yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
Try this one. Upped size to 204 mb just in case...

removed, see page 17

Also read this, specifically needed to boot the sm-n900 series into boot recovery mode.

removed, file proved useless

Found the file floating around xda from here:

removed, also didn't work

Thanks are definitely necccessary if it works.

Edit: Thanks were not meant for me, for the guy who found the document...LOL.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
LOL you're still the man though! I couldn't find those anywhere.

What's even cooler is that heavy-hitters are in on this so got the files, and the help - we're all set! Now to get this working!!

By the way that .pdf link is acting strange, not good I suppose but that's probably nothing, there has to be another way to read it.

Thank you, and everyone involved in this, for your help, there are alot of really great thinkers here, with amazing talent and I appreciate it, and your time! Thank you!

Anyone feel up to trying this? I would if someone hadn't swiped my old laptop:mad:
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
Try the guide in the At&t note 3 general forum first, see it you can get it to boot. I don't know what you could and Could not see on the pdf, but it Shows how to short a fuse to get to boot to sdcard.

I tried it out myself, but my phone isnt corrupt so it kept going into regular download mode. The good news is, if you need to take the phone apart it is extremely simple. 12 screws and my fingernail got it down to a skeleton in under 3 minutes.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
By George... I think he's got it!

Noobtoob, apologies for the pm, I clicked the second link and got it. I wonder if you want to try this, ecs87.. I'm not even going to ask where that came from. YAY :D I think this is it, all it needs is to be tested, and the OP will be updated!
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
You have one thin fingernail! I have a pro buddy of mine who can short it like that tomorrow! I believe Docholiday77 has given the finite way to go with an sd card... this is up and running!
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Thanks again! Have you seen that .pdf for the sm-900 series on this page? Is that what I think it is? A universal hard-unbrick method for all variants?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
by the way what tool is that for the short?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Hold on, I saw something in that .pdf file..
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Wow just read the .pdf and that seems to be showing multiple methods of accopmlishing a boot from a totally non-responsive device, even one seeming to not require more than a 4gig sandisk micro sd. It's right in the pic.

They don't all even require a computer, or am I mistaken?:laugh:
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] DocHoliday77:
I haven't looked at it yet. But I can tell you there are usually several ways to resurrect a device. It sounds like this may be sort of a collection of some of the methods out there? I will check it out in a few. I know I have heard of shorting certain components on the board, how to make a homemade jig, and several others.

I thought I would also mention in case you guys hadn't discussed it yet, but it should be perfectly safe to give the sdcard method a try after creation. No need to be nervous about it. If it doesn't work, it simply will not boot. If it does work, on its own it will not write anything to your device. It just makes download mode available so you can flash the correct stock firmware back onto the device.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
The brief process involves downloading the bootloader from a normal phone onto an sd card and inserting it into the non-responsive phone. That's the first one in there. there are several others.

Does anyone have this bootloader, for starters?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
This is starting to get interesting.. since I apparently must sleep I'llget on this after some boring stuff tomorrow morning.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] ecs87:
There's definitely a lot of open ended factors here. When I get to work I'll try to post the instructions they have for the other models. Someone may be able to point out something that kept my device from getting into "SD card mode".

I'll be sticking around for sure. Seems Samsung either kept the SDCard "JTAG" a secret or its implemented on the newer bootloaders (with Knox...ahem). If we get it working here not only will the AT&T guys have a way to come back from a hard brick but so will you guys and others to follow. No doubt this will exponentially speed up development on these new bootloaders which we can ALL benefit from regardless of what carrier you have. Death to Knox!
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
At&t has this for they hard brick method...

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=46310702

I suggest trying to follow that with the new unbrick.img.

If that does not work, try the document method with the unbrick img, since we do not have the bootloader pull file from Samsung for odin (a USB jig should provide the same short without having to take the phone apart).

