yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] satishp:
Apparently, it seems its just a few of us with the affected chip. Samsung may have already known the issue and kept mum. I say this because, I have a friend who has a 16GB International S3 with a different chip. MAG4FA with firmware 0xf7 dated 09/12. That is September. I believed that newer chips started appearing only by December. Because almost all the newer chips which I've come across are dated 11/12 or later, majority being 12/12. So I guess Samsung knows that compared to numbers sold, only early adopters are affected and hence it explains why they didnt say a word about it. This may even question the actual fix for affected devices. Maybe, Samsung just wants these devices to last through their warranty. They wouldnt change the PCB for a couple of freezes hence saving them $$$. And a part of the people experiencing these freezes would be too busy with work or life to make multiple visits to a service centre.

---------- Post added at 09:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:30 AM ----------

Dude, you should realize that its people like you who post comments based on your emotions and spoil the peace in these forums. Trust me, nobody gives a damn about which device you are going to buy. Be it Samsung or Sony. And neither does any one care about pointless statements like the "S3 doesn't multi-task". Just because you didnt get grapes doesn't mean that all the grapes are sour. The so called "sour grapes" you claim it to be sold 50million+. Right? You're not helping anyone with that. People just dont buy into these things so easily.

People like me and RootSU have affected devices. We didnt get our devices for free. Even we paid money. What we are trying to do is research the issue in depth and help people affected by the issue and also create awareness to prevent the issue.

Last but not the least, there are many other things in the world to cry about; like hunger and cancer. So you and your phone just doesn't cut it. So if you have an affected chip and your device is still alive, just update to the latest firmware and move on.
[Galaxy S III General] maurinet:
I bought mine in November 2012 at a cellphone store in Israel. Right away rooted and updated to latest original firmware available. Then I discovered JKay Settings, after a while it stopped working and asked me for an update, in order to do the update I had to update to a newer firmware so I got XXEMR2, about a month later the freezes started. I read a quote from some Samsung dude saying that the freeze happened in devices that had been flashed many times so I also used Triangle Away to reset the binary counter. I then flashed the phone to it's original firmware (to reset modem) and then flashed XXEMB5; it has been working freeze-free for about four days now. I propose the problem could be in XXEMR2, can someone confirm?

To all those who say they will never get a Samsung ever again, trust me, I sympathize, I used to have the first Galaxy I7500 (plenty of problems and no support AT ALL from Samsung - Thank god for @Drakaz) and other older more frustrating Samsung devices... and somehow, I always end up back to this crappy-support-ass mo'fk'n company that has us grabbed by the nuts.
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
You wrote exactly what I thought to answer ....:thumbup:
[Galaxy S III General] mitchpunk:
So... I just found this thread here and I'm literally a noob, there for , sorry if this message seems stupid to you, but I have to ask.

I installed that brick bug app and apparently my phone has that VTU00M ..

I don't know much about this sudden death thing but I guess its pretty obvious and from what I've read in this thread, my phone could suddenly stop working.

I bought this phone in Mexico and I am currently using 4.2.2 rootbox ROM.

Should I be worried about the sudden death thing? And about the fix...

Can I apply it to my phone on this custom ROM ? If so... Where could I get it.

Any helpful response is really appreciated

And I hope I don't bother you guys.

Thanks in advance.
[Galaxy S III General] tangosierra_:
why cant people EVER read the OP..

If your rom has SDS fix and if your recovery has it too then your risk is very low.

if not, simply change to a firmware with the fix
[Galaxy S III General] satishp:
The fix is in the Kernel. ROM doesn't matter. The kernel should include the patch from Update 7. And ofcourse the recovery too.

---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:45 PM ----------

Read the first post thoroughly. Everything you need is mentioned there.

Anyways, for stock unrooted Samsung official rom, get one of the latest 4.1.2 builds. I'd recommend XXMB5 to avoid any freezes if any.

If rooted or custom ROM, flash a kernel with the fix which supports your ROM and also a recovery.

