, I don't know if I have one yet but I've checked all the forums and nobodies reading and responding to this and I'm freaking out! If I bricked it my life is going to be hell for the next year. I will literally get zero money (I'm young) for the next year. Every cent will either go towards a useless phone bill or towards a new phone. That's considering I have it paid off by then.


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## relaxedcrazyman (Feb 27, 2012)

I had a big issue yesterday with a soft brick, tried so hard, this finally ended up working for me,

but it does completely wipe your internal memory card, so be for warned!

(and since you have odin and the samsung driver i just removed that step)

(also i read somewhere to avoid the new OTA)(i stopped it from updating and installed a new rom just fine)

Step 2: Download *one* of these Factory Stock 4.0.4 roms to your pc:

Rooted Stock VRALF2(Root66)-http://goo.im/devs/i....vzw_root66.tar

Step 3: Power device off, then hold the volume down/home/power keys until you see a yellow triangle, then press the volume up key to access "download mode".

Step 4: Open Odin and connect the oem usb cable to pc & device, you should see a "comport #" in upper left hand corner of odin.

Step 5: Uncheck auto reboot.

Step 6: Click on the PDA function of odin and select the Stock Rom you downloaded in step 2, select start, should take less than 8 minutes, then odin will say pass/reset.

Step 7: Disconnect usb cable, then pull and reinsert the battery.

Step 8: Press and hold the volume up/home/power keys until you see a green android, you should boot into stock recovery.

Step 9: Wipe data/factory reset.

Step 10: Reboot! (You should now be booted into *factory stock and bloated ICS 4.0.4*).

all credit to droidstyle: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1762709


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

ok calm down. first of all, the filename ends with .tar.md5. That's not right. Check the file size, usually files that end wiht md5 are actually the md5 sum. Just in case though, Just in case, here's a new dl file. It's from my dropbox. this one has always worked for me. It's a huge file so it'll dl slow regardless. Still, hopefully it'll help you.

Don't worry, you're phone is never totaled so long as you can get into DL mode.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s48u5dpucos33mx/stock.vzw_root66.tar


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## joemagistro (Dec 19, 2011)

TenderloinShadow said:


> ok calm down. first of all, the filename ends with .tar.md5. That's not right. Check the file size, usually files that end wiht md5 are actually the md5 sum. Just in case though, Just in case, here's a new dl file. It's from my dropbox. this one has always worked for me. It's a huge file so it'll dl slow regardless. Still, hopefully it'll help you.
> 
> Don't worry, you're phone is never totaled so long as you can get into DL mode.
> 
> https://www.dropbox.....vzw_root66.tar


hes right!! it should end in .tar .. not .md5 ...... youll be fine after you flash that file he linked!


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## grin0048 (Oct 3, 2011)

Where in the heck did you get that file you flashed? It appears to be for the Galaxy Beam


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## invisiblek (Aug 19, 2011)

joemagistro said:


> hes right!! it should end in .tar .. not .md5 ...... youll be fine after you flash that file he linked!


.md5 is a valid file to flash with odin (more specifically .tar.md5)


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## Nick.Tbolt (Aug 14, 2011)

TenderloinShadow said:


> ok calm down. first of all, the filename ends with .tar.md5. That's not right. Check the file size, usually files that end wiht md5 are actually the md5 sum. Just in case though, Just in case, here's a new dl file. It's from my dropbox. this one has always worked for me. It's a huge file so it'll dl slow regardless. Still, hopefully it'll help you.
> 
> Don't worry, you're phone is never totaled so long as you can get into DL mode.
> 
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/s48u5dpucos33mx/stock.vzw_root66.tar


Is the file you linked a ready to flash in ODIN, or do we need to unzip it? I hate those stupid programs....

* Verizon AOKP GS3 *


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## invisiblek (Aug 19, 2011)

Nick.Tbolt said:


> Is the file you linked a ready to flash in ODIN, or do we need to unzip it? I hate those stupid programs....
> 
> * Verizon AOKP GS3 *


.tar or .tar.md5 are odin-ready
only unzip if the have a .zip attached to the end (.tar.zip or .tar.md5.zip)


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

My night just got a whole lot better, I'm gonna try what invisiblek told me first. (he helped me in another thread) and if that fails (hopefully it won't) I'll use your methods. I needed the if you can get into DL mode don't worry. That helps. 

I was thinking that, but wasn't sure. Kind of like back on HTC phones, if you can get into Hboot, there's something you can do.


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

cvbcbcmv said:


> My night just got a whole lot better, I'm gonna try what invisiblek told me first. (he helped me in another thread) and if that fails (hopefully it won't) I'll use your methods. I needed the if you can get into DL mode don't worry. That helps.
> 
> I was thinking that, but wasn't sure. Kind of like back on HTC phones, if you can get into Hboot, there's something you can do.


