Bricked Samsung Omnia i910... (UPDATED 3/14/2010)

[Guest cac2us]

Unfortunately, the stock cf03 rom I have been trying was already a different one. Even the non stock ones I try to flash (clicking on just the pda button in umdl) fail during the process. Remember, it always fails at completely random points during the writing process. Sometimes fails at twenty percent, someteimes at fifty, sometimes inbetween. I only flash in Windows 7 now (as of about a couple hours ago) because xp doesn't actually tell you if it has failed, it just hangs on the writing screen for a long time.

Don't worry, I'm sure we'll figure this one out! :)

- 2 Bunny

Did you select the "Format Large Disk" setting in the UMDL?

[Guest rfarrah]

It has practically become an obsession. I have wasted even in these two or so days more hours than I care to have counted.

Anyway, just to recap progress so that someone doesn't have to go through the entire thread...

Samsung Omnia i910 (verizon branded), for some reason fails randomly in the middle of any firmware I attempt to flash to it. It will still accept new firmwares, but never wants to finish, except for once, and even then, after rebooting, the omnia logo comes up, and the progress bar will move once or twice very slowly, and then stopped. The only way to shut it off from here is with either the reset button on top, or taking the battery out (which actually turns it off instead of resetting it). The USB cable itself is fine, and is in fact brand new, but it is not an OEM samsung cable (I don't think so anyway. Got it from eBay for a dollar or something, waited weeks for it to arrive while I looked up new morsels about firmware flashing, and came to where I am now.

Basically, at this point in time, my questions are:

1: Is the problem curable? If so, what do I need?

2: Is there any "back door" fix, like on custom firmwares in PSP, where it will flash the firmware from a card, since it isn't usb, I would think this would be much more reliable.

3: What are these morsels about "emergency mode" I have heard about? Does this help in the current situation? Instructions?

3: Is the problem not curable? What kind of money would be offered for someone who would like the player in its broken state? Remember, this is just a last resort. I am really hoping to fix it, especially with all the time I've dumped into this so far, it has really wasted my life, to put it bluntly.

Thanks for all your help and prompt replies so far. A very lively community here. Kind of ironic that this is the only thread I post in, but I 'm sure I'll grow to be more participant as time goes on.

Good Luck! (for me too :) )

- 2 Bunny

It really wouldn't hurt to try another cable. I've heard horror stories....

Secondly, I bet if worse comes to worst, I bet someone around here would take a shot at trying to flash it for you - probably for free (you pay postage) - just a thought.

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Did you select the "Format Large Disk" setting in the UMDL?

I do select that. It doesn't get far enough in the process to perform that though.

It really wouldn't hurt to try another cable. I've heard horror stories....

Secondly, I bet if worse comes to worst, I bet someone around here would take a shot at trying to flash it for you - probably for free (you pay postage) - just a thought.

Yeah, about that. I could get another cable, but as far as that is concerned, it isn't the cost or anything, but it is just so much hassle. But I know someone who might have a compatible phone, and in the even slimmer chance that he actually has a USB cable for it, I'll be sure to ask.

Now, in the past couple of minutes as I have been writing this, I had a thought that perhaps I am using the wrong driver. Long shot, I know, but it could be. See, I never had to manually load in drivers from any cd (which I don't have anyway), it just worked the first time I plugged it in - both xp and in 7. Does it perhaps need a different one? Is there any way to tell? If I need one, could someone get it from their cd and upload it here perhaps?

A second groundbreaking thought: Maybe the computer is just not quite right. I've always had to plug it into the bottom usb plug on the front. Never would recognize in umdl (and I have re downloaded umdl to see if it was the problem), even though windows still installed drivers just fine like the other ones. And what is really strange is it happens like that in both windows xp and 7. How weird is that! I mean it is a coincidence of some kind (the bottom usb on the front was the first usb I plugged it into for my first attempts at flashing from both operating systems), but maybe I just need to try a different computer. Which brings us to yesterday: Yesterday, I tried plugging it into a friend's computer with usb 2 (as opposed to usb 1. The front usb on the home computer is usb 2 also, but I just thought I'd at that again just so that we can figure it out more efficiently) plugs on the front, and discovered that it did not have the drivers built in for it. So, maybe if someone can provide some drivers, I can try it on the different computer, and try that, and we can kill two problems with one usb cable (yeah, I'm not that good at sarcastic puns).

