[Q] Removing the flash storage chip - HTC One X

Hi all,
the wife's HOX died suddenly, won't turn on at all, wont recoginse being plugged in into either the wall or the PC, no lights, nothing.
Unfortunately she has taken a number of pictures of our 5 month year old son on it, which obviously we would like to have back!
I'm competent with taking the phone apart and putting it back togther, however what I want to know is how the Samsung Flash chip is connected to the mainboard.
I can see black glue around the outside of it, but I am unsure if the underlying pins are also soldered down.
My intention was to razor blade the glue away and then buy a knackered (but working) HOX and transfer the chips over.
Obviously I wouldnt be able to do this if the chip is soldered down. I have monkey hands when it comes to soldering things.
Is anyone able to offer any insight?
I've had a google and read the datasheet for the specific chip, but it says nothing about how it is connected.
Thanks in advance.

ucof said:
Hi all,
the wife's HOX died suddenly, won't turn on at all, wont recoginse being plugged in into either the wall or the PC, no lights, nothing.
Unfortunately she has taken a number of pictures of our 5 month year old son on it, which obviously we would like to have back!
I'm competent with taking the phone apart and putting it back togther, however what I want to know is how the Samsung Flash chip is connected to the mainboard.
I can see black glue around the outside of it, but I am unsure if the underlying pins are also soldered down.
My intention was to razor blade the glue away and then buy a knackered (but working) HOX and transfer the chips over.
Obviously I wouldnt be able to do this if the chip is soldered down. I have monkey hands when it comes to soldering things.
Is anyone able to offer any insight?
I've had a google and read the datasheet for the specific chip, but it says nothing about how it is connected.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I really can't see this being successful, sorry. I'm fairly sure the chip is soldered down, and the chances of damaging the chip are very, very high if you want to try and get it off.
If the phone didn't come into contact with water a JTAG recovery might be possible. It may not get the phone working again but it could get your data back. Alternatively companies like DriveSavers have an excellent reputation for getting data off flash chips, but it'll cost you in the region of $400 - $1400 (I got a quote a month or so back, when I thought my HOX was finished.)
I really wouldn't recommend trying to remove the chip though. You could do irreparable damage to the chip, which would render it completely unreadable.

ucof said:
Hi all,
the wife's HOX died suddenly, won't turn on at all, wont recoginse being plugged in into either the wall or the PC, no lights, nothing.
Unfortunately she has taken a number of pictures of our 5 month year old son on it, which obviously we would like to have back!
I'm competent with taking the phone apart and putting it back togther, however what I want to know is how the Samsung Flash chip is connected to the mainboard.
I can see black glue around the outside of it, but I am unsure if the underlying pins are also soldered down.
My intention was to razor blade the glue away and then buy a knackered (but working) HOX and transfer the chips over.
Obviously I wouldnt be able to do this if the chip is soldered down. I have monkey hands when it comes to soldering things.
Is anyone able to offer any insight?
I've had a google and read the datasheet for the specific chip, but it says nothing about how it is connected.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try first change the battery to see if the phone will start again it is the cheap way and most secure

de4life - thanks, I've had a quote for data recovery from Kroll. They want £95+ to look at it and provide a list of what can be recovered and then between £195 and £395 for actually recovering it for me. Far too expensive!
As for JTAG, there's been no water damage whatsoever; I've had a quick Google and it says this is more for Routers. How could I do it to my phone? Im not fussed about getting the phone working again, just want the contents of the flash storage back.
Thant - alas, the was the first thing I tried. New battery has made no difference. Which is annoying as her old Desire Z showed the same symptoms, we bought a new battery and its works again. She's currently using that until we decide what to do.

