Bricked Samsung Galaxy S2

I

igitur

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Apr 22, 2005
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Bellville, Cape Town, South Africa
Hi,

I bricked my Samsung Galaxy S2. I don't know how. Yes, I was running a custom ROM, AOKP, but it was running fine for a few weeks, and then one day, when I just wanted to unlock the lock screen, the phone froze. I forced it off and couldn't get it on again. Can't get into download or recovery mode. Nothing shows on the screen, not even when plugged into charger. Only sign of life is a bit of heat near the antenna when plugged in. According to XDA-Developers, those are the classic signs of a bricked phone.

The phone is out of warranty, where in SA can I get it fixed? AFAIK, the person will have to have a JTAG RIFF box. If the motherboard has some physical damage, I guess the phone is dead forever.

Your help please.

Francois
 
igitur said:
Hi,

I bricked my Samsung Galaxy S2. I don't know how. Yes, I was running a custom ROM, AOKP, but it was running fine for a few weeks, and then one day, when I just wanted to unlock the lock screen, the phone froze. I forced it off and couldn't get it on again. Can't get into download or recovery mode. Nothing shows on the screen, not even when plugged into charger. Only sign of life is a bit of heat near the antenna when plugged in. According to XDA-Developers, those are the classic signs of a bricked phone.

The phone is out of warranty, where in SA can I get it fixed? AFAIK, the person will have to have a JTAG RIFF box. If the motherboard has some physical damage, I guess the phone is dead forever.

Your help please.

Francois
Click to expand...

Take it in to a Samsung workshop they charge like R250 and will sort it out if its a software issue otherwise will tell you if its hardware. I took 2 bricked phones with custom roms to them already and they got it working again. The only issue is they restore the stock firmware and rom which isnt a biggy.

Dont go to some affiliate go directly to the official Samsung workshop there's one in Montague Gardens in Cape Town not sure about Gauteng.
 
GoofySmurf said:
Take it in to a Samsung workshop they charge like R250 and will sort it out if its a software issue otherwise will tell you if its hardware. I took 2 bricked phones with custom roms to them already and they got it working again. The only issue is they restore the stock firmware and rom which isnt a biggy.

Dont go to some affiliate go directly to the official Samsung workshop there's one in Montague Gardens in Cape Town not sure about Gauteng.
Click to expand...

This is a nice bit of info. Think I want to bookmark this post :)
 
GoofySmurf said:
Take it in to a Samsung workshop they charge like R250 and will sort it out if its a software issue otherwise will tell you if its hardware. I took 2 bricked phones with custom roms to them already and they got it working again. The only issue is they restore the stock firmware and rom which isnt a biggy.

Dont go to some affiliate go directly to the official Samsung workshop there's one in Montague Gardens in Cape Town not sure about Gauteng.
Click to expand...

Thanks. Great advice. At R250, I'm prepared to have it fixed, even though I'm due for an upgrade already.
 
Last edited:
GoofySmurf said:
Take it in to a Samsung workshop they charge like R250 and will sort it out if its a software issue otherwise will tell you if its hardware. I took 2 bricked phones with custom roms to them already and they got it working again. The only issue is they restore the stock firmware and rom which isnt a biggy.

Dont go to some affiliate go directly to the official Samsung workshop there's one in Montague Gardens in Cape Town not sure about Gauteng.
Click to expand...

Sadly Samtech in Montague Gardens ceased trading in June 2012. Do you perhaps know of a different place?
 
Just an update.

I found only two Samsung repair places in Montague Gardens. Samtech and SmartLabs. As mentioned above, Samtech closed business in June 2012. SmartLabs replied and confirmed that they're unable to JTAG flash the phone. They charge R250 inspection fee, which I think is ridiculous. I already know what's wrong with the phone. So no luck there either.

So I'm still looking for any repair shop in SA that has had success in JTAG flashing a Galaxy S2. Any further recommendations?
 
igitur said:
Just an update.

I found only two Samsung repair places in Montague Gardens. Samtech and SmartLabs. As mentioned above, Samtech closed business in June 2012. SmartLabs replied and confirmed that they're unable to JTAG flash the phone. They charge R250 inspection fee, which I think is ridiculous. I already know what's wrong with the phone. So no luck there either.

So I'm still looking for any repair shop in SA that has had success in JTAG flashing a Galaxy S2. Any further recommendations?
Click to expand...

Cell C use SmartLabs- those morons are crooks. Took in a friend's BB Z10 for an assessment on a broken screen (like, really?), and after three weeks quoted a fee of R3.5k to replace it.

We took it to someone else, and when he opened the phone (in full view of us) he showed us where the phone had been disassembled, connectors not correctly refitted, and that the speakerphone was missing. All on a phone they just needed to assess for a broken LCD.
 
Oh, and OP- when you "boot" up the phone into download mode, even though it doesn't display anything, does Odin recognise it?
 
educemail said:
did you manage to get it fixed?
i am now facing the same issue. And so far the following looks like the only options:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1330491
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=20290376#post20290376
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-s2/help/diy-jtag-flashing-sgs2-i9100-using-bus-t2088818

:(
Click to expand...

Unfortunately no luck. There was just this one place in USA that could fix it, but I wasn't willing to pay the courier and service fees and risk it not working. In the end, I just bit the bullet and used my old Nokia until I was due for upgrade.
 
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