Everything else, Go to Page 1 of this thread or there is a sticky thread by RootSU inbthe Galaxy S3 General Forum.
[Galaxy S III General] tangosierra_:
sorry, yep fix is in kernel.
[Galaxy S III General] typespirit:
So my GS3 i9300 died last night (was in my pocket, take it out and everything unresponsive - dead screen, no LED even when charging etc) and after reading those hundreds of these posts I am sure it has been afflicted with the "sudden death"

I also read the OP, but I am very techno-stupid, so my question is, is there any way to fix the phone without sending it back to samsung? Im not sure if that "update" provided in the OP would help since my phone won't even turn on?

Any help is appreciated
[Galaxy S III General] tangosierra_:
No.
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
Unfortunately you will have to send it to samsung for board replacement .

When you get it back just make sure you have safe fimware installed on your phone
[Galaxy S III General] Sasha20:
My galaxy s3 is completely dead! It looks like eMMC Chip error.

I tried to send it to Samsung and they refuse to touch the device claiming the warranty is voided for a false reason.

What else can I do?
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
What reason? ...and why is it false?
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
if your phone is dead and the device don't have any physical damage of any kind

there is no reason what so ever that your phone won't be repaired under warranty .
[Galaxy S III General] nm8:
unless someone in the repair shop puts a little drop of water on that little purple thing in the battery compartment and they claim the phone was water damaged... someone had this problem in one of these threads.. can't remember who but I vaguely remember it was in India...
[Galaxy S III General] omer7:
Can anyone plz confirm me is SDS issue only in 16GB phones or are 32GB phones also facing this issue.

I have been reading this thread and searched other sites as well, what i got is only some 16GB variants have this SDS issue and none of the 32GB variant has faced this issue? Is it correct? I just wanted to confirm it.

And sorry if it has already been asked somewhere else.
[Galaxy S III General] zyclops1:
Only with 16GB devices
[Galaxy S III General] omer7:
And that means if someone get the 32GB version, he doesnt need to worry at all about SDS?
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
Yes as far as we know. SDS is caused by a flaw in the firmware of the particular chip used only in the 16GB version.
[Galaxy S III General] maurinet:
The question is, if you have identified your chip as an "insane chip" (16Gb, etc., etc.), flashed BM5 and now all is working well without any freezes, should you send it to warranty?
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
as I said.... no physical damage to the device :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 12:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:24 PM ----------

no need , it should be safe with the new firmware
[Galaxy S III General] jay_m3:
eMMC check

hi guys!

am on XLLA since first it has bean released, lets say i run eMMC check memory test and it says all my 14Giga are fine, does it mean am on the safe side? does that also mean i have no risk to get the slowly death as my memory sections/blocks are fine?

PS : am on the the insane chip
[Galaxy S III General] nm8:
What I meant was, even if your phone does not have the lightest of scratch, and no water damage, the repair center will claim the unit was water damaged. They will make it look like it was by putting a drop of water on the purple sticker in the battery compartment to make it change color. I read this on here somewhere.... which ,means they will not touch the device and send it back to the owner if the owner does not pay for the repair.
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
That check memory test is useless. If it's insane, it's insane. Checking memory will not change that.

If you are on XELLA, you're fine. You're as safe as you can be.
[Galaxy S III General] satishp:
Yeah. I totally agree. India is one of the worst when it comes to warranty and being an Indian, I've experienced it myself. You don't even have the Apple's no questions asked replacement policy here in India. So when you consider other brands, its nightmare. They made me run long distances to get my Galaxy S2 replaced, which came with a defective screen out of the box. I had to go to different service points, wait long queues, argue with the engineers and finally make calls to the brand HQ to get my phone replaced. Thats Samsung. And Sony? A friend of mine got defective replacements multiple times for a new phone he bought and now after his request for a refund, they are dragging him on since a month. Once, a Nokia phone of mine which went in for a screen replacement came back with a broken battery cover and scratched body.