ucof said:
de4life - thanks, I've had a quote for data recovery from Kroll. They want £95+ to look at it and provide a list of what can be recovered and then between £195 and £395 for actually recovering it for me. Far too expensive!
As for JTAG, there's been no water damage whatsoever; I've had a quick Google and it says this is more for Routers. How could I do it to my phone? Im not fussed about getting the phone working again, just want the contents of the flash storage back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing's first, if you do go down the data recovery route try to avoid companies that charge any type of analysis fee. Kroll are a well known company but I've not heard much good things about them. I went through an extensive search of companies when I thought I'd killed my HOX and found DriveSavers were the best in terms of reputation, and they don't charge a fee to look at the phone. They are very expensive though, perhaps more so than Kroll, and you have to send the phone to the States which is daunting and costly in of itself (I assume from your £ quotation that you're UK based?).
It's good that there's no water damage. It's difficult to say what can cause the motherboard to suddenly stop working like that, but it's unlikely there has been a serious short circuit that could have affected the memory chip. Have you tried dissembling the phone completely and putting it back together? It may sound ridiculous to even try it, but when one of my older phones suddenly died I managed to get it working by taking it apart and then just putting it back together again. There are a lot of connections within the HOX motherboard framework that could easily have come loose. You might already have done this, but just a thought.
In terms of JTAG, it can be done on mobile phone motherboards with the right equipment. It's usually used for soft bricked phones to reset the software back to its original form if it's been corrupted, but I have seen cases where hard bricked phones were brought back to life using this method, including the HOX. It's not really something you can do at home (not cheaply, anyway) but there are companies that provide this service. One of the more popular services is here: http://mobiletechvideos.mybigcommerce.com/htc-one-x-jtag-brick-repair/ - I believe they post on here from time to time as well. Again, based in the States, but significantly cheaper than data recovery and as far as I've heard very professional. I don't know of any mobile phone JTAG services in the UK, though they probably do exist.
Keep in mind the data chip on your phone is likely fine. Even if the motherboard has stopped working, the memory chip itself is unlikely to be affected and will still contain all of your data - albeit in a scrambled form. If you send it out to companies then they can potentially damage the chip beyond repair, if you go down the route of sending the phone out to repair/data recovery companies I would urge extreme caution. If it's still on the chip the data itself isn't going anywhere. Take your time and make sure you're sending your phone to the right people, because one false move and your data is gone for good.

Related

[Q] Toro: Intermittent CDMA/1x after MicroUSB repair

Hey guys, like many Toro owners, I had my MicroUSB port finally go out on me. Followed unfortunately shortly after a tumble caused by a cousin just giving my phone to her 3 year old to play with at a family holiday party. This resulted in the screen being cracked all to hell, as one could imagine. In a stupidly rushed attempt to repair the screen glass with a spare piece I had from a friend, I messed up the digitizer, and decided to get a new screen assembly and start over. Unfortunately, after ordering both parts and starting to install both, I realized the mUSB board was no good and had to be exchanged. I slapped the old one back on, installed my screen, and went about my day.
The second time around, I actually remembered how to work on computers and went through my whole usual litany of prep and breakdown. Bled off all my static charge, made a mostly sterile work area, worked in gloves when I could, and proceeded slowly and carefully through the phone teardown. I made sure (to attempt) not to damage any ribbon connectors or even the LTE antenna coax cable and both ports for it.
All this only to notice a short time later that I was having poor call quality, call drops despite a couple of bars, random signal drops, all those good times. This was all with mobile data turned off entirely, but when I turned on mobile data, it hit straight to 4G full service and data was snappy and page loads/searches were fast. However, I cannot tell if it is area signal strength or phone error, but I'm inclined to believe I may have messed something up either in my first botch job, or in my second serious repair.
If there was any repair errors, I'm inclined to believe one of a few things happened. Either I screwed up one of the in-frame antennas the first time around, putzing about trying to pry the old screen off the frame. Or I somehow cocked up one of the CDMA antennas on the mobo itself the second time, but I find that very hard to believe. Or the old mUSB board with it's mic got screwed up, but I highly doubt that too.
Anyone have any ideas, further questions, or (preferably non) snide comments? I've tried to give as many details as possible in this post without overloading it, but let me know if I've left out anything useful. Yet again, it's a Toro, 32gb, running SlimKat's 4.4-1825 weekly. (Can't remember build date right now, and phone's in pieces again for visual verification/pictures)
Any help is greatly appreciated, and thanks!

