yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Vibrant Android Development] mmalott:
To add to this. I was getting persistent TwLauncher force closes and tried to use the volume keys to reset it. After trying for a whole day and many key combos I couldnt get it and chalked this up to a hardware locked phone. Now to the interesting part.

I called T-Mobile and they did decide to swap it out ($9.99 shipping). The rep looked my problem up in their knowledge base but couldnt find anything. I then asked her to look up if theyre was a known problem with Vibrants not being able to get into recovery/download mode. She said that their wasn't. I don't know exactly what that means for the drones of Samsungs that are hardware locked but I was very clear about the volume keys and the issue that it may be hardware locked. According to this rep and the senior rep above her, this is not known by T-Mobile. Figures :rolleyes:

If my new phone is hardware locked, I doubt that I will be doing any more flashing which is a shame. Because Ive been modding Android/Windows phones for years now and only bricked one phone (MyTouch). The stupid thing about this is that my Vibrant isnt even bricked. It just cant be reset...
[Vibrant Android Development] matthenry87:
Just got my replacement Vibrant and am glad to discover it -IS NOT- hardware locked!
[Vibrant Android Development] mmalott:
Thats great to hear. Makes me hope that my chances are better now. Did you get a brand new or refurb? Can you confirm that the date on your new one is older or newer then the original?
[Vibrant Android Development] matthenry87:
Well the bricked Vibrant is 8/24/2010 and my replacement doesn't say. Seems to be new but I couldn't tell you for sure. The volume buttons click nicely and the USB door clicks shut nicely too. Pretty happy with the replacement.
[Vibrant Android Development] PSP_Hacker:
Does this work?

If this is the case, then the factories flashed a bad modem on the phones.

If I'm going to replace my modem, I would flash the stock one. Will this work on a hardware locked phone? I don't want to bork my phone.

I haven't used ODIN, so is the modem replaceable through ODIN or is it just a .bin in the filesystem?

Has anyone tried flashing these stock ODIN images and fixed the problem?:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=734475
[Vibrant Android Development] nermie:
I'm done attempting random fixes. Pretty sure 90% of them are trolls just trying to make people flash all sorts of stuff while pressing made up key combos and standing on your head while plugging the battery in for 2.12321321 seconds..... I've flashed several different modems before, using the j16 one currently. Never once did it make a difference, still can't access download mode. I see the exact moment my phone TRIES to get into download mode. The exact same moment that when i do the key combo on my roommates phone and it goes into recovery. However my phone hitches for a second and then goes back to battery charging screen (when plugged into usb).
[Vibrant Android Development] PSP_Hacker:
Well I guess I have to call Tmobile. I'll set my phone back to stock with the zip update, I'll format both internal and external sd, then I'll call tmobile and tell them to check if recovery works beforr sending me a new phone. Or, hopefully, i can just go to a local store and swap it there. Ill be able to test the phone with my own hands, so that makes me happy.
[Vibrant Android Development] mmalott:
@PSP_Hacker: If your not within your 14 day grace period you'll have to mail it in. At least that's what they made me do yesterday here in Texas.

Which means no testing it. If mine doesnt come back hardware UNlocked then I may try for a G2. If I'm stuck with the Vibrant just I'll continue to hope that Samsung's mysterious firmware update fixes my main concerns which are GPS and laggy TwLauncher.
[Vibrant Android Development] PSP_Hacker:
The only thing I hate about the Samsung Vibrant is Samsung itself. If we had the HTC Galaxy S, we would have Sense Froyo since the launch, the GPS would be fixed in 2-5 weeks after the discovery of the problem, and the device would be on the top priority list of the CyanogenMod project and we would have CM6 working right now. Also, the recovery entry method wouldn't be ****ing broken.

Well actually, the Galaxy S models are already on the top priority list of CyanogenMod, they're just having problems porting the damn thing because of Samsung's weird-ness.

Question: When I ask for a replacement, will it be new or refurbished? I'm going to call T-Mobile when I get out of school.
[Vibrant Android Development] richan90:
After trying hundreds of times with every single method posted, I've been unable to get into download or recovery mode. For the past 2 months I've been trying every time I reboot and every time I connect to my pc in hopes that i might find a way to make it work. Well today I finally got it into download mode, but still can't get recovery. Here's what I did:

1. Plug in vibrant to a PC. A wall charger did not work. I also have Android SDK and Samsung Drivers, which might be relevant.

