[Galaxy S III Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] gabrielcveras:
Galaxy S3 I9300 not booting. Please help.

Yesterday I plugged my phone to charge on this charger I bought. The phone was turned off, so it showed only the battery icon, and after a few seconds I noticed that the icon animation had stopped. I tried turning the phone on, but it wouldnt. I rebooted the phone via volume + power + home, but that just brought it to the first screen after the power is turned on, wich is the one that says " "Samsung Galaxy sIII GT-I9300", before the samsung logo appears, with that little animation. The phone simply does not go past this.

I read online that it might be as simple as a stuck power button, but I bashed that sucker and nothing happened.

I did a factory reset via volume up + power + home, and rebooted the phone. Still nothing.

Now I'm thinking that if there still is a way to save this phone, it might envolve involve flashing it, but I have no idea how to go about it, and have no experience in messing with this kinda stuff, so I need help.

Info that might be needed:

>Model: GT-I9300 (international - no carrier)

>I bought it in orlando, but it's a european phone (the case and stuff is all in french)

>The back cover says it was built in vietnam (not sure if relevant)

If any other info is needed, I will provide.

I am willing to mess around with the phone, and as long as I can avoid permanent damage to it, I've got no problem whiping the whole thing clean, installing different OSs or whatever, as long as it gets my phone to work again...

My email, in case needed: <removed by moderator>

Thanks in advance ;)

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Found the solution. Whoever runs into this problem and happens to stumble upon my post, here's how you solve it:

Preparing for the procedure.

1) You will need two programs. The first one is called "Kies"; the second is called "Odin". Google them and download them.

2) Take note of your device's serial number, which is written on the back of your phone, underneath the battery ( S/N)

3) Open Kies, and on the top toolbar, go on "tools">"update and initialization of firmware".

4) Type in the model of your phone (In my case, mas GT-I9300)

5) You will be prompted for your serial number. Insert your serial number, and a box will open up saying that once you do this your phone will reset blah blah.

6) Click "confirm", and a second box should pop up, now containing the info you need. Write down the PDA, PHONE and CSC codes.

Finding your firmware file.

7) Now you need to find the correct firmware for your device, and youll the the above info to do so. I simply googled "stock firmware GT-I9300 international". You should be able to find your own device's page through google (I tried posting a link, but since I have less than 10 posts, the forum wouldn't let me). I'll explain how it is for samsung devices in the next four steps, but if your phone is not samsung, you have to find your firmware file on your own.

8) Find samsung updates page for your phone, and there should be a big chart. Here, you'll need to pay attention to two columns. The "region" column "version" column.

9) On the CSC code that you wrote down, there should be a code in brackets. Search the page for the contents of those brackets (in my case, was "XEF").

10) On the same line as the code you just found, check the "version" columns, and notice that the last three characacters in the code correspond to the PDA code that you wrote down. If it does, its the right file, and you will absolutely confirm this on the next step.

11) Click "download", and a page should open showing you all the firmware version info: "PDA, PHONE and CSC". The last three characters in each code should be exactly what you wrote down form kies. If they are, go ahead and proceed with the download. Extract to a folder on your PC, and remember where that folder is.

Completing the procedure

I read that if you get this part wrong, you phone will become as usefull as a paperweight, so be careful.

Don't remove the cable or turn your phone off during these steps.

12) Put your phone into download mode (for mine, press volume down + power + home untill it kicks in)

13) Open up ODIN and Tick these three boxes: (Auto Reeboot); (F. Reset Time); (PDA).

14) Click on the "PDA" button, and a window should pop up pronting for the file. Navigate to the folder where you saved your firmware file, and select the file.

15) Click start, and wait for the program to do its job. You're done.

The phone should now be reset, as if it just came fresh out of the factory. The only info that won't be affected is the contents of your sd card and whatever accounts and files you saved in cloud.