That is all I can think of for now. USB jigs is are $3 on amazon. Worth the investment even if it doesn't work. It would be nicer if we had an unbrick.IMG from someone device who didn't already have Knox tripped to see if we could get rid of Knox 0x1, but getting it up in the first place is priority.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
hey I'm with you guys, been logged in without realizing it all day LOL. I'm ecstatic about this progress, and have some info to post, in a bit.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] ecs87:
I've seen the documentation from Samsung when I was cruising on some GSM forum a few weeks back, but the mystery here is behind the SD Card. From what I see, everything mentioned in that document about the bootloader is for the process AFTER the phone is already in SDCard download mode. There is absolutely no documentation about what is on the SD card, or how the "bootloader" is supposed to get loaded to the SD Card. Either that or I'm getting old and reading it incorrectly.

We (the shop I work at) are holding onto the phone for one more day before sending it out. Tomorrow will be my last day of messing around with it. Thanks to noobtoob for both unbrick images. I'll try the new one (unbrick1.img) tomorrow and keep my fingers and toes crossed.

Also thanks DocHoliday77 for clearing up this process. I think the reason why the thread didn't quite kick off as hard as I expected it to was because some people might've thought that they could've bricked their device with this method that I didn't explain very well. I should've made it clear that none of their phone partitions are altered. However...if you're not handy with fdisk in Linux your 16-32GB sd card may have turned into a 64MB sd card afterwards lol (easily cured by re-partitioning the SD-card, which I do with fdisk in Linux. I'm sure there's Windows tools out there for it too).

I think that we have the bootloader from the mmcblk0 dumps, I just think that I may need the USB jig to force it into SD Card mode. I've just been plugging it up to the computer while holding down vol down, home, power...not too sure if it's the same. The process at the end of the N900A says to put the battery back in and try to boot. I've done that too. It never jumps out of QCHSUSB mode. One of three things is happening: A) the image isn't getting written to the sd card correctly B) I'm not triggering SD Card mode correctly C) we don't have the right data written to the SD Card to get into DL mode. Seeing as how other models have the same method to get an unbrick image, I doubt that we don't have the right data...which only leaves A and B.

One last thing, this is more of a question geared towards DocHoliday, but has anyone noticed that there aren't any sdX partitions in their Linux build? I'm using a Knoppix Live CD and whenever I plug my SD Card reader in with a SD Card in it, it comes up as mmcblk0 and mmcblk0p1. I just wrote the unbrick images to mmcblk0 (which should be the SD Card). Anyone see some kind of error here? And by the way, mmcblk0 disappears when I remove the reader, and re-appears when I re-insert the reader. I did this about 20 times to make sure I wasn't (repartitioning my primary hard drive...AHEM) writing to the wrong partition.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Right. That's just it - that link is for the hard unbrick method for the SM-900A at&t variant, as I imagine you now saw thanks to [MENTION=4404580]noobtoob[/MENTION]. YES - exactly.... the document reveals the sd card mode hidden from us, and looks like the only thing that kept your device from booting was a few snags or missing pieces [MENTION=4959296]ecs87[/MENTION].

Look we've even got [MENTION=4081205]DocHoliday77[/MENTION], [MENTION=2638973]bigbiff[/MENTION], and who knows who else is well-versed looking in in this thread - and quite the info and files we have.

About that needed short.. I have a jig, and i can confirm it does actually boot my working galaxy s4 into download from a turned off state. I just purchased a few dollars worth of stuff from radioshack and the dollar store, and had my friend just quickly solder the resistor ends onto pins 4 (ID), and 5 (GROUND). Note to self: Invest in a nice precision solder kit.

Very easy to make btw. So, that short in the document's diagram is actually the same as a jig? Are you certain? That cable plugged into it looks like it could be a charger or jig cable, from the samsung anyway jig box. I'm certain you're familiar with that apparatus. In any event, I have a jig, and a 4 gig sd card. I recommend [MENTION=4081205]DocHoliday77[/MENTION]'s suggestion. Don't get me wrong.

