yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] Kobrax:
I can't find the original post I am trying to quote but the Author OP mentioned the dates of the fmw

This screen sites The date as 09/2012 so I take it this is safe as it isnt the April date?

By the way I'm on XXELLA based in UK myself and on 3Three.
[Galaxy S III General] Bushido76:
Hey guys,

yesterday I read a lot of posts saying that kernel version LLA is needed to be safe. And I agree that the latest kernel version will most likely be the best fix. ;)

But to have a good comparison I unpacked the kernel images of LL5 and LLA and had a look for the two strings (﻿„CMD13(VC)*failed“ and „VTU00M“). The search was successful in both kernel versions - so I conclude that LLA shouldn't be the only safe kernel version. ;)

Bushido
[Galaxy S III General] KeesStolk:
TA can work with the latest stock kernel and bootloader, but every time you go into recovery it will count and give you a red marker.

So, do your stuff at recovery and when done, run TA and remember that every time you go into recovery, you need to run TA again to set the counter to 0, no red marker and download mode (3 combi button) says you have a official rom installed.

It will not count, give a red marker or set it to custom when just reboot or turn off completely and turn it back on again, only when going into recovery or using TA just to check.

Tested it more then 10 times now.

Samsung probably has some tools to get further info to see if you run custom or not, but when just want to check it with the 3 button combo, it will say official and 0.

Edit:

As mentioned there are some apps on in Play store that shows your bootloader like network signal > system tab.
[Galaxy S III General] un4seen:
What kinda baffles me is the fact that XDA-Developers main portal didn't care enough to make even a short post about it. They post things about tiny, unimportant apps, but somehow fail to mention that what is probably the most popular device has a built-in use-by date, due to Samsung's incompetence.

I mean, even Engadget made a small story about it, ffs.
[Galaxy S III General] Grimthorr:
Picked it up from the store today. Looking good so far, let's hope it can last until at least the end of my contract this time! Motherboard was swapped out for a new one (16GB model), with the same chassis, battery and so on. Using the *#12580*369# code I've got "RF cal: 2013.1.7" and "HW Rev: REV0.1".
[Galaxy S III General] shengeu:
I had the exactly same cases with you, BUT unfortunately, until the step of put it in for charge, my phone does not respond/on as well. Certified DEAD. couldnt get any information before my phone died.

Btw im from Malaysia, sent my phone to Samsung Service Center for warranty and the technician told me the motherboard have to be changed before he asked me for more details. Seems like there is ALOT of similar cases happened and will happen in Malaysia. :(
[Galaxy S III General] Marilize-Legajuana:
And that mean they know about damaged chip?
[Galaxy S III General] pickandwhammy:
Chip isn't damaged, it's the kernel's Wear Levelling algorithm that's buggy.
[Galaxy S III General] shengeu:
My SGS3 had the blue notification LED light ON, and i could not unlock the screen. pressed everything and tried all the combo keys. No response.

Did a battery pull, and Im NOT able to ON the phone anymore ( not even light, led light, vibration or whatsoever, just a dead BRICK)
[Galaxy S III General] Marilize-Legajuana:
Ok, thanks for information :)
[Galaxy S III General] blyx21:
Guys please if you had sds issue pls put

When and where was bought:

Os whether stock or custom what kernel and boothloader. Especially put in if your running the latest ella stock or custom. Its indicated in the OP. Ty
[Galaxy S III General] pickandwhammy:
Just a suggestion: you could use the thank button instead, mate :cowboy:
[Galaxy S III General] InfX:
Wear leveling on eMMC is done by the eMMC internal firmware, not by kernel. Hopefully the workaround in the new kernels is good enough to deal with the issue, though. And, i wish we knew more about what exactly is the issue. Just saying a "faulty wear leveler" isn't nearly any detailed.
[Galaxy S III General] CSeb95:
I bring mine into a Samsung certified repair center in Paris yesterday. They didn't know anything about sudden death :(

They took the phone for diagnostic.

When I phone in the afternoon to get some news, they ask me for 249€ to repair the phone or 20€ to get it back as it was rooted (The download mode was reachable but not working and I didn't reset the counter last time I flashed :( ). They wouldn't change their mind whatever I may say on phone.

So I sent a mail with a reference to the europen directive 1999/44/EC that states that user is free of software modifications and that seller must repair the device in case of hardware failure during 2 years except if they prove that it is due to the software modication.

Reply in ten minute : we will repair the phone under garanty BUT it is not because of european directive... lol

The problem is Samsung ask customer services and certified repair center to refuse the phone if it has been rooted even if it's illegal. I saw the Samsung directive the repair center had.

