[Galaxy Note GT-N7000 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] HoriaRav:
Hi guys, first of all this is my first post here and won't be my last.

I am an Apple/iPhone long time user and want to tryout Android, just because I think it's time for a change :), without knowing if I could get used to the new OS and wanting to spend as less as possible on this "endeavor" I bought a second hand Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 from a friend, the phone worked perfectly when I bought it, it had Android 4.1.2 on it and I wanted to update it to 4.4.2, did some research on the net about this (learned about the locked bootloader - this wasn't an issue for me coming from the iPhone) and updated the phone using Kies - and this is were the fun begins.

The update failed, and the phone was softbricked but could still go into download and recovery mode, after reading a few hours on the internet, I used Odin to flash a 4.3 stock rom for the n7100 which I downloaded from samsung-updates, the software got installed on the phone but it was very laggy (with the phone opened but locked, when I pressed the power button it took about 7-8 seconds for the display to light-up, the animations were very sluggish and phone was unusable).

I installed another ROM, using Odin, this time a 4.4.2, with the same results (every time I reset to factory setting and wipe cache from recovery - this didn't help).

I then installed clockwork recovery and rooted the phone then installed cyanogenmod 10.1 which worked almost ok but if i locked the phone after a few seconds the phone would restart, wipe cache/restore factory settings didn't help, i installed it again hoping it would be just an issue with the installation but had the same result, phone would restart.

I've followed all tutorials I could find related to this phone and this issue, installed several patches, reinstalled several stock roms, installed Criskelo rom, all with the same result, the phone is very very very slow and freezez after a while or it restarts after i lock the phone.

So, let me just give u some history on the phone, enumerate the symptoms and where I am right now:

History:

The phone was bought from Vodafone Romania, was never rooted and was never updated (before me :D) and still has 3 months warranty.

Symptoms:

- Phone is very slow, unusable

- Freezes after the display is locked

- it is not recognized in windows, when I connect it i can hear the windows connect chime but the phone storage is not mounted, in device manager the phone is recognised as "cdc communication interface" which is not installed - i have the samsung drivers installed, and i have tried on other PC's with the same result, I also tried with several data cables - same thing - the phone works ok when in recovery/download mode

- sometimes when the phone is connected to the PC and the screen goes dark a gray battery appears with a "wait circle" and the phone freezes

- in recovery the phone displays 14 bynaries downloaded and also knox warranty void 1

- most of the roms freez in the language selection screen - i boot-up the phone (after i do a restore factory settings) the installing application dialog appears and then the language selection screen appears, then after 5-6 seconds the phone freezes - the freeze is not triggered by something I do it's triggered by time, after 5-6 seconds no matter what I do with the phone the phone freezes, if it makes any difference, exactly before the phone freezes the display brightness goes to the maximum setting.

Where I am right now

- I installed another stock rom, 4.4.2, it worked acceptable for a few minutes (it got passed the initial setup with no issues) then i left it on the desk, the display went dark and the battery thing happened again and the phone froze, i restarted the phone in recovery, did a factory reset, when the phone started it froze on the language selection screen.

I am at this for about a week now and I have no more ideas and no more patience, and run out of threads and tutorials to read, I am 1 step away of using the phone as a paperweight so please help, any idea would be appreciated, even if it's to enlighten me about what happened and telling me that the phone is bricked.

I am willing to try anything even if it is risky and can totally brick the phone, this is not my main phone and it's purpose is to help me understand android, and help me not make the same mistakes next time.

But, if it's possible I would like to fix the phone because even though it's pretty old it's still an ok phone.