Let us know how it goes. And yeah, on my old DX I've been in far worse shape. I got the damn thing to the point where I only had a black screen and tiny white letters that said System Corrupt. That scared the hell out of me. lol But I fixed that, and I'm sure you'll be able to fix your S3.

Just keep in mind that after you flash Odin and restore your system you may bootloop because of some leftover data from your old ROM. If you get to that point, be happy because it means that you should now be able to boot into stock recovery mode and wipe data, which should be the last step to getting your phone working again.

Of course, you may not bootlooop at all, in which case disregard that last paragraph. lol


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

Nick.Tbolt said:


> Is the file you linked a ready to flash in ODIN, or do we need to unzip it? I hate those stupid programs....
> 
> * Verizon AOKP GS3 *


Yes, the file that I linked is ready to go, no unzipping necessary. Just load it in Odin and flash away.


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## Nick.Tbolt (Aug 14, 2011)

TenderloinShadow said:


> Yes, the file that I linked is ready to go, no unzipping necessary. Just load it in Odin and flash away.


If I ODIN back to stock, will I have to flash the stock kernel also? Or will you .tar file work for everything?

* Verizon AOKP GS3 *


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## PoLoMoTo (Feb 28, 2012)

TenderloinShadow said:


> Let us know how it goes. And yeah, on my old DX I've been in far worse shape. I got the damn thing to the point where I only had a black screen and tiny white letters that said System Corrupt. That scared the hell out of me. lol But I fixed that, and I'm sure you'll be able to fix your S3.
> 
> Just keep in mind that after you flash Odin and restore your system you may bootloop because of some leftover data from your old ROM. If you get to that point, be happy because it means that you should now be able to boot into stock recovery mode and wipe data, which should be the last step to getting your phone working again.
> 
> Of course, you may not bootlooop at all, in which case disregard that last paragraph. lol


If you can work with a DX you'll have no problem with most other phones


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

Nick.Tbolt said:


> If I ODIN back to stock, will I have to flash the stock kernel also? Or will you .tar file work for everything?
> 
> * Verizon AOKP GS3 *


The .tar file will do everything. It will restore the stock ROM, stock kernel, stock recovery, and relocks the boot loader (more accurately it replaces our insecure aboot.img with the original secure aboot.IMG).

Sent from my SCH-I535 using RootzWiki


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## landshark (Aug 6, 2011)

Just updating everyone that the OP got his phone working last night thanks to invisiblek's help and guidance. Thanks for everyone's help and input.

Sent from the Shark Tank using RootzWiki


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## DJSgalaxy (Sep 2, 2011)

It's great that people actually tried to help this kid out. That's what forums are for: help and discussion when you need it. If he posted this on another forum, which X shall D remain A nameless, he would have been told multiple times that he's an idiot and has no business flashing if he doesn't read blah blah blah...


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## PoLoMoTo (Feb 28, 2012)

DJSgalaxy said:


> It's great that people actually tried to help this kid out. That's what forums are for: help and discussion when you need it. If he posted this on another forum, which X shall D remain A nameless, he would have been told multiple times that he's an idiot and has no business flashing if he doesn't read blah blah blah...


If the people at that nameless forum would've snapped at this they're idiots. The only thing that you could have reasonably snapped at here was him panicking, which by the way is not good, always try to calm down and think everything through thoroughly. I personally know I really wanted to bite his head off but couldn't find a reason to so...yea...I didn't XD


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## TenderloinShadow (Nov 4, 2011)

PoLoMoTo said:


> If the people at that nameless forum would've snapped at this they're idiots. The only thing that you could have reasonably snapped at here was him panicking, which by the way is not good, always try to calm down and think everything through thoroughly.


I still wouldn't snap at him for that. I remember the first time I bricked. It scared the hell out of me, I started having a freakout myself. Here at this forum, my policy is to always be reassuring, because if we call him stupid he's just gonna panic more and then he definitely gets nowhere. I'm glad I was able to help; whenever I've had a problem the folks here at Rootz were able to help me, and I'm glad to be able to return the favor.


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## PoLoMoTo (Feb 28, 2012)

TenderloinShadow said:


> I still wouldn't snap at him for that. I remember the first time I bricked. It scared the hell out of me, I started having a freakout myself. Here at this forum, my policy is to always be reassuring, because if we call him stupid he's just gonna panic more and then he definitely gets nowhere. I'm glad I was able to help; whenever I've had a problem the folks here at Rootz were able to help me, and I'm glad to be able to return the favor.