Laptops?? I sent in my $1600 (at that time) Toshiba laptop for malfunctioning graphics and they kept it with them for over 2 months until its warranty period expired and upon enquiring, they couldn't "find" my laptop and finally after much noise returned it to me with a swapped CD writer in place of a DVD writer and no cooling fan. Hence the laptop wouldnt power on and I lost that money.

India just sucks for things like these. Its your luck that matters if you buy something here. Hence, I wouldnt be least bit surprised if a service person wets your litmus water indicator and claims water damage. You just have to be that careful about these things.
[Galaxy S III General] shethsa:
Yes. That was me. Fought tooth and nail though and although paid the equivalent of us$140 for initial 'repairs', got back a cash refund of my invoice value ultimately as the repairs made the phone extremely laggy and hot. Used that cash to buy a note 2 (thankfully sane) and I lived happily thereafter.
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
well, in Israel if samsung repair center ( or any other repair center ) will throw false accusation on a customer they will be crucified in public ....

customer service awareness has developed greatly over the past two years in Israel ( in a positive manner ) ,

besides that there is " The Consumer Council" a government body that takes care of cases like these ,

and for last resort if nothing helps......you can sue the reseller and distributor in your country ( that always does the work )
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
Actually the memory checking test is not useless. It produces dummy data on each sector of your card (or at least scans it). If your device locks up, there's an affected region. Your phone may still work because SDS hasn't hit the memory regions that affect the phone's ability to boot, but expect it to fail in the near future.
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
On the eMMC brick bug app? I know that's what rob222 has but didn't know this did that.

Ah well. If you're insane, you're insane. I still don't think it matters
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
Yup, that app. I'm insane (well not me so much, but my phone :P). However, I don't think I have any SDS symptoms. Just general Android lag. No 15-minute freezes.
[Galaxy S III General] omer7:
Today I have bought SGS 3 - 16 GB. And checked the SDS bug (or whatever it is called) through some emmc brick check app. That app says "no, sane chip". Does it mean my phone is safe?

Thanks.
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
yes your phone is safe , the effected chip revision located at the OP

run emmc brick bug check and compare .
[Galaxy S III General] omer7:
Wow.. great. Loving this phone. It is really an awesome device.

And what is OP? I ran emmc brick app again and nothing to compare there.
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
OP = Original Post or Original Poster

Means post 1 or the author of post 1
[Galaxy S III General] omer7:
Well my phone's emmc is same as mentioned in the first post "VTU00M", but FwRev is different "0xf7".

But since emmc is same, so is there anything to worry about? Or is it same in all GS3 phone s?
[Galaxy S III General] BLEK0TA:
Im on xxella. Am i afraid sds?
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
To everyone in this thread:

UNLESS YOUR S3 HAS VTU00M 0XF1, YOU ARE SAFE.

The firmware of the chip (0XF1) is the issue. If you have ANYTHING different, you're SAFE.
[Galaxy S III General] BLEK0TA:
UNLESS YOUR S3 HAS VTU00M 0XF7 YOU ARE SAFE.

I think thats correct
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
open post
[Galaxy S III General] RohanM:
OP = Original post or original poster. :angel:

---------- Post added at 10:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:51 PM ----------

OP = Original post or original poster.

In a forum thread, an OP is the person who started a given thread. Internet message boards, also known as discussion forums, are popular places to discuss any particular subject with a wide range of users. Forums are dedicated to topics based on a variety of discussions such as technical issues, entertainment or politics. Any given topic is initiated by an active forum member, and it typically serves as the foundation for an open, often varied discussion.

Sent from my PC... lol
[Galaxy S III General] avi.laza:
forgot the "er" at the end ...lol
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
No. 0xf7 is a revised version (Safe) of the flawed, original, 0xf1 firmware.

Only VTU00M 0xf1 is unsafe.
[Galaxy S III General] BLEK0TA:
We r both in (s)hit
[Galaxy S III General] RohanM:
Just flash latest firmware/rom 4.1.2, XXELLA or above. MB5 is best. :good:
[Galaxy S III General] RohanM:
If your s3 meets the SDS then service center people will not able to identify that u rooted it or u can flash safe firmware any time to prevent any further damage.
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
When half-SDS occurs, your phone will say "CUSTOM" next to "Firmware" in the bootloader, even if you've never rooted your device. Which means that whether or not you're rooted, as long as the service center is knowledgeable (a big "if"), you should be fine and covered by the warranty. If you get turned down, the service center was not familiar with SDS or doesn't feel like paying to fix your phone.