[Q] The thin vertical piece on the mainboard that leads to USB connection cracked

Hello to anyone reading this,
This crack in the board happened after it went through the clothes washer, and it was gf's phone so i feel really horrible about it :crying:.
Anyways i have yet to even find out what this piece of the board is named. It's cracked in two places on the vertical part of the board that leads down
to where the usb connector is located (everything else appears looks ok just these two cracked pieces). I'm just looking for any help at all, hoping
someone might be able to offer any help at all, or if it's even possible to salvage. I have an uncle that is got a good amount of experience in
soldering/electrical stuff and can handle the soldering/fixing since im still a bit of a noob, but he was unsure about how to go about it since it would
require some very small wires to fix the connection traces, so if anyone can offer any advice or instruction on mending i would greatly appreciate and
can send some BTC for your help. I attached 2 images, and can supply more if you need more detail.
So far the only thing i can think of is to get a broken board and remove the part i need at the easiest location it could be re-attached... no clue if that easier area exists though..
Why not just bring the phone to some phone repair shop (or a samsung specialized one), if available in your region. They should be able to repair it (if the price is ok with you), or be able to sell you the part you need (order it).
**It looks like even some chip is chopped... at the very least, probably too much water damage on them. You don't want to do this repair by yourself (or you uncle)... there are cases of phone components getting too hot and on fire if there are faulty wires/connectors.
****Definitely a new board is required.
cyberboob said:
Why not just bring the phone to some phone repair shop (or a samsung specialized one), if available in your region. They should be able to repair it (if the price is ok with you), or be able to sell you the part you need (order it).
**It looks like even some chip is chopped... at the very least, probably too much water damage on them. You don't want to do this repair by yourself (or you uncle)... there are cases of phone components getting too hot and on fire if there are faulty wires/connectors.
****Definitely a new board is required.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah seems like a new board might be the only solution..
can anyone tell me what exactly would be compatible? This was a verizon note 2 sch-i605 gt-n7100 rev 1.0.
Thanks all