Phew! Well, that got written on way too long, so I'll let you guys keep coming with suggestions and drivers.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest lioryte]

Follow step 1 and step 2 from HERE. Download what is needed. Don't skip or assume anything. Of course the computer will recognize the phone, but it's not the driver you need.

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Follow step 1 and step 2 from HERE. Download what is needed. Don't skip or assume anything. Of course the computer will recognize the phone, but it's not the driver you need.

Well, I used the image and driver installer in the link, but it still does the exact same thing.

I think I'm gonna try a different computer. Unless you have any new suggestions. Or both. :)

Thanks for your help anyway though.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest jschuk]

Basically, at this point in time, my questions are:

3: What are these morsels about "emergency mode" I have heard about? Does this help in the current situation? Instructions?

Good Luck! (for me too ;) )

- 2 Bunny

I thought I had bricked my phone when I accidentally had both the official CF03 updater and UMDL utilities open at the same time. Phone would boot to scrolling bar and nothing else. The official CF03 update somehow recognized a failed flash and attempted many time to do an emergency flash, but I was never successful in getting that to work. I got it up and running by using UMDL with the leaked CC20 ROM. Open up UDML and load the ROM under the Unified Image File (*.img), click detect, and then press the reset button at the top of the phone. Looks like you might still be able to get it here.

Yes, good luck for you!

Jason

[Guest 2 Bunny]

All right guys and gals of the MoDaCo Community. I have some news.

The news is good though.

After going to a different computer, an old laptop, I was able to slowly but surely flash the stock cf03 rom to the unit.

Hooray!

However, all is not as it seems. Good news is not the only news here. I have now some bad news, and some even worse news:

I decided that my problem must be the computer. "The computer is weird or something" I said (or something to that effect) in both real life (in my head, not to myself out loud) and on the board here. So, I go to the trusty good ol' hp pavilion zt1250 from 2001 with success in mind. I made sure the thing was fully charged and that I had the rom that whatshisname recommended I use as the stock rom and that they were both on the USB drive. I even unplugged the wireless card, just for good measure, and let the flashing begin! For the first and only time ever, the phone happily updated its progress meter the entire way to a hundred percent. The whole process went fine. Little did it know however, that that happy little spree there would also be its last. You see, my dear friends of the community, as quickly as my immersion into the modern windows mobile world occurred, so has my departure. What happened? Read on, dear friend: Upon successful flashing, I waited for the player to shut down, which it did, so I unplugged the cable, and reset. I waited eagerly as I wondered what I would finally do with my fancy new Windows Mobile 6 music player. Maybe play some music! Internet radio perhaps? Maybe some nice Windows Mobile video games. No sooner had these thoughts crossed my mind then a new one: "Why is this thing taking such a great length of time to boot? Normally I see the Omnia logo by now". If your eyes are too full of tears right now to read on, now is a good place to stop. Depending on which operating system you are running, there maybe a bright red square exit button in the corner of your browser or similar used for exiting common applications. Friend, it is not too late to press this button. The story is still a happy ending :) so far anyway... Anyway, I took the omnia, and I rotated it in my hand so that I could not see the front of the unit... or the bottom... or the left side... or the... right... side......... The face of the music player, the side of the Samsung Omnia sch i910 that I had worked so hard with so much patience and perseverance to fix, the music player that I thought I could prove the community wrong and flash over usb 1 instead of 2... that music player was displaying on the side mentioned just a few seconds ago... Red light of DEATH. Everyone knows that you can fix a bricked music player, but if knowledge serves me right, a single red light upon boot/reset following a successful or unsuccessful firmware upgrade represents the end. If so, it also represents another extremely sad situation: the end of me as a MoDaCo user. Yes friend, I own no other windows mobile devices (other than an old hp iPAQ 4150, but who wants windows mobile 2003?).