When FULL SDS occurs (real SDS), your phone will not turn on, PERIOD, and the same logic as above applies.
[Galaxy S III General] RohanM:
Well thats not full sds u r referring to half sds. Whereas in full sds phone will simply refuse to start in any mode, total dead brick. So no budy will able to identify the root status. ;)
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
Fixed. Thanks.
[Galaxy S III General] jay_m3:
Exactly! I mean if it does scan all my 14gigas and it says that memory fine, on top am on XELLA so am ok and my phone hasn't been affected before patch update . right?

---------- Post added at 08:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:28 PM ----------
[Galaxy S III General] JFrusciante:
have a nice day. i'm in the USA now and in three days i will return back to my country. i was thinking of buying a galaxy s3 international version. but now i'm really concerned about sds. can anybody clearly tell me if the phone i'll buy has the insane chip, is it possible to solve the problem of insane chip, or will it always be under the risk of sudden death? forgive my ignorance, thanks.
[Galaxy S III General] nm8:
I have had a few s3's which had imei numbers starting from 355 and they all had the "safe" chip 0xf7 . So it is safe to assume s3's that start with imei numbers 355 and above are safe.
[Galaxy S III General] emmanueldmc:
The phone modem has nothing to do with the SDS? I install the oficial firmware XXEMB5...i can install any modem of this thread (http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2076857) without problem?
[Galaxy S III General] RohanM:
Simply get 32gig ver or i9305. No issues with them. :thumbup:
[Galaxy S III General] JFrusciante:
i know that 32 gig and i9305 is better but i wonder if i can solve the problem on i9300 with a software. thanks for the replies btw.
[Galaxy S III General] artesea:
A brand new 16gb i9300 should be sold with a safe kernel (or at least upgradable OTA), and if you are lucky a safe firmware for the EMC.

Of the 8 GS3s I've seen between my friends, only one ever died.
[Galaxy S III General] cotarelo:
I have the phone back from the service repaired. In the service sheet it says that they replaced the motherboard. However IMEI number is still the same and the phone is still unlocked (was company locked and unlocked with imei based unblock code).

I had no issues thou it was rooted and with custom rom. The counter was reset to 0. Latest firmware upgrade done (4.1.2 I9300XXXELA) and Kernel 3.0.31-836582 and compilation JZO54K.I9300XXEMA2
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
They copied the IMEI over most likely. Extremely easy to do even on your own. They did the same for me with a non SDS issue that required a new motherboard.
[Galaxy S III General] ale0crysis:
Very bad news guys my GS3 16 GB is dead one hour ago and android OS was 4.1.2. Am i the only one?? This is ****ing unbelieveble!!
[Galaxy S III General] yahyoh:
not all 4.1.2 have the SDS fix :cyclops:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2091045
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
Yeah. All 4.1.2 have the patches
[Galaxy S III General] Anotherbusteds3:
So my s3 is clearly one of the effected one as it is now the most expensive paper weight of all time. I am in Australia on the telstra network. No idea if that matters.

My phone did its little suicide act about five months ago at the time I took it to an apparent authorised Samsung repairer in Doncaster whom I watched the whole time he had my phone. He opened it, looked at it, then printed out a grainy black and white photo of the charging port. He told me it was water damaged and would cost 300 bucks to fix it. He then charged me 38 bucks to tell me this. I thought it seemed strange as I am not stupid and do not put a 700 dollar phone anywhere near water. The water damage indicator has clearly not run either.

I never sent my phone off to get repaired as I couldn't find my original charger cable or USB socket. I didn't want to give them a reason to not fix the phone. I have since found the charger and will be sending the phone off tomorrow. I have already checked that Samsung will still take it.