power/charging issue

ive been having a problem with this phone for a while. it has a problem with turning on and statying on. i will set it on charge while its powered off for atleast two hours, but as soon as i turn it on it will last for about 5 mins and turn off.
i first replaced the battery and it has the same problem. so i replaced the charging port and it was working fine for a few weeks and now its back to the same issue. i cant even get it to charge now
so just trying to figure out what kind of other components it could be
Disclaimer: You're at a more advanced level than I am. I've never done phone repair, and I don't know enough about phone hardware to say if there are other components that could be responsible. I'm a software guy.
That being said, I'll chime in with what I do know, on the off chance that it's actually helpful.
When computers get too hot, they do an automatic thermal shutdown to try to prevent permanent damage. I assume smartphones do this as well. You're on XDA, so there's a good chance you like to tinker. Did you overclock the phone? Overclocking generates more heat, which could potentially lead to a thermal shutdown or permanent damage. Or you might be using or storing the phone in a hot environment.
Have you tried using a different charging cable? Maybe the cable or its connector went bad. You could also test the cable with a different device. Maybe the wall outlet, etc went bad. Did you check the connectors that the battery attaches to, to make sure they're clean?
When you opened the phone to replace the charging port, maybe you didn't put it together quite right, so over time something came loose or got pinched. Desktops and laptops use various types of adhesives such as thermal paste, and computer technicians have to remember to reapply new adhesive when putting a machine back together. Maybe phones use some adhesive too, and maybe you forgot to reapply it?
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about phone hardware will chime in, but the Incredible 2 section of these forums has been a ghost town lately. That's why I'm giving my two cents. If it were me, I'd just buy a new phone.
Slinkwyde said:
Disclaimer: You're at a more advanced level than I am. I've never done phone repair, and I don't know enough about phone hardware to say if there are other components that could be responsible. I'm a software guy.
That being said, I'll chime in with what I do know, on the off chance that it's actually helpful.
When computers get too hot, they do an automatic thermal shutdown to try to prevent permanent damage. I assume smartphones do this as well. You're on XDA, so there's a good chance you like to tinker. Did you overclock the phone? Overclocking generates more heat, which could potentially lead to a thermal shutdown or permanent damage. Or you might be using or storing the phone in a hot environment.
Have you tried using a different charging cable? Maybe the cable or its connector went bad. You could also test the cable with a different device. Maybe the wall outlet, etc went bad. Did you check the connectors that the battery attaches to, to make sure they're clean?
When you opened the phone to replace the charging port, maybe you didn't put it together quite right, so over time something came loose or got pinched. Desktops and laptops use various types of adhesives such as thermal paste, and computer technicians have to remember to reapply new adhesive when putting a machine back together. Maybe phones use some adhesive too, and maybe you forgot to reapply it?
Hopefully someone more knowledgeable about phone hardware will chime in, but the Incredible 2 section of these forums has been a ghost town lately. That's why I'm giving my two cents. If it were me, I'd just buy a new phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well i greatly appreciate your lengthly response. to be honest, it is my mothers phone, which is why i want to try and fix it. i gave her an iphone so she really doesnt need this phone but i would like to figure out what is wrong because i do like to tinker with things. i have tried different chords, wall outlets, usb ports on the pc etc. i will reopen the phone to see if everything is back together, because thats the only thing i can think of from what you mentioned.
thanks again. if anyone has had a similar problem, let me know
sounds like you're either having a battery issue or need to replace your charge port on your phone. its a really simple process all you do is order the port from like amazon or ebay and the old one on your phone just unplugs from your phone circuit board there actually is a tutorial forum in the development page for the droid incredible 2 that gives you instructions on how to do this. hope this was of some help to you and if so please click thanks.