Anyway, now we've got that out of the way, what parts can I sell, or would anybody want to buy the whole thing. Brand new USB cable and headphone adapter. Real shame, never got to use the headphone adapter, not even once. How sad: I never once received the privilege of listening to music on my music player. B) :D B) If you can think of a sadder story, I'll give you a cookie :D .

Or is it possible, oh even remotely possible, to revive it in its deathly condition? What did that guy from romania do back in the day that used to fix these, or was the secret never revealed...

Gee, it is just so utterly sad and shocking... that... I... can... hardly... write...

- 2 Bunny ;)

[Guest DirtySanchez]

Wow is this for real 2 Bunny u are a strange bird, So long story short u fixed it? U didnt fix it? Still not too sure where u where going with this, but ya Did u ever think that maybe the guy u got it from damaged it and it just wont work? O well heres to another strange post :)

[Guest kdkinc]

Wow is this for real 2 Bunny u are a strange bird, So long story short u fixed it? U didnt fix it? Still not too sure where u where going with this, but ya Did u ever think that maybe the guy u got it from damaged it and it just wont work? O well heres to another strange post :)

+1 FUNNY !!!

B) :D

[Guest 2 Bunny]

I'm disappointed you take my time of mourning with such little compassion. I was even going to post the funeral on YouTube.

No offers for purchase? It can be fixed, you just have to have two of these fancy confusing machines I saw in a video on YouTube. Oh, you also have to understand foreign languages and you also must be able to solder 15+ tiny little cables to the connector for a ribbon cable. You also have to have a computer with USB 2 (for flashing after you have the bootloader fixed) that is NOT an hp pavilion m400y desktop, because it will always fail to flash the firmware.

If I could've waited another day 'til I could get to a computer with usb 2. That would've been today. I've been monkeying with this for nearly two months now! Believe me, you can't imagine the frustration...

- 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Holy crap, a breakthrough! No, I didn't fix the machine, but I actually might be able to.

http://cgi.ebay.com/SAMSUNG-OMNIA-i900-JTA...=item3ca5a5340a

That link was where i found the tool that may assist us in repair! Does anyone know how to flash the bootloader using that tool?

- 2 Bunny

[Guest DirtySanchez]

2 Bunny

I dont mean to Joke at your misfortune, But u have to admit the rambling is a bit much. I woldnt waste your money on that cord its made for i900 and if you look threw the other forums u will see that i910 & i900 just dont mix.

Here is another idea:

if you have a desktop = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...4-216-_-Product

if you only have a laptop to work with then this might work http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...5-030-_-Product i suggest one with a power cord and not one that runs on usb power.

as for the rest do the cf03 to clear out anything then look for any of the roms to flash with and u should be good.

[Guest 2 Bunny]

2 Bunny

I dont mean to Joke at your misfortune, But u have to admit the rambling is a bit much. I woldnt waste your money on that cord its made for i900 and if you look threw the other forums u will see that i910 & i900 just dont mix.

Here is another idea:

if you have a desktop = http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...4-216-_-Product

if you only have a laptop to work with then this might work http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...5-030-_-Product i suggest one with a power cord and not one that runs on usb power.

as for the rest do the cf03 to clear out anything then look for any of the roms to flash with and u should be good.

Yeah, only that was a tad bit too late. If you had actually read my "unimportant ramblings", you would've discovered that I have bricked the unit, and it doesn't matter if I upgrade to usb version 10 now, without a boot sector repair, I can't do anything. This would include going to that other computer I was talking about that I know had usb 2 plugs where I could've plugged the machine up at, loaded in the drivers, flashed in the correct firmware, and not be monkeying with tedious crap like JTAG connectors and flashing boot sectors right now. Also, is the JTAG connector for the 900 and the 910 really different? I know a lot of stuff from the 900 to the 910 is not mix and match, but did you actually know/check that for sure? Thanks for the suggestion though.

