[Samsung Galaxy S (4G Model)] hubbs134:
Hello everybody,

I am new to the forum and also new to Androids. After years of using iPhones and finally becoming fed up Apple, I've decided to try something new (please don't judge my prior smartphone selection and start posting opinions about the 2 operating systems, I do not want this thread to turn into one of the "battle of the phones" thread that I've experienced many times on iPhone forums). My friend recently got an S3 and had no use for his Galaxy S 4g, so he gave it to me so that I could try out an Android. There was one issue though, he said that the phone would not get past the Galaxy S screen and would keep re-booting itself (stuck in a boot loop). He said if I could figure out a way to fix it then it's mine.

That being said, here's my dilemma. I've tried many different methods to get the phone out of a boot loop. The first method I tried was putting the phone into restore mode and selecting the "reinstall packages" option. After this executes I get the message:

E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p1

(no such file or directory)

E:Can't mount SDCARD:update.zip

Installation aborted.

After some further research I discovered a nice little program called Odin :) I read a lot about Odin and how to properly use it. After trying at least 5 different methods to get the phone into download mode with no success, I purchased a jig. The jig did the trick and instantly put me into download mode, I was ecstatic and hopeful that I could now fix the phone with Odin. I connected the phone to my PC in download mode, but Odin still didn't recognize the phone (I tried many versions of Odin, 1.85, 1.87, and the most recent 3.07). I do have the latest drivers for this phone, which I downloaded from Samsung's website. The phone will charge through the computer but the computer does not recognize it otherwise and will not allow me access its mass storage (I am running Windows 7 64 bit). I have tried using a different USB cable, and I have tried to use a different PC, the other PC I used popped up with a message saying that Windows could not successfully download the drivers (that was after I downloaded the drivers from Samsung's webpage and plugged the phone into the computer). I've even tried transferring stock firmware onto an external SD card and loading it onto the phone from restore mode (is that even possible to do?). I have also tried running Odin in compatibility mode, still didn't detect the phone. I should probably also mention that Kies Mini also does not recognize the phone. I asked my friend if he ever tried rooting this phone and he said no, so I'm assuming this issue has nothing to do with a failed attempt to root.

I really want to get this phone working, but I have run out of options to try. I am hoping that someone on here has a solution for me from a similar experience. After reading through the forum, I have noticed that people on here are very helpful and also very friendly; something that I can say is very different from some of iPhone forums I've used. I apologize if there is already a similar thread to mine, I've read through many threads and none of the solutions have worked for me. I also apologize for my first post being so lengthy, I just wanted to state all of the methods that I've tried to fix this phone. Thanks for your replies.