Yea, pissed and panicked is even worse XD


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

Hi everyone, I did get it worked out, thank you!

Once again, I've flashed many things on many devices, I'm not new to this. I've also freaked out on plenty of people before, I've been doing this for well over 2 years. It's just, when you become nervous you have a brick, you start to freak out. All of your knowledge goes down the drain and you start thinking worst case scenario and everything just goes downhill from there. Thank you guys for being awesome! I really appreciate it, sorry for my little freakout last night.


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## PoLoMoTo (Feb 28, 2012)

cvbcbcmv said:


> Hi everyone, I did get it worked out, thank you!
> 
> Once again, I've flashed many things on many devices, I'm not new to this. I've also freaked out on plenty of people before, I've been doing this for well over 2 years. It's just, when you become nervous you have a brick, you start to freak out. All of your knowledge goes down the drain and you start thinking worst case scenario and everything just goes downhill from there. Thank you guys for being awesome! I really appreciate it, sorry for my little freakout last night.


Did you have a DX?


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## landshark (Aug 6, 2011)

cvbcbcmv said:


> Hi everyone, I did get it worked out, thank you!
> 
> Once again, I've flashed many things on many devices, I'm not new to this. I've also freaked out on plenty of people before, I've been doing this for well over 2 years. It's just, when you become nervous you have a brick, you start to freak out. All of your knowledge goes down the drain and you start thinking worst case scenario and everything just goes downhill from there. Thank you guys for being awesome! I really appreciate it, sorry for my little freakout last night.


Yeah, I was going to say I've seen you around (perhaps on more than one forum), and you're not new to this. But it's like anything, if you're not constantly doing something you lose touch a little. I feel a bit out of touch myself because I've stopped being a crack flasher. I guess this is a good reminder lesson for everyone. Perhaps the second rule of flashing and modding behind 1) read, read, read, is 2) relax, it's probably fixable. So glad everything worked out for you.


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## cvbcbcmv (Sep 14, 2011)

landshark said:


> Yeah, I was going to say I've seen you around (perhaps on more than one forum), and you're not new to this. But it's like anything, if you're not constantly doing something you lose touch a little. I feel a bit out of touch myself because I've stopped being a crack flasher. I guess this is a good reminder lesson for everyone. Perhaps the second rule of flashing and modding behind 1) read, read, read, is 2) relax, it's probably fixable. So glad everything worked out for you.


Yeah, I've been over on N7, GN, Kindle Fire, dinc, charge, I've been all over all over the internet. I recognize you too. I also kind of forgot that this was a new phone and flashing things was a bit different, I just had to remember that.


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## kisypher (May 29, 2012)

It's easier just to get a new phone than mess around trying to fix it. I'm on my 3rd S3 since release day. I bork 'em and replace 'em.


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## invisiblek (Aug 19, 2011)

kisypher said:


> It's easier just to get a new phone than mess around trying to fix it. I'm on my 3rd S3 since release day. I bork 'em and replace 'em.


this is exactly why verizon locks bootloaders


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## kisypher (May 29, 2012)

I know how to fix them, it's just easier and faster for me to make the trip down to my local Verizon store and buy a new one. My local Verizon store is only 6 blocks away. If I ever get bored I can fix/restore the extra phones and eBay them.



invisiblek said:


> this is exactly why verizon locks bootloaders


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## mapatton82 (Jul 24, 2011)

kisypher said:


> I know how to fix them, it's just easier and faster for me to make the trip down to my local Verizon store and buy a new one. My local Verizon store is only 6 blocks away. If I ever get bored I can fix/restore the extra phones and eBay them.


So you just shell out $600 instead of a 10 min fix?? Sounds pricy to me!

Sent from the General's SIII


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## landshark (Aug 6, 2011)

kisypher said:


> I know how to fix them, it's just easier and faster for me to make the trip down to my local Verizon store and buy a new one. My local Verizon store is only 6 blocks away. If I ever get bored I can fix/restore the extra phones and eBay them.


Oh, well that's different if you buy them. I think based on your previous post everyone was under the assumption you walked into the store, played dumb as to why the phone was messed up, and got a free replacement from the VZW store. I read posts all the time of people who seem to have no problem having verizon pay when it was the person who screwed up their own phone. That type of behavior and attitude is why Verizon locks bootloaders and insurance costs keep going up.


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## kisypher (May 29, 2012)

Yeah, it's a little bit expensive. But like I said, I will eventually fix them and put them on eBay to at least get most of my money back. I finally sold my 4 galaxy nexi just a couple months ago, right before I jumped to the GS3.



mapatton82 said:


> So you just shell out $600 instead of a 10 min fix?? Sounds pricy to me!
> 
> Sent from the General's SIII


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