Its just that photo... the sd mode method process is actually being performed with a 4 gig regular old sandisk sd card.

Wait that's it- [MENTION=4404580]noobtoob[/MENTION]... the .pdf at one point involves downloading the bootloader from the phone. Can you do that? We don't need it from samsung- the method explains how to get it!

There is also a mention of a a few files, I need to look at that again.

"Is it possible for us to create the file needed" - is what I am thinking, and I believe you, having the working phone and proficiency, can put perhaps if not the last, but next to last puzzle piece together, [MENTION=4404580]noobtoob[/MENTION].

I also strongly believe that this is a working method for all variants so [MENTION=4959296]ecs87[/MENTION] you are in fact correct i believe. So, maybe we can crack this open, tonight!
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] ecs87:
From what I've read, Samsung's anyway jig (what a stupid name...) is just the normal USB jig, but it has power going to it. Again, this isn't from Samsung, just from the scouring I've done over the N900A and the I9300 hard brick fixes. So, it may or may not be true. Either way, guys have been able to get into SD Card mode without Samsung's official JIG that they've probably got locked away.

I'm not sure if that short can be emulated by a jig. In another thread I read, someone mentioned the "3 button trick" to getting into SD Card mode is the proper files on the SD Card, the regular usb JIG and a short. I looked at the N900 documentation earlier from Samsung and I don't think that's the board that's in the N900T. I remember opening the one at the shop up about two weeks ago and found NOTHING to short out in that area. Needless to say, it got buttoned back up without any molestation. I don't want to pay the shop owner $500 for a stupid action that could've been easily avoided by realizing that this documentation isn't for this model. I do believe though that a short may be needed to force the N900T into SDCard mode. I've seen that it needed to be done for the guys with the i9300 and n7100. Sigh...makes sense...seeing as how I've been trying to avoid that with my shaky hands courtesy of my nicotine addiction.

Also I re-read the documentation again because it seems you found something that I missed. They say that it's possible to flash the bootloader from the phone to the SD Card. I thought Odin only wrote things to the phone partition, so I wonder why or how is it able to write to the SD Card? Maybe the T flash option has something to do with it? Notice how they mention it in the documentation prior to starting the flash with Odin. Also notice how NONE of the Odin tutorials out there even mention what T Flash is. The only thing I'd be worried about here is Odin overwriting the bootloader of the phone with what's in the bootloader slot. Does it ONLY write what's in the bootloader slot to the SD card or does it write what's in the bootloader slot to BOTH the phone and SD card?

I assume that what gets written to the SD card is similar to what we're doing here (and what the previous users have done with the N900A, I9300, etc.) but it'd sure be nice to have a hex dump of the SD card after it's wrote to through Odin. Unfortunately...I don't think anyone has the correct tar file to load into the bootloader tab of Odin (I doubt it's the stock N900T file). I'm going to compare the bone stock I9300 boot file to the sboot.bin found in the GT-I9300_Boot_Recovery.tar of a I9300 SD Card JTAG zip file I found a few days ago. If they are indeed the same, someone might be able to create a card using a working N900T and Odin using the boot file in the bootloader section of Odin with T flash checked.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
OK. Let me clear the pdf up. The pdf explains how to pull a working bootloader from a working phone using odin and a special file or script that pulls the bootloader from it and copies it to a file to place on an sdcard, otherwise I would've pulled that for you already. The pdf says to T-Flash a normal bootloader.tar file using odin to write to the sdcard of a working phone. I am attempting this now.

I cannot say for sure the usb jig is the same short that is needed, but hear me out.

1. AT&T method uses a battery pull and is able to get into download mode after re-inserted with the recovery sdcard (same type I pulled for you from my phone).

2. The pdf shows a short while the cable they have connected supplies voltage, and allows them to flash. This is a dongle cable most likely, one we do not have.