For anyone else reading this in the same predicament that I was in, read this:

That old laptop from 2001 sitting in the corner may look tempting to use to flash firmware to your Omnia i910, but if it is one of those old laptops from 2001 (before usb 2 was invented) and it has usb 1, DON'T USE IT! It will flash slowly and successfully, but your music player will be converted into a brick, not changeable from that status without some work with the bootloader.

Back to my more public announcement, does anyone know of anyone who has used those JTAG cables to fix the bootloader in an i910? According to this listing: http://www.cellcorner.com/xshp/unlock-phon...lock-cable.html They are interchangeable, but the one fellow who posted said they weren't, so I really don't know. What interface would I look for, USB or ethernet. Do I need any additional supplies or drivers (I found some already on omnia-repairs.com or omnia-repair.com or something to that effect with some instructions and some other crap, but I'm not sure if it is for the same thing. If anyone has any suggestions, those would be welcome. Or, if you would like to sell me a motherboard, or maybe buy some pieces off of my player, or some kind of trade to that effect there is a chance that I might be able to work something out.

Thanks for all your help everyone!

- 2 Bunny

[Guest DirtySanchez]

2 Bunny,

not to go over something you might have done or not thought about look at this

http://search.vzw.com/?do=viewdoc&id=2...p;supportview=1

the alt way is a hard reset & format to the phone with the keys i would try this, it might be able to bring it back to life.

Also not sure where in the world you are but most places have a tech store of some kind and might have a USB hub to fix your USB 1.0 to USB 2.0 problem.

O and for that cord I'm not 100% sure it wont work I'm just saying be careful on what u spend your money on :)

Edited January 27, 2010 by DirtySanchez

[Guest 2 Bunny]

2 Bunny,

not to go over something you might have done or not thought about look at this

http://search.vzw.com/?do=viewdoc&id=2...p;supportview=1

the alt way is a hard reset & format to the phone with the keys i would try this, it might be able to bring it back to life.

Well, if you had read my long emotional speech, you would've seen that I really bricked it this time:

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?s=&sho...t&p=1170027

Anyway, if you or anyone else know any useful tips for JTAG flashing, that would be most helpful. That is my only option now, other than to consider the thing a brick.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Well, if you had read my long emotional speech, you would've seen that I really bricked it this time:

http://www.modaco.com/index.php?sho...t&p=1170027

Anyway, if you or anyone else know any useful tips for JTAG flashing, that would be most helpful. That is my only option now, other than to consider the thing a brick.

- 2 Bunny

Newly added thought: Since I am very new to the world of JTAG flashing and such if I choose to go that route, I found roughly, that I need two items (correct me if I am wrong): A JTAG adapter unit that mounts onto the music player itself, and a JTAG to usb adapter. I am confused about both. For the first item, the adapter, I need one that just has the pins sticking up so that I can plug a JTAG cable into it, right? Like this perhaps: http://www.multi-com.pl/index.php/en_US,de...categories.html And next, what has me confused, is why do all the JTAG to USB adapters vary in price so much? I've seen them well into the hundreds, but I've also seen this more cost effective one for only 26.95: http://cgi.ebay.com/USB-AVR-JTAG-JTAGICE-P...=item53df59b8bd Would someone kindly tell me perhaps what there is to learn here as far as the needed supplies if I were to go the repairs route? Thanks!

Bump, and another thought, could I do a motherboard transplant instead if I could find a wrecked omnia cheap enough? Maybe just find one with a broken screen, or something else that I could just replace with parts from my current one.

Next question: Does anyone have an Omnia i910 Motherboard that they could sell to me, or perhaps a unit with a working motherboard? :)

- 2 Bunny

Edited January 30, 2010 by 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Well, I think I am going to go the route of the eBay item I put in my post, and find out which way the pinout goes. This one, that is:

http://www.support.multi-com.pl/OmniaRepai...nia_details.jpg I won't embed it, because the picture is too big for the thread. I just don't know which way the jtag connector is. Is it from the front or back? The cable is symmetrical, so you can't tell. I'm sure it is really quite obvious, but I don't usually have to follow wiring diagrams. I have a friend who can help me out with that.