What a shamefull behaviour :(
[Galaxy S III General] shengeu:
Bought in July

From Malaysia

JB update from kies

Stock ROM

Stock Kernal

NO OC or UC

Battery: Cell made in Korea, Assembled in Vietnam
[Galaxy S III General] pickandwhammy:
I meant the kernel-level fix which Samsung has brought out.

---------- Post added at 06:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:30 PM ----------

What's the shortest known life of a dead S3?
[Galaxy S III General] nex86:
to test if they really fixed it:

let this script run for a few days:

#!/bin/bash
for (( ; ; ))
do
echo "KILLDATCELL" > /data/local/tmp/sudden.death
# sleep 1
done

haven't test this but it should infinite write KILLDATCELL in one file over and over :D
[Galaxy S III General] pickandwhammy:
And who'll be willing to send their phone to a suicide mission? :p
[Galaxy S III General] invinciblecc:
Guys what do you suggest I do I an in India Uttar Pradesh and my phone was broought around June I thunk I might face the sds

In India do we ha've the law that rooted phones dshould be repaired or will they check if phone is rooted or not and refuse me warranty I have rooted via c.f. root and I m on stock jellybean

Also would using triangle away and setting the flash counter to 0 every boot prevent me from this issue also

I haven't flashed any custom Rom I am on stock jellybean pleaseptic advise should I just uproot and getback to stock

---------- Post added at 07:07 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:06 PM ----------

Also now what's finally true about sds whyvisvny it caused and is there any way odd knowing whether I face it in future or not

---------- Post added at 07:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:07 PM ----------

Also now what's finally true about sds whyvisvny it caused and is there any way odd knowing whether I face it in future or not'
[Galaxy S III General] Yorism:
So i've just made an account for this. So here we go.

What happened

So I was watching a movie. Phone was around 30% battery. Lay it down next to me, after about 30 minutes wanted to check something. Picked it up, and there is was, dead as a rock. Last time I used it there was nothing wrong with it. Removed battery, SD, etc. Tried to reboot. Still nothing. Its the international version.

Where phone was made

No clue. Bought in the Netherlands.

Where battery was made

Stock battery. Cell made in Korea, assembled in Vietnam according to the battery.

What firmware you were running

CM10.1 Nightlie of 08/01/2013

Can you access download mode?

Nope
[Galaxy S III General] InfX:
You are making all too many assumptions here:

The file system in use is unaware about the content of the file remaining identical, so it actually writes the same data over and over again.

The file system in use is going to write to the same location, not moving the file anywhere.

The wear leveler isn't just faulty, but practically non-existent.

While 1 is very likely, 2 is less likely, while 3 is very unlikely. So it isn't really a good check.
[Galaxy S III General] arnonuem:
Could you do this also for kernel image of LL4? Since my S3 came back from Samung with a motherboard replacement and a firmware update to LL4.

Thanks,

arnonuem
[Galaxy S III General] pickandwhammy:
Poor sod! CM10.1 20130109 had the eMMC failure patch! How old was your handset?

As for the solution: there isn't any. You'll have to send it to the service centre. Some places know about the issue and will replace the handset, others will void your warranty for being rooted.
[Galaxy S III General] fitipardi:
Hi,

I read the european directive 1999/44/EC but i can´t see the paragraph where it says that "user is free of software modifications and that seller must repair the device in case of hardware failure during 2 years except if they prove that it is due to the software modification."

Could you indicate where is it?

thanks a lot
[Galaxy S III General] Entropy512:
No, it's NOT the kernel. It's the internal firmware within the eMMC chip.

All the kernel is doing is patching a few bytes in that firmware after the eMMC chip powers on.
[Galaxy S III General] CSeb95:
Here : (Directive 1999/44/CE, §7.1 http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/c...numdoc&lg=en&numdoc=31999L0044&model=guichett ) but I don't really understand either.

A post in english : http://matija.suklje.name/rooting-and-flashing-your-device-does-not-void-the-warranty-in-eu

Two in french :

http://www.android-mt.com/news/flasher-ou-rooter-son-appareil-nannule-pas-la-garantie-6996

http://generationmobiles.net/2012/11/14/flasherrooter-son-appareil-android-nannule-pas-la-garantie/
[Galaxy S III General] ponepo:
Hi all,

Assuming that there is no NAND degradation or similar and that SDS come for something specific, why over 90% of the deaths have come from the fourth month onwards? Why have not failed at 4 days or two weeks, for example? What is the secret component involved over time to fail?
[Galaxy S III General] alformiga:
I'm Safe? I'm Safe? I'm safe?....WTF....