jam0688 said:
sounds like you're either having a battery issue or need to replace your charge port on your phone. its a really simple process all you do is order the port from like amazon or ebay and the old one on your phone just unplugs from your phone circuit board there actually is a tutorial forum in the development page for the droid incredible 2 that gives you instructions on how to do this. hope this was of some help to you and if so please click thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OP already tried both of those things.
Oh ok yeah i just noticed where he put that. Hardware problem maybe. Im more into software myself than i am hardware.
MINE TOO! Omg
This... it's too much. Okay, a month ago the damned power button got too hard to press in, which should have been a warning that the hardware was getting faulty I suppose. But I downloaded an app that let me use the volume button to turn screen on/off. (I won't say which because I half-blame it, unfairly, for killing my phone
(Sorry, I'm still —mourning! the death of my phone I guess.)
The app was an ugly solution, I guess, but it worked. (I couldn't turn the screen off easily, so I set the screen-off to 10 seconds.) And I hadn't used screenshots in a while so that was no big deal; and my ROM could get me to Recovery easily enough, so screw the power button, right?
But then last night, my phone STOPPED CHARGING! I did a batt pull, tried new cords; turned off every useful app. I even went back to stock ROM, which (even though plugged in) left me with 20% batt. Might as well have bricked it, I guess.
Nothing worked. I was able to turn bluetooth back on so I could use my Air Droid acct to get my on-phone pictures, at least (everything else is safe on the SD), and then I charged it overnight in the wall and hoped for the best.
I was pretty thrilled to wake up to 100% charged! —For a few minutes. As soon as I unplugged it, it started discharging fast, and then not even the wall charger stopped it from discharging.
After brooding, for a few hours, I called Verizon tech. The tech (VERY nice, admittedly) said my Dinc2 was just dead. (Damn they're good: he was more sympathetic than a doctor delivering bad news!!) —But I feel so lost. He offered me a DNA or a Dinc 4G (and some motos and crap), but said my Dinc2 wouldn't be worth fixing. He said the power button alone was a PITA, but the dongle thing you plug the charger into was likely the problem, AND it might be the battery. Maybe he said other problems, but ultimately he suggested some pre-owneds he had for sale (I'm trying to keep my unlimited data plan), or try PhoneKarma.com. (He said he didn't recommend eBay, where they have Dinc 2s, but I'm not sure why.)
So ...do Dinc2s just have power issues after (?) 3 years? I guess that's a pretty good lifetime, but boy is it depressing. (I know — hooked on a damned phone. #Sucks.) I mean, it would be stupid to fix this one, or buy another one, right?
@Trebuchette, no matter what machine you use, rechargeable batteries do not last forever. Order a new battery from Amazon or eBay and you should be fine. They're pretty cheap and easy to replace. http://www.amazon.com/HTC-Incredible-6350-BTR6350B-Packaging/dp/B0064SI3QA
A case might make your power button easier to press. The OtterBox Defender is an excellent case that you can get for $15 used (very good condition), if a new battery successfully fixes your problem.
Hey: might be worth a shot! I did try another batt, but it was older too. And I didn't think of an otterbox at all, tbh. Thanks! Might be worth a try!
Hey: does it matter much if my USB cable is LG or whatever? I tried several different USBs too, but I'd been using this LG one (no idea how!) for probably about a year.
No, the brand of micro USB cable should not matter. It's a technical standard.
Don't buy a case until you've verified that a new battery actually fixes your problem. If a battery doesn't fix it, it's only a few bucks lost. In that case, I would then get a new phone.
i just came back to this thread after i basically put the project on hold for a while and wanted to see any new suggestions. so after leaving the phone alone for two months, i pluuged the phone in and i saw that orange ligh indicating it was charging. so far so good, im not using it as a primary phone which is good, but that would be my suggestion is to give the phone a rest for a while
EDIT: yeah scratch that, its doing the same **** now