I assume that the "silence of the community" on this one means either that I have not given enough time for a reply, or you guys agree with me. Either that, or nobody knows about it. That would make me a "pioneer of the community". Hurray! Chef excellence says it is excellent... (YouTube it, it is a funny joke).

Any comments or suggestions are welcome as usual to make me feel less like I am "stumbling in the dark". I have since the last post seen a Parallel port variety of the JTAG adapter, and I was just wondering if perhaps the "omnia repair tool" program Windows Application was compatible with Parallel ports adapters also. Otherwise, I'll just get the USB one to be safe.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Well, I think I am going to go the route of the eBay item I put in my post, and find out which way the pinout goes. This one, that is:

http://www.support.multi-com.pl/OmniaRepai...nia_details.jpg I won't embed it, because the picture is too big for the thread. I just don't know which way the jtag connector is. Is it from the front or back? The cable is symmetrical, so you can't tell. I'm sure it is really quite obvious, but I don't usually have to follow wiring diagrams. I have a friend who can help me out with that.

I assume that the "silence of the community" on this one means either that I have not given enough time for a reply, or you guys agree with me. Either that, or nobody knows about it. That would make me a "pioneer of the community". Hurray! Chef excellence says it is excellent... (YouTube it, it is a funny joke).

Any comments or suggestions are welcome as usual to make me feel less like I am "stumbling in the dark". I have since the last post seen a Parallel port variety of the JTAG adapter, and I was just wondering if perhaps the "omnia repair tool" program Windows Application was compatible with Parallel ports adapters also. Otherwise, I'll just get the USB one to be safe.

- 2 Bunny

All right. So I went and actually looked up a pinout, and the cheap usb adapter I had highlighted before (the eBay one) has all the pins that are needed. My next question would be software. What software is needed to repair this? I was thinking of using the "Omnia Repair Tool Program", but I'm not sure if that will work. If not, are there alternate apps available? When I tried opening the program now, I got a message about it being a virus, so I used this one site where you can upload the file, and it will use many different programs to scan it, and about five of the forty plus scanners on the list found something suspicious, but only AVG detected it as Win32.CryptExe Does anyone know if the version from the official site does that? Oh, the supposedly infected file is the xscale_emulator.dll file.

Hope you guys can help me find some software to work with the tools that I will be ordering...

Thanks for all your help.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

All right, my fellows of the community, here is another new update to the situation:

I have finally taken a proper look at the pinout (the text description of each pin, not just the picture) and asked a friend to confirm my woes, and have now ordered a JTAG tool. He will be further assisting me in the fine art of separating the ribbon cable and soddering each and every one onto their appropriate places on the board. I will then be trying several pieces of software to flash the bootloader back. I'll be trying the omnia repair tool software, the old version of the ort software, and the OneNand flash utility.

If anyone has any handy hints, comments, or anything, by all means post. The adapter should be arriving on monday, which means I will most likely be working out a repair that evening. If this works, it will be a huge breakthrough in the community for this particular music player, and being able to repair it for under twenty six dollars (if you have a soddering machine and skill to use it).

Thanks for all your help, dear community!

- 2 Bunny

[Guest rfarrah]

All right, my fellows of the community, here is another new update to the situation:

I have finally taken a proper look at the pinout (the text description of each pin, not just the picture) and asked a friend to confirm my woes, and have now ordered a JTAG tool. He will be further assisting me in the fine art of separating the ribbon cable and soddering each and every one onto their appropriate places on the board. I will then be trying several pieces of software to flash the bootloader back. I'll be trying the omnia repair tool software, the old version of the ort software, and the OneNand flash utility.

If anyone has any handy hints, comments, or anything, by all means post. The adapter should be arriving on monday, which means I will most likely be working out a repair that evening. If this works, it will be a huge breakthrough in the community for this particular music player, and being able to repair it for under twenty six dollars (if you have a soddering machine and skill to use it).

Thanks for all your help, dear community!