Let's gather the 7 dragon balls and ask Shenlong to protect these S3....
[Galaxy S III General] AxelCM1:
SD help

If I have not already ELL5 should I worry? Or you think I should put ELLA?
[Galaxy S III General] pickandwhammy:
As of now the only known source of sudden deaths is eMMC failure. It takes time to break down, like SSDs do.
[Galaxy S III General] Bushido76:
It seems that LL5 contains the fix too - but maybe a previous version. So I would recommend to switch to LLA.
[Galaxy S III General] SephiZ:
battery charge

hello everyone !

have some issue with battery and don't know if related with sudden death but maybe some people could give me some informations here :)

i have my GS3 since july and it's been now a few days now that my battery have serious issues, it's now very hard to charge my battery..

i try to charge my phone the whole night ( for like 8h ) and dont even reach the 100% when i was at like 15% yesterday.

there is something weird, when i charge my phone, the red led sometimes is "weak" and sometimes is normal.

is it a sign that my battery is dying ? or more is to expect :/ ?
[Galaxy S III General] htcsnap93:
Try another charger, if that doesnt fix it try another battery. If that doesnt fix it it means godzilla is going to eat a banana flavoured burrito...

Then sent it back for warranty.

People are gettint paranoid that 1500 devices out of 40 milion quit working.
[Galaxy S III General] MIKEMON:
I had a similar problem, replace the battery and everything is fine, it may not be a symptom of SDS.
[Galaxy S III General] SephiZ:
thank you for your help

thanks, did you already changed your battery ? i feel a bit disappointed by Samsung battery quality... which battery did you bought then ?
[Galaxy S III General] MIKEMON:
yes, I know I often reloaded at least twice a day and after six months the same problem as yours.

I bought a samsung battery, did not want to recognize a guarantee, I said to myself caused the problem!!
[Galaxy S III General] htcsnap93:
If you have warranty you get a new battery from samsung bit it takes a week or two.
[Galaxy S III General] rezapatel:
Interesting would be to see any further SDS situations on devices with the patched kernels.

I have been following this thread every couple hours hoping to not find anything from here on..

Good luck to our ticking bombs!

Sent from my Galaxy S3
[Galaxy S III General] bruno12345:
Is xxella safe or I must install phersus kernel?
[Galaxy S III General] T0xic4u:
AFAIK, battery has only 6 month warranty. When I worked for Siemens Mobile, we put a sticker on boxes with the 6 month.

Taper di Tap with my S3 @178 days
[Galaxy S III General] Blue_Nexus:
friend talkir

Hi Folks,

Got my phone back from samsung today. They replaced the main board. No explanation as to the fault.

The repaired phone's specs - :cyclops:

AP:I9300XXELL4

CP:I9300XXELL4

CSC:I9300OAXELL4

RF CAL:2012.12.14

HW REV: MP1.500

ANDROID 4.1.2

BASEBAND VERSION I9300XXELLA4

KERNEL VERSION

3.0.31-566833

SE.INFRA@SEP-61#1

SMP PREEMT MON DEC 10 17:04:24 KST

2012

BUILD NUMBER - JZO54K.I9300XXELLA4

EMMC CHIP

TYPE: VTU00M

DATE 09/2012

FWREV: 0XF1
[Galaxy S III General] krivinash:
are there any new cases? :D
[Galaxy S III General] Yorism:
Yea.. i read that somewhere too.. Will be updating my new device every day lol. Bought it June 19th. I've just applied my device to a server center. Will be sending it over tomorrow probably.

IF they 'void my warranty' they shouldn't be able to right? According to this thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1998801
[Galaxy S III General] Entropy512:
We will likely never know the specific secret component, but with knowledge of the behavior of eMMC, how it behaves, and how Samsung eMMCs have failed in the past, we can guess.

The wear leveller keeps track of what memory blocks have been used and what haven't, and relocates blocks periodically to spread wear across the device. For example, if you write to the fourth block of the eMMC repeatedly, internally it'll map the fourth block to the 100th, then maybe the 150th, then 200th, etc...

At some point, after a long time of operation, the wear leveller might reach a corner case where a bug is triggered - my guess would be an integer overflow or a signed vs. unsigned issue. For example, it's working with the 32767th instance of block 5, and tries to increment a counter to 32768 - but instead, gets -32768 instead because something is treating an unsigned int as signed. The next time it tries to work with that counter, BOOM - it crashes. Again, we don't know the exact nature of what's happening, but it's likely something along these lines.