2. Wait for the battery to turn green and show charging animation. Hold both volume buttons and then power up until the battery disappears to black (maybe a split second afterwards).

3. Let go of power button only and I was in DL mode.

I guess my vibrant wasn't hardware-locked after all, but I've tried this same exact method before many times and it wouldn't work.

EDIT: Now I can't get back to it again... WTF? Apparently its on/off. I got into it again today...

EDIT2: It seems to work more often after my phone has done a lot of processing (Titanium backup, etc). Maybe this causes the phone to become hotter and it works that way? (similar to the oven baking method on the i9000 forums)
[Vibrant Android Development] mmalott:
FWIW my replacement that arrived today was not hardware locked. Thank you T-Mobile! LoL
[Vibrant Android Development] bigragu:
Has anyone with a soft brick and usb debugging disabled tried this method to see if it worked to get your phone recognized?
[Vibrant Android Development] untermensch:
I think s0niqu3 may have stumbled upon the files needed to fix this issue.

the leaked JI4 firmware contained a boot.bin and sbl.bin file. after flashing the

JI4 leak I was able to easily get into recovery on a phone that was

previously impossible without adb.

so I pulled the files and made an odin flashable tar with just the two needed files

and posted it here:

http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=8528262&postcount=14

for anyone brave enough to give it a try.
[Vibrant Android Development] grabiarz:
I just flashed the ji6 final update using odin. Do you think flashing the above over what i have now is a good idea?
[Vibrant Android Development] untermensch:
I have flashed this over the final JI6 without issue, keep in mind that these are the

phone boot files if you mess up, your phone will not boot and I'm not sure if you will

be able to get back into download mode after a bad flash so if you are at all unsure

or don't really need recovery mode then skip flashing this.
[Vibrant Android Development] Persanity:
Is the issue with people being able to get into download mode but not recovery mode a different issue then not being able to get into either? Because I can get into download mode every single time I try but can't get into Recovery mode to save my life (or my phones for that matter) and I know for a fact I am pressing the buttons right because recovery mode worked on the floor model I tried it on in the t-mobile store. BTW my phone is made 9/20/10 and is 10.09 under battery
[Vibrant Android Development] vinterchaos:
friend told me that the ota update he received fixed his issue with getting into recovery, can anyone else here confirm/deny ? i 've gotten a replacement already.
[Vibrant Android Development] cvibe88:
-Pull battery

-Replace battery

-Hold VOL DOWN in conjunction with POWER

-phone should go directly to Download Mode

Hope this helps!
[Vibrant Android Development] southplatte:
So now I am confused - the ji6 final can't be the same as the ota if one fixes and one does not.

Or the "friend" wasn't accurate in stating the ota update fixed it and was h/w unlocked to begin with.

Or we just simply have yet another plethora of inconsistencies from device to device.

Quite honestly at this point I am on FrankenTwiz Final. I think I will just stay on that rather than flash back to stock via odin and either wait for the update or flash to ji6 via odin and run the risk of bricking either way it seems.

I doubt the local store would swap it, and I simply cannot be without a functioning phone/email system for work waiting for a replacement.
[Vibrant Android Development] cloudedone:
Some awesome people in the questions and answer section have figured out how to flash a fix.

I now have a none hardware locked phone :-)
[Vibrant Android Development] blporteus:
My phone is still stuck in the Vibrant / Samsung boot screen after trying to flash the Stock 2.1 rom using Odin3 1.0. I've tried all the combinations of volume buttons + power button but the screen just flashes until I let go and then proceeds to do nothing....I'm quite sure the hardware buttons are locked.

All I need to do is get back to recovery so I can Nandroid back...please help!!!
[Vibrant Android Development] es7241:
Do these locked vibrants have something related to the date of purchase ' because I naught my vibrant last week and i have been able to get into download mode very easy '
[Vibrant Android Development] cathardicnotion:
Just like the poster above mentioned, the holy grail of hardware unlocking is in this thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=802763&page=4

I had a 100% hardware locked phone and now get into download mode and recovery via the hardware buttons with ease!