[Q] Note 8.0 won't start... period. May be hard bricked.

A while back i used to "try" to root stuff. I sucked at it BAD. Anyway, I have a Galaxy Note 8.0 (GT-N5110) that I had rooted to a certain point (very superficial) and I just kept it the way it was, that way I could use Multi-window for any app. This morning I unplug my tab from the charger only to be disappointed that it will not turn on. Ive tried different power outlets, different cables, different base chargers, even the whole "power+vol_up+home" thing... nothing. I never updated the tab when Kitkat came through the pipeline. Im freaking out that a new major update automatically happened overnight or something. Im sorry to trouble you all, but does anyone have suggestions? Since it's rooted I can't take it to Samsung or Best Buy. Honestly if I could just get it back to stock, that would be awesome, but im more concerned about getting it to simply turn on. Any Ideas?
If your device is rooted you won't get an OTA update so that could not be the problem. You can try to unplug battery (mus open the device)"and see what happened. Maybe your battery is faulty or someting else.
K... I appreciate it Ill take a look. But, lets say I actually open it (without making things worse), how do I determine if the battery is in fact faulty? If it is, can I get a replacement? preferably an official samsung one.
EDIT:
Scratch that. Sry, Im just always scared of doin stuff, so I always feel like I have to ask the question, but I'll look it up. Im confident at least this should be easy enough for me to do Thank you again.
The problem with this device is you cannot pull out the battery easily. Maybe after that steps it boots up again.
Battery removal wasn't bad... now I'm just waiting for a new one (ordered on ebay, crossing fingers hoping it was legit). What did you mean "after that steps it boots up agin."? Will the tablet boot up without the battery if it's plugged in or something?
varxtis said:
Battery removal wasn't bad... now I'm just waiting for a new one (ordered on ebay, crossing fingers hoping it was legit). What did you mean "after that steps it boots up agin."? Will the tablet boot up without the battery if it's plugged in or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, that suck. sorry for you man. For now, try to plug the tablet to a computer and while device manager opened and see if there is change. If the change say "qhsusb" or something along that line and not your model number . . . changing battery wont do anything because it's already hard bricked. if not, finger cross.
varxtis said:
What did you mean "after that steps it boots up agin."? Will the tablet boot up without the battery if it's plugged in or something?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. But sometimes after this step and reconnecting the battery the device boots up. Also a battery calibration is done.
I tried plugging in the tablet to the computer with the old battery and then without any battery. Neither one prompted anything in the device manager. Today I got the new battery (assuming its legit and in good condition) in the mail. I plugged it in, and nothing. Plugged the tablet with the new battery to the wall charger, nothing. Plugged the tablet with the new battery to the computer while running device manager, nothing.
I'm going assume that the new battery is dead and let it stay connected to the wall charger for 8+ hrs, and see if there are any changes.
I just really don't understand what the deal is and why this would randomly happen. Ive never had problems with the firmware or anything. I have felt like there was an issue with the battery being that it doesn't seem to be keeping much of a charge... but for it to just Hard Brick like this seems so out of the blue. Can anyone provide me with additional suggestions please?
Maybe I'll ask it this way...
Is there any way to test if the batteries are food? That way I can at least determine if the tablet is in fact hard bricked or just bad batteries.
Might not be what you want to hear, but if different cables, chargers and batteries don't work, then maybe there was a power surge overnight while the device was plugged into the wall that took out the device (I once lost a computer that way and now I only use surge suppressors (note that not all power bars are proper surge protectors! See here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surge_protector ) that are UL 1449 certified with a low clamping voltage and high energy absorption rating as a minimum; the fancier ones can even tell you if your wall outlet has a grounding problem). Or your tablet's USB port is broken, but that doesn't make sense based on what you've said thus far. Or you're just super-unlucky and all of your replacement parts are also faulty (it could happen). Either way, I've got my fingers crossed for you!
In the meantime, a multimeter would be able to tell if the batteries hold a charge, and whether or not power flows to the device when the battery is attached or the device is plugged into the wall or computer.
Just make sure you read up on how to use one first so you don't accidentally electrocute yourself:
https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-use-a-multimeter
rtiangha said:
In the meantime, a multimeter would be able to tell if the batteries hold a charge, and whether or not power flows to the device when the battery is attached or the device is plugged into the wall or computer.
Just make sure you read up on how to use one first so you don't accidentally electrocute yourself:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill definitely be looking into this option in depth tomorrow, and deeply appreciate it. At least it's something. T_T I don't want my tablet going to electro grave. This sucks so bad. This has been a month from hell
First my printer decides its time to start printing crooked over a couple of months, getting so bad that it jams up a few weeks ago, requiring me to get a new printer, which has been a fiasco in and of itself that still hasnt been resolved. Ive gone through 4 printers in one week, all of them different model printers, all from HP, and each and every one of them defective.
Then my laptops video card tweaks out because of installing Splashtop Stream, which starts a domino effect requiring me to do a factory reset on the laptop.
Then my Tablet just decides to kill over.
Then my Microsoft Arc mouse decides it doesn't the want to wheel to work requiring me to purchase a new one, and when I receive it, the cover for the battery compartment is missing and the wheel click is defective. It took 2 and a half weeks to resolve
