[Captivate Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] 4-2ndtwin:
(I'm reposting this thread per request. All credit and thanks goes to the original OP and to others that helped compile and write up this helpful info.

This is basic knowledge for the experienced Captivate user, but a treasure of info to the novice user.

Please keep all posts thread related. Thanks.)

***There are three parts to this thread - How to get into download mode, how to get into recovery mode, and how to solve problems connecting your Android device to your computer. I think you should be able to find where each one begins without too much trouble.***

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GETTING INTO DOWNLOAD MODE

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"Just get into download mode and..."

Ever find yourself with a phone that's misbehaving, and you can't seem to figure out how to get it to download mode?

Here's a list of things to try (many thanks AdamOutler and Pirateghost), sorted in a "where are you now" setup:

FROM A POWERED-DOWN STATE - BATTERY REMOVED

- Insert battery, then press and hold Vol+ and Vol-, then insert your USB cable.

- Press and hold Vol+/Vol-, Insert Battery, Insert USB cable

- Press and hold Vol+/Vol-, Insert USB cable, Insert Battery

- Insert battery, then press and hold Vol-, then insert your USB cable.

- Press and hold Vol-, Insert Battery, Insert USB cable

- Press and hold Vol-, Insert USB cable, Insert Battery

- Use a 301Kohm jig between USB pins 4-5 (can be manufactured jig or homemade chain of resistors)

FROM A BATTERY CHARGING STATE

- With USB cable inserted into Android device, press and hold Vol+/Vol-, then press Power

- With USB cable inserted into Android device, press and hold Vol-, then press Power

- (Advanced Method) Use UART, and during battery charging, type "reboot download"

FROM CLOCKWORKMOD RECOVERY MENU

- Position the cursor (highlighted selection) on "Restart device", Plug in USB cable, press and hold Vol-, then hold Vol+, then press power

- (Where available) Use the "Reboot Download" option in the "Advanced" menu

FROM A FULLY BOOTED PHONE STATE, WITH USB DEBUGGING ENABLED

Note: you may need to have ADB installed on your computer, and/or an Android Terminal Emulator installed on your Android device.

- Connect your Android device to your computer, navigate to your ADB directory, and type "adb reboot download"

- (Where available) Use the rom's power menu option to reboot into download

- From a terminal, type "su", then "reboot download"

- Download the app "quickboot", follow the app directions to reach download mode.

ADVANCED METHODS - REQUIRE HARDWARE MODIFICATIONS OR MORE IN-DEPTH TECHNIQUES

I'm presenting these largely unedited, as I don't want to incorrectly type an important detail of something that I don't understand myself.

- Apply UnBrickable mod to your device, then remove the battery, insert the battery, and click the "Download Mode" button on the computer

- Use UART (619Kohm resistor between USB pins 4-5, D+=RX, D-=TX, 192500bps 8n1 comms), press and hold ENTER while booting, then type USB

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GETTING INTO RECOVERY MODE (CWM RECOVERY)

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(Thanks to TRusselo for writing this out)

FROM A POWERED-DOWN STATE - BATTERY REMOVED

- Insert battery, then press and hold Vol+ and Vol-, then press and hold power. hold all 3 for 5 seconds.

- Press and hold Vol+/Vol-, Insert Battery, hold power. hold all 3 for 5 seconds

- Press and hold Vol+/Vol-, hold power, Insert Battery

- Insert battery, then press and hold Vol+, then press and hold power. hold all 3 for 5 seconds.- Press and hold Vol+, Insert Battery, hold power. hold all 3 for 5 seconds- Press and hold Vol+, hold power, Insert Battery

FROM A BATTERY CHARGING STATE

- With USB cable inserted into Android device, press and hold Vol+/Vol-, then press Power

- With USB cable inserted into Android device, press and hold Vol+, then press Power

- (Advanced Method) Use UART, and during battery charging, type "reboot recovery"

FROM A FULLY BOOTED PHONE STATE, WITH USB DEBUGGING ENABLED

Note: you may need to have ADB installed on your computer, and/or an Android Terminal Emulator installed on your Android device.

- Connect your Android device to your computer, navigate to your ADB directory, and type "adb reboot recovery"

- (Where available) Use the rom's advanced power menu (long press power in android OS) option to reboot into recovery

- From a terminal emulator, type "su", then "reboot recovery"

- Download the app "quickboot", follow the app directions to reach recovery mode.