From what I can gather, I think we can get a workaround using what we do have.

1. Pull battery

2. Insert usb jig

3. insert unbrick.img sdcard

4. Replace battery and attempt boot

I think the supplied voltage from the battery and the short from the jig may be enough to get this thing into sdcard download mode. Here is hoping I am right, because for the most part phones are "turning on" at least into qhusb mode, so this may just jolt it out of that state. We don't know if it will work, but again, totally worth the shot as your phone(s) are already bricked, and the stuff I am suggesting here can't really hurt it anyway. Hopefully someone will try this really soon and report back.

**insert disclaimer here... you do at own risk, blah blah blah, you get it**
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
Okay so I attempted to flash the bootloader to the SD card as per directions from the PDF file. Odin kept failing on on me. I also tried to use the pit file that I have and flash again using Tflash but it hung around halfway through and failed again.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] ecs87:
What did you put in the bootloader tab of Odin and which version were you using?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
According to the Documentation, you should be pulling and flashing the boot.bin, but it is not available in the restore files. I attempted to flash the MI7 version of stock restore, just seeing if it would take. Odin and my phone do not like each other though, that is why I did the recovery guide with heimdall somewhere in this thread. Any other suggestions? The least I can do is try. If I do get one to flash successfully, I will share my sdcard, no big, just want a legitimate fix. This phone costs too much for anyone to lose.

Edit: version 3.09
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Hey gents, been busy with everything EXCEPT what I need to do on this

thread. I need to look at your posts in depth, and let me tell you, great stuff! be there in a bit
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
I hear ya. I have to go to my oldest daughter's Christmas play right now. Throw up some suggestions, some files I could flash, whatever, and I will try and get something up for you guys tonight.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
You - are - awesome :D I will put my best ideas forth, however I am not as well versed as I would like to be one day soon. Also I have to wait until tomorrow afternoon, to get my jig re-soldered.

annoyingly enough the resistors fell off where the solder meets the pins. It does work, however that much I found out, before this happens. Again, that is for the s4. I haven't been able to figure

out if it works with the note 3. I can say, that it is safe to assume that it will, as jigs have been around since probably before the galaxy s, and those old diys I followed indicated that they do, work on any galaxy phone.

Files... yes, that's the headscratcher. It's so because as you guys saw the document is in a slightly vague format. If it were a bit more descriptive of how to download the bootloader from the phone directly to the sd as indicated then I think that we would be set there.

There is also the issue of those two mentioned files ( I have to look again for the formats) that can be used to create a bootloader. I believe you two touched on that during your interesting theories earlier that I unfortunately missed. I thought that the unbrick.img has the files that we need. Perhaps they need to be separated from the exact file/s... ? Maybe that is one thing missing.

The anyway jig is a strange blue box with alot of connectors. There is a thread about it here om xda. Pics too. Anywho this is needing a closer scrutiny document and method wise. Let me pm [MENTION=4081205]DocHoliday77[/MENTION] and see if he can take a look.

Lastly, he did request the partition layout. Maybe the files needed are there?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Got my fingers crossed for you
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
4) Bootloader → normal bootloader can be used.

If there is no bootloader, you can make bootloader.

(1) Change file extension of CODE file from md5 to tar.

(2) Extract CODE file.

(3) Compress “sboot.bin” file with file name “BOOTLOADER_SDCARD.tar”.

This is from the document. Seems easy enough. Hope so...
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
I found a very interesting script here that apparently seems to create a boot card for the galaxy s3. The info and pics are not too far from the top of the page. The pics have a detailed explanation surprisingly enough, and it is a brief process and method. Worth a look...