- 2 Bunny

2 Bunny, I think you're out there on the really bleeding edge. You're the pioneer! Good luck and let us know how you do.

[Guest 2 Bunny]

2 Bunny, I think you're out there on the really bleeding edge. You're the pioneer! Good luck and let us know how you do.

Well, I've got everything hooked up. The driver supplied in the package is not correctly functioning, but the one that came on the CD with the adapter is.

Does anyone know why I am still getting a JTAG connection error?

- 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Well, I'll tell you what: It has been quite a "journey" to fix this music player. Currently, I still have a JTAG connection error, but I think it all boils down to a driver issue. I need to adjust the driver config file so that Windows will recognize it with my JTAG adapter.

Any suggestions?

And if not, does anyone have the proper capabilities to repair the machine? Could it be done for under twenty dollars plus shipping perhaps?

That is right, I might pay to get this fixed. Twenty is on the high end, fifteen or ten would be doable as well. See, I got the thing used from someone who didn't know how to use their music player. He or She lost basically everything but the battery and the player itself - no joke (Well, I guess he or she left the battery door). I dumped down some money right away and got a USB cable and 3.5 millimeter headphone adapter. Then, on day one (as described earlier in the thread) failed at flashing the firmware, tried again on a USB 1 (as opposed to usb 2) laptop which flashed successfully (or so the screen said) and then just left me with the red light of death. Bought a USB JTAG adapter for 26 dollars, had a friend work for hours to get the JTAG ribbon cable itself split apart and actually mounted on all the tiny pins. Now, I would hate for this friend's efforts to be wasted, so does anyone have the capabilities to repair this OR does anyone know what needs to be done to the Omnia Repair Tool Program driver to make it work with this? Thanks.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest 2 Bunny]

Well, I'll tell you what: It has been quite a "journey" to fix this music player. Currently, I still have a JTAG connection error, but I think it all boils down to a driver issue. I need to adjust the driver config file so that Windows will recognize it with my JTAG adapter.

Any suggestions?

And if not, does anyone have the proper capabilities to repair the machine? Could it be done for under twenty dollars plus shipping perhaps?

That is right, I might pay to get this fixed. Twenty is on the high end, fifteen or ten would be doable as well. See, I got the thing used from someone who didn't know how to use their music player. He or She lost basically everything but the battery and the player itself - no joke (Well, I guess he or she left the battery door). I dumped down some money right away and got a USB cable and 3.5 millimeter headphone adapter. Then, on day one (as described earlier in the thread) failed at flashing the firmware, tried again on a USB 1 (as opposed to usb 2) laptop which flashed successfully (or so the screen said) and then just left me with the red light of death. Bought a USB JTAG adapter for 26 dollars, had a friend work for hours to get the JTAG ribbon cable itself split apart and actually mounted on all the tiny pins. Now, I would hate for this friend's efforts to be wasted, so does anyone have the capabilities to repair this OR does anyone know what needs to be done to the Omnia Repair Tool Program driver to make it work with this? Thanks.

- 2 Bunny

Well, I've pretty much given up on this repair. What I am looking for now, is a person who could repair this cheaply, either with the current machine, or with a different one. The thing is, I would send it to you with the current machine attached. If you want to repair it with that machine, go for it. If not, you'll have to detach it. But you can keep the current JTAG USB adapter if I can get a slight break in the cost.

Thanks for all the help here from the community. I've already had someone contact me on it, but I think he has lost my email, so the repair is still up for grabs.

- 2 Bunny

[Guest rfarrah]

Well, I've pretty much given up on this repair. What I am looking for now, is a person who could repair this cheaply, either with the current machine, or with a different one. The thing is, I would send it to you with the current machine attached. If you want to repair it with that machine, go for it. If not, you'll have to detach it. But you can keep the current JTAG USB adapter if I can get a slight break in the cost.

Thanks for all the help here from the community. I've already had someone contact me on it, but I think he has lost my email, so the repair is still up for grabs.

- 2 Bunny

I'd do it for free, if I knew how. Hopefully someone around here knows about the hardware side of this issue. Good luck!

[Guest necosino]

As far as I know, JTAG only ever worked on the i900. Maybe try to see if you can get an i900 driver to load and recognize your phone and then see if JTAG will do anything for you.