Then I get bronchitis.
all in less than a month.
Alright, ya... it's dead. Oh well. Here's me trying to make the most of it: are there any places that buy bricked tabs? I figure the parts have to have some sort of salvage value.... maybe.
You can't go to a Samsung service shop? They might not fix it under warranty, but I assume they'll have a look at it and give you an estimation? I feel for you, we all have had these awful weeks... I soft bricked my pad, my computer started to play up, my other computer decided it wanted to die after years of hard work and not skipping a beat, my son got the flu, the missus was on her monthly(grumpy wife..take cover), and when I took a break from it all on the toilet I found that we had run out of paper! To make matters worse, my favorite football team lost from a second division team.. This all happened in one single day! So chin up, it might take a week, but when all it's fixed again you'll experience deep appreciation for the things you have taken for granted.... (xda fixed my tablet, time fixed my wife)
Sent from my GT-N5100 using XDA Free mobile app
Sry for delayed response.
Im very very doubtful that Samsung will help. I have two more... ideas, before I go to Samsung. Non-invasive of coarse, wouldn't want to make matters worse.
K, So first off I took the tablet with extra battery to a tech place in the area that said the batteries are fine, but when they put a multimeter to the motherboard nothing came back. Basically its dead according to them. There's one more shop in the area I want to get a second opinion from. Next, does anyone know anything about an app called "Splashtop Stream"? I'm a fond user of Splashtop to control/view my computer straight my tablet, but when I installed "Splashtop Stream" to use the tablet as an extended screen (not just a cloned second screen), my tablet and both computers I tried it with did NOT like it. I immediately uninstalled it, but it dawned on me that it was just a matter of days later that my Tablet died. I hate to grasp at straws, but if an app like that is too resource intensive, I'm okay with seeing a connection that it fried my tablet. I can't just ask Splashtop "Hey, does your app fry motherboards", so I need a way of researching legitimate known problems. I can't afford a $400 tablet right now.
The reason why I'm using Samsung as a last resort is because it's outside my warranty time, and the moment they know that I did even the simple fast-mod on it, they'll slap it down and won't help. There no custom boot or Roms on it.
With all this said, any suggestions anyone?
misternagoya said:
You can't go to a Samsung service shop? They might not fix it under warranty, but I assume they'll have a look at it and give you an estimation? I feel for you, we all have had these awful weeks... I soft bricked my pad, my computer started to play up, my other computer decided it wanted to die after years of hard work and not skipping a beat, my son got the flu, the missus was on her monthly(grumpy wife..take cover), and when I took a break from it all on the toilet I found that we had run out of paper! To make matters worse, my favorite football team lost from a second division team.. This all happened in one single day! So chin up, it might take a week, but when all it's fixed again you'll experience deep appreciation for the things you have taken for granted.... (xda fixed my tablet, time fixed my wife)
Sent from my GT-N5100 using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O_O That does suck!! Sry man.
varxtis said:
Sry for delayed response.
Im very very doubtful that Samsung will help. I have two more... ideas, before I go to Samsung. Non-invasive of coarse, wouldn't want to make matters worse.
K, So first off I took the tablet with extra battery to a tech place in the area that said the batteries are fine, but when they put a multimeter to the motherboard nothing came back. Basically its dead according to them. There's one more shop in the area I want to get a second opinion from. Next, does anyone know anything about an app called "Splashtop Stream"? I'm a fond user of Splashtop to control/view my computer straight my tablet, but when I installed "Splashtop Stream" to use the tablet as an extended screen (not just a cloned second screen), my tablet and both computers I tried it with did NOT like it. I immediately uninstalled it, but it dawned on me that it was just a matter of days later that my Tablet died. I hate to grasp at straws, but if an app like that is too resource intensive, I'm okay with seeing a connection that it fried my tablet. I can't just ask Splashtop "Hey, does your app fry motherboards", so I need a way of researching legitimate known problems. I can't afford a $400 tablet right now.
The reason why I'm using Samsung as a last resort is because it's outside my warranty time, and the moment they know that I did even the simple fast-mod on it, they'll slap it down and won't help. There no custom boot or Roms on it.
With all this said, any suggestions anyone?
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I randomly bumped here and I'm no expert, but if your tablet's motherboard is indeed dead, I believe there is absolutely no way they can tell that the device got rooted at some point. You did not "hard brick" it, that's a whole other thing, or at least so I've learned in my not-very-long experience. "Hard brick" should be the result of flashing a kernel made some other device, which definitely is not your case. Moreover, that does not kill the motherboard, it just makes anything unbootable: it's a software problem, so it can actually be detected. You had a hardware failure that most likely completely wiped any proof that you have ever modified your device, so the only problem that you might have, I think, is them telling you that they take no responsibility for what your power outlet has done to the device, but they shouldn't be able to detect any modification that you have made. In my opinion technical support is worth trying.
Awesome!! Thank you so much!
varxtis said:
Awesome!! Thank you so much!
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You're welcome, good luck!
Just thought Id let everyone know that I managed to get Samsung to compromise on the matter since the Tablet is only 5 months past warranty (1yr 5mnths since purchase). So, not much longer and hopefully Ill have a tablet that works yet again.