It's very similar to what happened with Superbrick on the GS2 - if you issued a secure erase command to erase memory that was in a certain specific state (I can't talk about what the exact state is, sorry... And no, there's no way to tell if the memory is in that state unless you're Samsung or you've Superbricked it.), the wear leveller would crash and leave behind corrupted data structures - any attempt to access these structures again would crash the wear leveller again. The symptom to the user was any attempt to access affected regions of the eMMC would cause the chip to hang.
[Galaxy S III General] AxelCM1:
XXELL5 has the fix?

Enviado desde mi GT-I9300 usando Tapatalk 2
[Galaxy S III General] bsamardzhiev:
Big thanks for Entropy, who has the will to explain us, things we will never know!
[Galaxy S III General] emelsk:
See post #2722.
[Galaxy S III General] fmtrx:
Man, what you describe here does not have to do with "SDS : sudden death syndrome of phone" but rather with "SLDSBC: slow death syndrome of battery/charger /charging circuit". :rolleyes:
[Galaxy S III General] un4seen:
*

So, any idea as to why XDA-developers doesn't publish this on a front page? Feels like someone is trying to score some cheap points with Samsung by keeping it quiet. Most tech portals at least did a short mention of the issue, yet on XDA it's as if everything is O.K and we all love Samsung.
[Galaxy S III General] behemot24:
Where did you get the 1500 number from?
[Galaxy S III General] JJEgan:
Its been on the portal .

jje
[Galaxy S III General] DJ Palmis:
Well I answere myself: https://android.googlesource.com/kernel/omap.git/+/cea631bdac53f85cc3bfd720da04f726aae33eaa^!/

/* modification vendor cmd */
/* enter vendor command mode */
err = mmc_movi_vendor_cmd(card, 0xEFAC62EC);
if (err)
goto out;

err = mmc_movi_vendor_cmd(card, 0x10210000);
if (err)
goto out;

/* set value 0x000000FF : It's hidden data
* When in vendor command mode, the erase command is used to
* patch the firmware in the internal sram.
*/
err = mmc_movi_erase_cmd(card, 0x0004DD9C, 0x000000FF);

So they patch binary code running on NAND Flash.

And it is a pretty amount of code so I wonder if this binary has some istruction that allows to store itself in a non-volatile region of NAND logic (I don't believe that device allows it).

So I have a question: I have not updated my S3 to XELLA... For those who updated: Did your NAND firmware version/date changed?

Anyway I hope Samsung uploads italian S3 update! -.-
[Galaxy S III General] Marilize-Legajuana:
May be this code added just to log the rooted phones? :angel:
[Galaxy S III General] drakester09:
Version will not be updated as this is a soft patch that is applied in memory and not physically on the emmc firmware. As I understand that would be very dangerous and has a high failure probability.

Better update as soon as you can. ;)
[Galaxy S III General] InfX:
No.
[Galaxy S III General] JKM2247:
Surely, aren't you writing this post in an XDA forum ??????
[Galaxy S III General] Alf0903:
Well just an update on my SDS from a mexican Telcel (carrier) user, on january 6th I received a SMS stating that my phone was ready, So I went to their customer service centre, once thereI was told that my cellphone was not ready, and they were sorry about that "system error", I talk with the cehtre's manager about it, and place an online complaint, at the very next day I received again a SMS stating that my SGIII was ready to be collected, I went to pick it up, they told me it was repaired, the fix report stated changed hardware on warranty, but I am pretty sure they gave me a new phone, since it has a diferent IMEI,it came with 4.0.4, and the RF cal is 2012.11.25, that is 1 month before my SG3 died (dec. 25th).

This is the new SG3's data:

New IMEI

Android 4.0.4

Base Band I9300 UDLD5

Kernel 3.0.15-554633

Compilation IMM76D.I9300UBALE6

As soon as I received it it notificated me about an OTA update available, and updated it, and it again had another OTA update (2 OTA updates), at the end of the updating procedure, this are thefinal Data:

Android 4.1.1

Base Band I9300 UBDLI2

Kernel 3.0.31-306699

Compilation JRO03C.I9300UBDLJ2

After using *#12580*369#

AP: I9300UBDLJ2

CP: I9300BDLI2

CSC: I9300TCEDLJ1

RF cal: 2012.11.25

HW Rev.: MP1.400

I am pretty dissapointed of @samsungmobilemx because they have not released any ELLLA update, and here in Mexico we are never up to date in regards to new ROMs.