Supposedly the new ota fixes the issue as well... I guess we'll see! Meanwhile I feel a bit more comfortable flashing my phone to the new ota now!

Good times... Good times.
[Vibrant Android Development] PSP_Hacker:
This is exactly what we need! A bootloader replacement!

Does it work? Can someone post a before/after video on YouTube? lol

Finally, this stupid issue is (probably) fixed and I can begin installing better kernels, Froyo builds, etc without worrying about a borked phone. Also, when I'm out of the house and out of nowhere my phone starts crashes after 10 minutes of uptime (which happened a few days ago), I can turn it off and try the usual fixes from recovery mode like erasing cache, reflashing system, or doing data wipe if I'm really desperate. This is great... :D :D :D
[Vibrant Android Development] nermie:
I can confirm this works. Flashed through Odin. .tar file in pda and no pit file. First time i tried i got into recovery mode when before I never could.
[Vibrant Android Development] Unrenowned:
Care to try it with the battery removed from the Vibrant and see if it powers up into download mode?
[Vibrant Android Development] t1h5ta3:
Just a heads up, you shuld only need to do this once - to root it. Once your rooted its easy, ether get the boot manager app, or get terminal.

post via xda app
[Vibrant Android Development] mr2t32:
can you check the box and see what the date is on the sticker with bunch of serial numbers? it just seems like it depends on the individual store's stock. Some will have the new batch while some will still have some of the old batch.
[Vibrant Android Development] mr2t32:
the problem with this way, is with our phone it goes straight back to the battery charging screen. if we keep holding and let it go to the vibrant screen, it will just reboot or go back to the battery screen. The thing we are trying to figure out now is which release date of the phones are not able to go into download or recovery using the vol. buttons. I have literately tried every single possible suggested method that i can find on the forum. None have gotten me into download or recovery. My phone is rooted through the one click using ADB, but this will not help if my phone goes to the computer ! screen.
[Vibrant Android Development] mr2t32:
That is not the problem. The problem is when the phone is soft bricked from trying a new rom or flash where you get the computer ! screen. In that situation, boot manager or terminal will not be an option. Only hardware access to the download mode will allow you to fix the problem. This is where some of us with newer vibrant are getting stuck at which is limiting us from trying new rom or anything that have to do with odin. So far the only solution is to bring to phone back to the store and do an exchange within the 14 day.
[Vibrant Android Development] xalucardx:
Turn off the phone , unplug the usb cable , while is off hold vol up/down and connect the usb , it should boot in download mode . Works for me all the time.
[Vibrant Android Development] mr2t32:
Tried and same result. Did not work on my vibrant. What is the date on the serial sticker on the box?
[Vibrant Android Development] youneek:
I read in an old i9000 post that people couldn't get to download mode with the sim card in. Have you tried removing it and then doing the method I mentioned above?
[Vibrant Android Development] xalucardx:
7/20/2010 , thats odd hope you find a way soon
[Vibrant Android Development] mr2t32:
Yes, i have tried with sim out, sd card out, volumn down/up, usb cable plugged... pretty much anything info you can find on the forum regarding download mode, i have tried them all. I have come to a conclusion that phones after a certain date are locked out from the vol. key access.
[Vibrant Android Development] mr2t32:
I see, mine and the one other that are having the same problem are in Aug. mine is 8/20/2010 and the other guy is 8/28/2010. seem like anything from Aug. will have the vol. keys locked.
[Vibrant Android Development] renocivik:
I actually intentionally soft bricked my phone... stuck at the phone ! computer screen because I had like 4 more days to exchange my phone under "buyers remorse" ... and I spent about 16 hours trying EVERYTHING get it to do anything besides come back to the same screen... I couldnt get ADB access... NOTHING...

Let me make this clear to the people that CAN access the downloader via hardware buttons... for some people it just WILL NOT work... I think its funny how ra justndomly.. someone will post "dude.. its easy.. just do this...." instead of reading and seeing that this thread is for those that are hardware locked and CANT use these methods...

what I think the best option is...