My main issue however is that I rooted my phone and run a custom firmware. Should I be resetting something or doing something to cover this up or just hope they replace it rooted.

Any advise would be handy.

In a rude twist I just smashed the screen on my back up phone. If Samsung try to mess with me I could jump down the phone and strangle someone at the moment.

Anyway advise would be sensational.

Cheers
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
If it has SDS (Wont power up) there's no way to see if it is rooted.
[Galaxy S III General] remedya:
Don't agonise about the rooting, just send it for a warranty repair.
[Galaxy S III General] HassanM:
The Sudden Death Syndrome (SDS) issue is caused by a buggy firmware (low level machine code) on the emmc of devices, specifically, a 16GB VTU00M chip with firmware revision 0xf1. The phone dies when trying to write data to an affected block. Samsung has issued a temporary fix to avoid sudden death but this is not a permanent solution. It causes a device freeze or lock-up when attempting to write to an affected block. For devices which have undergone a lot of writes before the fix, the users experience persistant freezing which may last from 2min to even an hour. The new update XXEMB5, starting from XXEMB1 is said to resolve this issue, but some are still experiencing these freezes.

The ultimate fix to this issue is changing the PCB of an affected device to a newer hardware revision which has emmc with an updated firmware revision 0xf7

Hope it helps people understanding the exact issue....
[Galaxy S III General] BLEK0TA:
I think your post should be on first topic this theme for many unanswered questions. I only changed my ***cking company Samsung from schit company to good company only if they replace all sgs3 with fx01 by fx07 without stupid words.
[Galaxy S III General] cotarelo:
Yes but the unlocked firmware was on the old phone. If they installed the firmware it was supposed to and copied imei. Phone should be still locked to carrier.
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
They could have unlocked it for you after seeing it was unlocked. Again, not hard to do.
[Galaxy S III General] JFrusciante:
I'm thinking of buying a Galaxy S3 I9305 international version via Amazon.com but i'm not sure if this device has insane chip or not. also can anybody help me about the bands? can i use this phone in Turkey with the operator Turkcell? Does this device supports Turkcell's bands? forgive my ignorance. Thanks.
[Galaxy S III General] Product F(RED):
Google "i9305 gsmarena" to check the bands. I'll tell you right off the bat that it supports less 3G/HSPA+ bands than the i9300. In the US it only is compatible with 1900, so you'll get half of At&t and T-Mobile's coverage. Check what bands your carrier uses and compare.

Also ask the seller what their policy is on sending the phone to them for repair if necessary. The seller of my i9300 allows me to ship my phone to them to forward it to a repair center on my behalf if necessary. You don't want a seller who will leave you stranded.
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
Hi me pepper.

Gsm 900, HSDPA 2100 is supported on the i9305, which is what turkcell uses. In fact it will work almost anywhere except "non-international" countries. That's why its called the international version.

It's mainly the Americas and a small part of Asia that are non-international.

As for the LTE trial turkcell have, not sure what freq that is but I would *assume* it adheres to international standards.
[Galaxy S III General] JFrusciante:
Thanks a lot for your help!
[Galaxy S III General] slurpy1:
Why so many people don't understand that the charger capacity has nothing to do with the charge voltage? The mAh has no effect other than on charging time. So phone can't be bricked by any charger so long as it is 5 volts. Unless some misguided developer is tinkering with phone's charging regulator. Avoid any app that makes battery charge quicker.
[Galaxy S III General] danarama:
The confusion stems from the fact most SDS occur when on charge. Obviously its nothing to do with the charger at all - which has been pointed out several times but sometimes repeating information is not enough
[Galaxy S III General] RohanAJoshi:
Hi Friends..

I have insane chip, my phone is working fine since two moths (With custom roms and fix)..

My phone is in warranty, so is it necessary to replace motherboard or further updates never cause SDS ?

I m fearing that phone will suffer sds after warranty, so thinking to do force SDS.

I flashed official 4.0.4 rom and have DFG..

After that what i need to do for force SDS ?

PS : I did not get any freezes berfore, I was on CM 10.1.