I used eMMC check and my g3 has the infamousVTU00M and the FwRev: 0xf1, so this new SG3 is in danger of suffering the SDS, so I am requesting your pro advise:

Should I flash XXELLA and wait for the official TELCEL ROM to be released (I do not think it will happen any time soon), or

Keep the stock ROM as it is right now, and just flash one of the safe custom Kernels and Custom recoveries?

Thanks in advance!
[Galaxy S III General] Entropy512:
That's correct. To my knowledge, the only way to update the firmware in a nonvolatile manner involves fully resetting the entire chip. This includes wiping EVERYTHING on it - bootloaders and all. In addition, if the process fails, you can wind up with a totally dead chip that is unrecoverable by any means. (This latter point is why Samsung never released a method for repairing Superbrick damage - the failure rate of the reset/update was apparently over 50%, and Samsung was justifiably afraid of people performing upgrades/resets on devices that didn't need it.)
[Galaxy S III General] htcsnap93:
This number is made up, im guessing that the actual Number is 20 to 40 thousand, but also that number is made up.

Let me help you explain how quality control works.

Im an engineer whom make machines to weld car parts. Those company's have insane quality due to human safety AND more important (for the big boss) to maintain a stable production. Time is money

I heard samsung made 40-50 million S3's. Lets pick 50. I also ASSUME that Samsung does NOT have a Triple A status. That means that 0.08 % is faulty IF this bug only exists in a batch of 40,000 S3's.

Most companys work with AQL (accepted quantity level) methods to accept or decline a specific batch.

Assuming this problem has not been discoverd by Samsung whilst making the S3's and assuming they flag the sudden deaths as a single batch that went faulty. They have NO reason at all to make a press statement. .08% of 50 million is not that big deal for Samsung IF all those people wont complain. And they wont, becayse we are not all XDA's. Common folks ask for warranty, get a new phone and never complaining again. .08% is an acceptable value for a electronics company.

I read that 250 persons on XDA had SDS. Assuming they are complaining their lungs out. For samsung that is 0,0005 percent of all S3's.

Long story short

So what they are doing (IN MY BELIEVE), is fixing this bug on the background so the common folks wont know and wont complain. Also I do believe that Samsung knows that this is a big problem but they are just holding the fire in the matchbox.

Ever wondered why Car companys as Toyota yell out loud when they have a recall for a few thousand models? Exactly, triple A status combined with very narrow AQL levels.

Trust me i'm an engineer !

(Don't, actually)
[Galaxy S III General] rabarkar:
It's up to you... Telcel is going to take some time to release the new update, as they should be working on adding all the trash they add. I just flashed the XELLA in my Telcel phone, just in case, and is working flawlessly.
[Galaxy S III General] behemot24:
Thank you for your explanations, it all makes sense from a company's point of view (assuming the percentage of faulty devices is that small as 0,08). But in the case of a high-end device priced somewhere between 500-600 € and considering the huge volume of the sales, the impact seems more important to me than a simple "0,08%" - or maybe I'm too subjective, being one of the SDS victims :)
[Galaxy S III General] htcsnap93:
That 0.08% matters alot IF al of those people start complaining. It could severely damage Samsungs reputation and if that happens samsung will do its utmost to fix the problem ASAP. BUT that wont happen. Most people dont complain in public.
[Galaxy S III General] danieldmm:
Are you sure ? (just to change a little all this thing of death) :)
[Galaxy S III General] Haano:
Been reading the past many pages of this thread and have seen people dig into past firnwares looking if they had the SDS fix or not.

People stop beating the bush and being lazy about updating your phone. I apologise to those and understand if your doing this because its not available in your region, but to those doing it because it is in their region isnt very good. If you want to have the highest chance ATM for reducing SDS than flash XELLA bootloader, patched recovery and ROM and all. If not let it be as you may be giving false hope to others who it may unfortunately strike to next.
[Galaxy S III General] DJ Palmis:
Well, As You said, We don't have knowledge about this damn NAND chip.

I was just impressed by the amount of bytes they patch.

It seems it is a complex workaround..
[Galaxy S III General] s_h_a_g_g_y:
Well, still waiting for my S3.

Went in to a Samsung Accredited Service Partner on Sat 29 Dec.

Apperntly went to Samsung on Fri 4th and can take up to 2 weeks...:crying:
[Galaxy S III General] mjb:
You've completely missed the point - it's not to avoid upgrading, it's to find out if the fix has been in place for longer than we thought. This could mean that the fix doesn't actually solve the problem.