[AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note II] sandelman1:
I'm really not sure if I'm replying to this post correctly as I've seen 2 options so if I'm not doing this please someone, correct me.

I'm a chimney servicing professional in Northern Michigan and right now is "GO" time for the next 4 months. I leave early mornings and return late evenings like now. Being without my phone is a really struggle and inconvenient.

So let me explain what's happened since you replied with suggestions for me. Just before your post came to me I had been reading on this forum for someone with the same phone as mine to power, volume down and home...then volume up to go into download mode. I could not only do that but could also use the feature of power, volume up and home for what ever that feature is for......as of NOW...I can only access download mode. Any other method of buttons turns on the phone and it is locked up in the black screen with Samsung Note 2....and that's completely it. Before it would at least cycle through a couple screens before locking up at the ATT globe logo.

So, just before your post came through I had read to go into download mode and then use Odin 3v1.85 to load this file Kies_home_i317_att_i317ucali2_i317att_original4.1.1

I have not used a Kies file before and the only experience I'd had with Kies was not favorable in the past for a completely different topic. So anyways, I did this again, just before your suggestion was posted and IT WORKED!!! I was pretty thrilled. It was late and for the few minutes I had gone through the phone to see what was and wasn't there it kept wanting to update. I did not do it. Finally I called it a night and early in the morning ( yesterday ) I took the phone with me to work. Although the features were slim because I'd not downloaded any previous apps, it was working.

After reading your post with the suggestion I thought as long as it's working, I'll check later to see what I could do about updating or rooting & installing a rom....which I've not done before. Well, last night while shaving and having the phone on the counter, I glanced down and it went into UPDATE mode all by it self. I tried to stop it but buttons were useless. So, all day again I've been without a phone and now the only thing the phone will do is power up with the power button and get stuck in the black screen with Samsung Note 2....that's it! Or, I can power, home and volume down, then up to enter download mode. I have since gone back to the Odin 3v1.85 and ran the same Kies file I mentioned above. The thing was...in the past I was going into different versiona of Odin and attempting to download files and it would do SOMETHING...then say pass...but nothing really happened. Doing what I'd mentioned above...the phone would log into Odin 1.85 and download the Kies file....only now it was taking 5+ minutes and working...or should I say "worked once" instead of taking only 2 minutes in the other Odin modes.

So, now I've completely charged 2 different batteries, and tried it a couple times just before commenting about what's happened.

So, now what??

Do I go back and attempt the directions you offered in your reply to me earlier or now and I heading in a different direction all together?

Just to let it be known, I'm not a "gotta have the newest and latest, greatest program" guy. I'd like to have a rooted and backed up phone and like to have a rom that has great battery life, allows me some cool features but mostly just have the access. I read a lot about different roms in the past and just couldnt pull the trigger on one.

I say this to mention that I'm not sure if I am successful in getting this thing back in action and am going to drop a file in the PDA slot of what ever Odin version I use....do I ALSO add to what ever unzipped file other commands like a root file or rom file ...or some sort of back up file? I thought I'd read where you added what ever you were loading the phone with was to be all added to that same PDA line together.

Gosh, I sure do appreciate any other suggestions to get this back and running.

I WILL NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING before hearing back back. Just help me please...Thanks in advance