I don't think it is what we need, but I could be wrong. I'm looking at it, hopefully I can get an idea or two from it.

http://goodsunlocker2.blogspot.com/2013_12_02_archive.html?m=1
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
Exactly. I am in search of this elusive "normal" bootloader. Anyone? I extracted everything in the stock restore and none of these files in (1) - (2) are in there, so I couldn't make one. Tried just straight up flashing to a 32 GB sdcard and it failed halfway through, plus it required a pit file. I'm also not as well versed with this phone, as it is a GSM vice CDMA. I know I know, it should be easy right?, but I am working through the quirks (I just came from Sprint). It's the little things I need to learn to do comparatively, and these boot images have changed significantly compared to my old phone. I need to write the boot.img out of the file to see the contents of it.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Geez and today could not have sucked more for me.. just when things get cooking on this thread I have to deal with a ton of bs. I'll look for everything I can find when i get a break here.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2345860

Is it possible to use the method used here? Or is this what is being attempted, with errors
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
personally I think we're getting close. this short might be necessary, and if not, then maybe the jig and the sd card as we've discussed.
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Is your sd exfat32? everything should have been written properly with that cmd. I posted that link because the way the sd card was prepared seems similar and yes we know it works but what are we missing here, how can boot.bin be found?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] noobtoob:
Boot ends at 291 Mb, even my second unbrick.img is too small. Creating another as we speak.

Created 310MB, a little into system as recommended. Uploading now, will be a while, I am at work and it is slow.

Edit: New Unbrick image removed, see page 17
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] ecs87:
That's what I'm trying to do here, which is why the original image was only around 70MB. It probably wasn't enough which is why we upped the dd if command to around 200 MB. But as noobtoob has pointed out, that still may not be enough to create the bootcard. As someone has previously mentioned, you want the whole boot image on the sd card, and a little system info just to be safe (in case it looks for just the beginning of that code just for verification).

I'm trying desperately to pull down the I9300 firmware to see how any of the boot files compare to the leaked sdcard bootloader file from Samsung. Note that this isn't the bootloader used to write to the card, but the file that you load in Odin with T flash on to write to the SD Card from the actual phone itself (something that I had NO IDEA Odin was able to do). The only thing is, I don't know if the leaked bootloader file is just one of the bootloader files ripped from the firmware tarball or if it's more than that. I guess we'll know in about an hour. Hopefully 4shared stops fudging with my download...
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
Very nice, I'm impressed with your diligence and abilities. I'm learning just reading this. Nice
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
[MENTION=4959296]ecs87[/MENTION], how is it going with that?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
So the CODE file mentioned, have you been able to find that? From what I read sboot.bin is apparently in there, and extractable after changing the file extension from .md5 to .tar. That is, if I am not mistaken.

Am I on the right page?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
leaked sd card bootloader file from samsung? Where'd you find that? And using this file in Odin with T flash on - so all that is needed in combination with that file, is the bootloader, or is that the bootloader that will write itself using Tflash?
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] ecs87:
I still can't get into SD Card mode. I'm really starting to lean towards some kind of resistor that needs to be shorted out. Just need the N900T documentation from Samsung, not just the N900 :(

I attached the leaked bootloader file. NOTE: THIS IS FOR THE I9300!!!!! THIS IS NOT SPECIFIED FOR THE N900T. IF YOU'RE GOING TO USE IT TO CREATE A BOOTABLE SD CARD, USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!!! I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR HARD BRICKED DEVICES FROM THIS FILE!!!

As far as I know, the tar file in there is to be loaded into the bootloader tab of Odin with T flash checked and a working I9300 plugged in with a SD card inserted inside of it. Odin SHOULD flash the bootloader of the working I9300 to the SD card so that it can be used as a recovery card. I assume the tar file is something telling Odin what to grab from the device. The thing is though...I never knew Odin could do this, and if it does indeed do it, can it potentially mess up the bootloader of the working phone leading to multiple bricked phones? I guess that's the risk we take when we don't have official Samsung hardware, software, and decent wording in the documentation...
[T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3] msmercy42:
let me ask [MENTION=4081205]DocHoliday77[/MENTION] what he thinks.