Since I am not a dev... I do not know..

but... I am curious what part of the phone is locked... is it something we can extract from an older phone... and flash to a newer locked phone.. so that it can be unlocked?

I think I will change this to a think tank to see if we can figure this out...
[Vibrant Android Development] ndhr3d:
I got the phone ! computer... tried everything... then ran to the phone store and exchanged it within my buyers remorse (14-day) period! She asked what happened and I said I broke it somehow and that was that. They went and got me a new one and I started insurance on it... next time this happens, I don't want to have to buy a $500 phone... i had a newer one... so if you are still in your grace period and are having the phone ! computer icon issue... take it back!!
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
I am ready to flash boot.bin and sbl.bin on my locked Vibrant is someone provide me the files from an unlocked ones.

Unfortunately I don't have an access to unlocked phone to extract them by myself.

I am on t-mobile USA.
[Vibrant Android Development] bigragu:
Odin loses connection in downloader

I think I too have a newer phone with the hardware method of entering downloader disabled. I have tried every which way listed in every related forum.

I can get Odin to find my phone and I am able to enter downloader through adb on my laptop, but when I do this, Odin loses my connection with the phone. Any idea how I can get Odin to continue to recognize my phone as I go into dowloader from adb?
[Vibrant Android Development] renocivik:
Do you setup odin before you connect the phone to the PC? I am pretty sure this is some sort of user error... (not that you aren't competent.. just missing something) because there isnt any reason why it shouldnt work...

are you using these drivers?

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=728929
[Vibrant Android Development] rustyrebar:
So my Vibrant was having issues, usb connected kept flashing on and off. I called in and got a new one sent out, but the new one is hardware locked.

This really sucks. However I still have the old one here. Is there something I can extract from the old one to make the new one work?

The only difference I see on them is on the sticker inside the batter compartment after the serial number I see 10.07 on the old phone and 10.08 on the new one. I must assume this is a manufacture date.
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
I'd appreciate if you backup some partitions from your old phone and send them to me. I'll try to flash them on my device to see will 3 button mode works.

You must have rooted the device

commands are:

su

dd if=/dev/block/bml1 of=/sdcard/bml1.bak

dd if=/dev/block/bml2 of=/sdcard/bml2.bak

dd if=/dev/block/bml4 of=/sdcard/bml4.bak

dd if=/dev/block/bml12 of=/sdcard/bml12.bak

You will find backup files on your internal memory.

Files I am asking are: first boot loader, PIT file, second boot loader and modem driver. I do believe there is no user specific information inside.

I assume your old Vibrant was not hardware locked. And I hope it is the same as my Vibrant from T-Mobile USA.

If you feel comfortable enough you can PM me these files.

Because your USB may not work properly /flashes on and off/ you may need to install terminal and run commands from there.

You may need to copy backup files to the sd card in order to access them from a PC.
[Vibrant Android Development] renocivik:
Thanks gad13 this will be awesome if it removes the lock... HUGE step in the prevention of bricks....

Since I am new to the dev side of things... I am learning as I go... I have a few questions..

If this works... is this something that can be included with roms? Like a script to check the version of the bootloader.. and if it is the newer disabled one it will automatically flash the old one... and if it is the older one it will just skip flashing the bootloader? Or is this something that will have to be done seperately? Maybe we can talk to the guy who created the One Click Root windows app... and he can incorporate it into his app.....

Maybe I am thinking 10 steps ahead of where we are... but ive never given back to the community (when i had my g1) and now that I have a vibrant... I wanna be more involved :)
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
We need to figure it out first. It will not be an easy task.

Once we know where the problem is, we need to find a way to fix it automatically. I do believe this will be the easiest part.

Phones may be locked by some configuration parameter in the nvram.

If that is the case then finding that parameter will be very difficult because nvram parameters included customer sensitive information and no one will share it.

Or the worst case it could be hardware change in new Vibrants. For example the code for pressed button to be different and not handled by the boot loaders at all. I don't really believe it.
[Vibrant Android Development] Lelouche:
Bricked my phone trying to flash Vibrant9 and this helped me get into download mode! Thanks a ton!
[Vibrant Android Development] bigragu:
Yes, I am using those drivers and the computer recognizes my phone.

