[Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] Mad Maniak:
Good afternoon,

My GS3 seems to have died on me. Some weeks ago it started going slower, and restarting randomly. My thought at the time was: I probably installed too much crap, I'll factory reset it when I have time.

However, yesterday, I found it stuck at the boot-logo. It won't get past that point. When I charge it, it does show the battery, but at no point shows how full the battery is (just the grey outline of the battery image).

I can only get in download mode (POWER, START, VOL DOWN), CWM recovery does not work (POWER, START, VOL UP) so just resetting the caches isn't possible.

So I tried to fix it using Odin. First, by flashing a stock ROM. Result:

<ID:0/003> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I9300XXEMC2_I9300PHNELL2_I9300CEELL1_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/003> Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Initialzation..
<ID:0/003> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> There is no PIT partition.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

Well, ****. The PIT partition is gone, this sounds way more serious than I first imagined it to be. It seems the memory got corrupted (?).

After trying some other computers and USB cables as well, I got to terms with the fact I had to re-partition and lose all my photos and documents in the progress. I found the proper .PIT file, and tried to re-partition. Result:

<ID:0/003> Added!!
<OSM> Enter CS for MD5..
<OSM> Check MD5.. Do not unplug the cable..
<OSM> Please wait..
<OSM> I9300XXEMC2_I9300PHNELL2_I9300CEELL1_HOME.tar.md5 is valid.
<OSM> Checking MD5 finished Sucessfully..
<OSM> Leave CS..
<ID:0/003> Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Can't open the serial(COM) port.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

At this point I got really anxious. It seems the thing is properly fried. Is the motherboard dead? Well, whatever is wrong, I still have warranty so I should be fine... or not?

The thing is, in download mode, it shows this:

ODIN MODE
PRODUCT NAME:
CUSTOM BINARY DOWNLOAD: No
CURRENT BINARY: Samsung Official
SYSTEM STATUS: Custom

That last line, while wholly irrelevant for the problem I am experiencing, may cause the warranty-nazi's to tell me to sod off because I voided my warranty, right?

If so, I see three possible solutions:

1. Get it working again myself. How?

2. Use triangle away or something similar <- problem is, I can't boot or flash the damn thing

3. Properly brick it so even download mode won't work

4. Send it in anyway, and pray they don't spot or mind it

I would very, very much appreciate some comments on my situation. Any thoughts on possible solutions?

Thanks a lot for reading all this!

MM

Edit:

Additional information

- The make of your phone. There are many different variants of your device Samsung Galaxy S3 I9300 /G/M/P/T. International version, i9300, 16GB

- What Rom/Kernel/Modem you are using? I have no idea. I used stock android Jellybean

- Are you rooted/unrooted? Rooted

- Have you flashed any mods/scripts/themes? I don't think I did

- Have you changed DPI? If yes, to what? I have no idea what this means, so I guess not

- Have you done anything to try to solve your issue prior to posting the same? See above