[Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] dhomas:
Hello all,

I, like several others I've found while Googling the issue, have a problem with my Galaxy S4 and its USB port. The phone is not recognized when I plug it into my PC via USB (I have tried several USB cables already). Also, it does not charge properly when I plug it into the wall charger. I've tried the original S4 charger that came with it as well as several other chargers. As with other reports I've seen, the phone does seem to charge, albeit very slowly, when I plug it in while it's off. However, it shows the charging battery image briefly, then it goes blank, vibrates and shows it again.

I've had a similar problem with my Galaxy S2 in the past which was corrected by replacing the USB port and ribbon cable. It was quite simple, but I had to buy a couple of different version of this same part as some versions of the component seemed to affect the quality of reception. Since my S4 is still under warranty, I would like to avoid having to do this myself and get Samsung to do it for me, through official channels. However, my experience with my S2 showed me that Samsung is quite sensitive to devices whose software have been "tampered" with. They refused to repair my S2 because it had been rooted (they were able to tell this, even though I had unrooted it).

I had previously rooted my S4 and had installed a custom recovery. After this, the splash screen upon turning it on would say "Custom". I used "Triangle Away" to remove the "Custom" warning. I then unrooted my S4 (perhaps prematurely?) and did a factory reset. Here are some details about my device:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Model: Samsung Galaxy S4 AT&T

Model number: Samsung SGH-I337

Android version: 4.2.2

Baseband: I337UCUAMDB

Kernel version: 3.4.0-440216 / se.infra@SEP-133#1 / Tue Apr 9 23:47:02 KST 2013

Build number: JDQ39.I337UCUAMDB

SELinux status: Permissive

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is what appears on the Recovery screen:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The regular options (3e)

# MANUAL MODE #

-- Appling Multi-CSC...

Applied the CSC-code : ATT

Successfully applied mutli-CSC.

An Android with its front panel open and a red triangle with exclamation point in it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here is what I see in Bootloader mode:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ODIN Mode

Product Name: SGH-I337

Current Binary: Samsung Official

CSB-OEM_Config_LSB: 0x30

Write Protection: Enable

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I really want to make sure that Samsung does not refuse my repair again. The only odd thing is that whenever I try to perform a Software Update, I get an "Update Interrupted" message. I would like to do a complete restore to stock firmware, but it is quite difficult since I do not have access to USB for ODIN or ADB. I can transfer files to my SD card, but I no longer have root.

My questions are twofold: 1) is there any reason Samsung would refuse my repair with the device is it is described above (is there any other way they can see that it has been rooted/modified in the past)? 2) Is there any way to recover the original firmware without access to a USB port?

I apologize for the extremely long post, but thank you in advance for any help anyone can provide!

Regards,

Domenico