Now, my phone is booted up when using adb. Should the phone be off or in some other state? I use the cmd prompt and everything seems to work fine (i.e. the phone goes right into downloader mode), but the moment it does, Odin gives me the "Removed" or "Deactivated" message.
[Vibrant Android Development] BackfireNL:
My method is easier!

Download one of the 2 scripts in this thread and do as follows

1) Put the phone is USB debugging

2) Download either reboot download or reboot recovery script

3) Unzip it somewhere

4) Open either reboot recovery.bat or reboot download.bat

5) Phone will boot in recovery or download mode
[Vibrant Android Development] renocivik:
Hey Gad13

So.. the guy that wrote the "vibrant bible" or whatever its called.. has the right phone... I am going to PM him the directions and get ahold of you and send you the stuff... see if we can get some progress rollin over the next few days
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
I feel a lot more comfortable if the phone is from t-mobile USA because i am planing to update the first boot loader if necessary.
[Vibrant Android Development] renocivik:
I believe he is a T-MO USA cust.... hopefully he gets back to you asap :)
[Vibrant Android Development] almyz125:
yes sir tmo usa

and i have the files atatched let me know how it goes! :-)
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
It is going to be interesting night. I'll start later tonight so don't expect to report back to soon.
[Vibrant Android Development] almyz125:
ok haha, im about done with android for the night, time to get ****ty:D
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
First report:

bml1, bml4, and bml12 are exactly the same a mine ones. That means if I replace the Primary Boot Loader, Secondary Boot Loader and Modem driver it won't make a difference.

bml2 is different. I'll take a look later.

I am not happy at all. It going to be more tough that i wanted.
[Vibrant Android Development] almyz125:
bummer. sorry to hear that.
[Vibrant Android Development] renocivik:
****ty to hear that... hopefully you find something !!! :)
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
I am having a hard time flashing bml2

Odin fails. redbend_us fails too.

I guess I need to do more reading.
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
I was able to flash bml2 using redbend_ua. I had to move it inside /system/xbin folder and run it from there.

Now I have exact the same bml1, bml2, bml4, bml5 and bml12 as ones provided by almyz.

The 3 button recovery mode still doesn't work.

Only other partitions worth a try are bml3 and bml6. Unfortunately they may have user specific data.
[Vibrant Android Development] almyz125:
What kind of user specific data, say i Odin back to stock, root and then do then take those partitions for you, would that have any user data then?

or is it user data as in IMEI #, serial#, stuff that is device specific?

if it is the first case ill gladly do a Nandroid backup and Odin to stock and give you the partitions you need.
[Vibrant Android Development] Generic112:
I really hope this gets somewhere in terms of phone-computer and a hardware-locked vibrant. I just tried to flash stock because my phone went nuts (It was only rooted, but apps just kept FC and such), but Odin froze and left my phone dead. So far all the methods I've tried have failed, so I'm hoping a solution is found.
[Vibrant Android Development] :
I just read a samsung mobile facebook update that a software update is in the works to address the problem on the canadian galaxy s version. Maybe they will finally address the issue for all galaxy s since it is obviously affecting more than just canadian versions.....my vibrant has the same problem. I talked to samsung premier support and the rep said I should send mine in for a reflash.....so they can brick it? No thanks.
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
Bml6 should be fine. It has no user specific data /I think/.

But the bml3 definitely has the IMEI# , serial# etc. I believe all configuration /nvram/ parameters are stored in nv_data.bin file which resides in bml3

The problem is not that I am afraid to flash them. The problem is that everyone keeps telling not to share such an information which is right.

Only a person who owns both locked and unlocked phones can test it.
[Vibrant Android Development] Gad13:
almyz,

I was wondering what hardware version is your phone. Mine says HW Version 0.3

You can check it by dialing *#*#197328640#*#* then go to 2 - version info; 2- hw version; 1 read hw version

Is it the same as mine?
[Vibrant Android Development] tgrantjr:
I'm in no way a developer, but I have both. If someone can tell me what they need me to do I can. The un-hardware locked is my spare phone. Let me know