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UNIVERSAL FIRST STEPS FOR CONNECTION ISSUES

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So you've got Odin/Heimdall up, the phone's in download mode, it's connected to the computer, but Odin/Heimdall is saying "What phone?". You've tried jiggling the handle, checking the blinker fluid levels, and even using the board stretcher, but the Android guy is smirking at you from inside that yellow triangle.

Although it is possible that there is something else at work that's preventing your phone from connecting, I would suggest trying these "universal first steps" to see if you can resolve the connection issues:

1. Turn off both devices - and I do mean full power-down. Go ahead and pull the phone's battery, if necessary.

2. Disconnect your phone from your computer at all points - USB out of phone, USB out of computer.

3. Start up your computer. Don't touch it, don't do anything to it. Let it fully boot and completely settle.

(Obviously, log in if it's necessary, but then let it finish booting before moving on to step 4.)

4. Start up your flashing program (Odin/Heimdall). Let that get completely started and settled.

(If on Vista/Win 7, make sure to "Run as Administrator" in the right-click menu.)

5. Connect your USB cable to a different port than the one you last had it connected to.

(If you're on a Windows desktop, the ports in the back of the computer are generally more stable and should be used. If you're on a laptop, use USB port #1)

Do not connect the phone to the cable yet.

6. Start your phone in download mode. Wait until you see the yellow triangle Android guy with the words "Do Not Turn Off Target".

7. Connect your cable to the phone. Let it sit until Odin/Heimdall recognizes it (which should only take a couple of seconds).

If, for some reason, Odin/Heimdall doesn't recognize the phone at this point, here are a few more things to check/try:

- Repeat steps 1-7 above, making sure to change USB ports. As dumb as it sounds, sometimes the phone or computer just doesn't like particular USB ports.

- With everything still up, switch USB ports.

- Try a different OS (if possible) - sometimes Ubuntu will recognize what Windows won't, and vice versa.

- Try doing this on a different computer - again, different OS, different USB ports, they're all links in a chain and sometimes you'll come across a configuration that doesn't have the weak link.

- Try a different cable. I've had a case where I couldn't do any flashing with one cable, but everything was rock-solid and smooth on the same machine with just a different cable.

- Fully uninstall your drivers, reboot the computer, reinstall the drivers, power down, and then start again from step 2. Sometimes faulty drivers are the problem.

- Remove the drivers for the flashing program you're not using. So, if you're using Heimdall, remove the Odin drivers. If Odin, remove the Heimdall drivers. This will eliminate any potential conflicts.

----Quick explanation of Heimdall / Odin driver conflicts----

If you've used both Heimdall and Odin on the same computer for flashing, you may have noticed that they don't interact nicely when it comes to drivers and ports. What's happening is that when Odin gets the setup it wants, it will overwrite any and all drivers for your phone assigned to any of the USB ports. When Heimdall gets its setup, it will write to the specific port that you have your phone plugged into.

So, to illustrate, assume you have 4 USB ports on your computer. If you use Odin's setup, it will make ports 1-4 "Odin ports". If your first setup is Heimdall, and you put your phone on port #1, you would have port #1 as a Heimdall port with 2-4 unassigned.

Where it gets tricky is if you use Odin or Heimdall after using the other one. Let's say you have a Heimdall port #2 and decide to flash using Odin. Once you set up Odin the way it wants to be set up, you will overwrite all the ports as Odin ports. This means you have no more Heimdall port #2, just Odin ports 1-4. If you use Heimdall after Odin, it will only reassign a single port. So if you had an Odin 1-4 setup and flashed using Heimdall on port #3, you would have Odin ports 1,2, and 4, and Heimdall port #3.

Confusing yet?

Here's the basic rules for planning when using Heimdall and Odin:

- If you're starting from scratch, Odin will write to all ports. Heimdall will write to the port your phone is plugged into.

- If you previously used Heimdall and are now using Odin, all the ports will become Odin ports. To use Heimdall again, you'll have to reinstall the Heimdall driver to the port you're going to use.

- If you previously used Odin and are now using Heimdall, only the port you're using with Heimdall will become a Heimdall port. If you can remember which port you're using and make that a dedicated Heimdall port, you can have the other ports remain Odin ports.