I HAVE FOUND A SOLUTION FOR THE LG G4 BOOTLOOP ISSUE *Story & Tutorial*

Basically what happened, was on Friday, my phone got stuck in a boot loop. It would get to the "Optimizing Apps" screen and shut off again. Other people may just get to the Verizon screen, or even just the LG screen. I looked it up and found that it was a major issue affecting many people, so I just filed for a warranty and received my new phone today. Well, on Saturday night LinusTechTips, a popular tech YouTube channel(You should really check them out, they are great), released a video on how they fixed a dead Graphics Card and PCI-E SSD by heating them up past the melting point of solder and then testing them. For them, it only worked on the GPU. As I was packing up my seemingly dead phone to ship back to LG TODAY, i decided to give it one more shot. I disassembled the device to the point where I could take out the logic board. I took the logic board and wrapped it in one layer of parchment paper and two layers of tinfoil, shiny side facing in(FYI tinfoil has two sides, shiny and matte). I then placed this package into a barbecue. I turned on the left and middle burners and left the package with my logic board inside on the right side to the grill so it wasn't receiving direct heat. After 10 minutes, I took it out, re-assembled my phone and it booted. I was able to get all of my pictures off of it. This has only been confirmed to work on my phone, but seeing as this SAME issue is affecting thousands of people, It's definitely worth a shot. If you are going to use an oven, PLEASE, make sure it's above 385 degrees Fahrenheit and that you don't plan on using that oven for food ever again, this may release some toxic chemicals etc. I plan on using my grill again, so I just made sure to leave the grill open for 24 hours and I'm going to clean it before I use it next. If you have any questions let me know!
P.S. My LG G4 was the Verizon model.
I highly recommend doing this ONLY if you have no other option. Remember that heating a logic board to high temperatures can release toxic fumes. Don't use an oven you use for food preparation! Toxic fumes can leave residue in the oven and will be re-released upon reheating over many cycles!
Assuming LG's press release regarding the issue is correct and it is really a loose contact, this "fix" could actually work. Of course, only if the loose connection is a soldered connection. Though, it's controversial. You have to remember that the melting point for SMD solder is around ~350°C, or 662°F. So 358°F, or 181°C, is not nearly enough to actually re-solder a loose connection. My guess is that the loose solder point is only expanding due to the heat. There is no real reconnect. It might only be a matter of time until it also breaks. If you could locate the actual loose connection you could really re-solder it and have it fixed permanently.
I've done this on many many devices, including graphics cards, smartphone logic boards, PC mainboards etc. It only works if a soldered connection has a crack small enough that heat expansion is enough to gain reconnection. If there is a loose contact on the PCB or the "crack" in the solder is too big, it does not work. Also, if you really have a dead chip, this trick also won't (always) work.
I read a similar story on reddit. The guy put his main board in the oven, reassembled it, and the phone started working. The last update I read was 3 days later, still working.
I fixed mine temporarily by heating up the emmc chip using solder hot air gun. It seems to be just the emmc chips connection.
Failed again after a fortnight when the phone got too hot. The connection seems to break when the g4 gets hot.
One option to try is to boot the phone inside a freezer. I found that worked too.
Pretty poor quality control on lg's part.
I'm going to try again and see if I can fix permanently.
Worked for me too
I have a LG G4 H815 with serial number starting with 507. It died yesterday night. The bootloop escalated quickly to full death. Even the freezer trick did not work.
I followed the OP instructions. I heated up the grill to ~250 degrees Celsius and cooked the motherboard for 10 minutes.
Magically the phone has been working for a couple of hours since and I have been able to backup files to the external SC card.
I wonder how much more will it work.
Thank you for help OP!!!
Word of advice to other LG G4 users. Backup your phone regularly. Use an external SD card. Set the camera to save images and videos to the SD card. At least at doom day you will have them saved.
Cheers
Silverdace said:
I'm going to try again and see if I can fix permanently.
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any more info on this? Looks like my phone bit it the other day, no boot...just dead...
I'm going to take her apart to see if I can find a bad solder, luckily I still had my G2 lying around.
NFN, I sent mine back to LG US in Texas for a full warranty repair. 10 days RT, no cost at all, shipping included.
No unfortunately. I managed to overcook it and it stopped booting altogether
Do you have the address and info Re your communication w/ lg
metropical said:
NFN, I sent mine back to LG US in Texas for a full warranty repair. 10 days RT, no cost at all, shipping included.
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Do you have the address and info Re your communication w/ lg, I'd like to send mine back for repair due to this same issue.
http://www.lg.com/us/support/repair-service/schedule-repair-us
they did a **** job. touch screen peeling and failing. Phone slowing down again after about 6mos. Looking for a new phone, but the choices are so limited.
My phone is 2 years 4 months old....never bootlooped
Feel bad for u guys
deltadiesel said:
My phone is 2 years 4 months old....never bootlooped
Feel bad for u guys
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Mine made it just about the same but died from other causes.
deltadiesel said:
My phone is 2 years 4 months old....never bootlooped
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What is the beginning of your phone's serial number?
Hi bro kindly tell is it worth to install custom rom kernal with root to prevent the cpu to clock high speed so it will not go into bootloop? My is also 2 years old thanks
250 degrees F for 6 minutes and brought the phone back to life. We'll see how long it lasts.
Actually it worked on BOTH G4s I have. I first just went dead and I bought a used one for $100 on eBay and it worked fine until the bootloop showed up.

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