Man, I've been putting this one off for years. Not sure why it only affect some models, but a lot of phones left the factory with a faulty secondary bootloader (SBL).
Because of this, it won't recognise the Volume Down + Home + Power combo.
I had to filter through a LOT of jargon and version hunting for these steps.
Prerequisites
- Removed SIM and SD cards.
- Phone in USB debugging mode.
- Without charging or USB connection, type *#0228# in the phone dialer and ensure that the "Voltage" is at least 3800 (mV).
- Phone detected by computer.
- Hex codes on your BML1 block (I won't lie, I have no idea what this means. Just check below for instructions)
Just a word of advice, DO THE CHECKS before applying this bootloader. Otherwise you'll brick it, no questions asked.
This is copy pasted from the thread, so please make sure your phone is compatible before fixing the SBL.
HOW-TO check if your mobile is compatible (Windows):
Step 1: Download the XVI32 Hex Editor
Step 2: Dump your BML1 block (rooted phone needed)
Open a new command prompt and type:
adb shell
su (a superuser request will be displayed on the phone screen, accept it).
dd if=/dev/block/bml1 of=/sdcard/bml1.dump
The dump will be copied to the root of the internal SD card.Step 3: Open the bml1.dump file with XVI32.
Step 4: Search (in ASCII Mode) for OFNI.If the block reads "!@" just follow the tutorial below starting with Step 1.
If it reads "x0" then STOP as this FiX will BRICK your phone if applied !!
Downloads
I really wanted to use Heimdall for this, but it just wouldn't let me.
- Odin v1.7
- I already had adb.exe from the Android SDK package. There are plenty of places to get this.
- Modified SBL
Procedure
- Open up a command prompt and navigate to adb.exe
- Type "adb reboot download" to enter download mode
- Run Odin
- Wait for the "COM###" label to turn yellow
- Click on the PDA button and select "P-SBL.tar.md5.tar"
- Tick "Phone BootLoader update"
- Tick "Autoreboot"
- Tick "F.Reset Time"
- Ensure the other options are NOT ticked.
- Click start whenever you're ready
The whole process will only take a few seconds. You may need to reboot your phone manually.
Turn the phone off and test if download mode works (Volume Down + Home + Power).
Ensure that your phone still works! For me, it got stuck on the loading screen and refused to start up. Take out the battery and try it again.
If it doesn't work, you'll have to reflash your firmware. This doesn't break the bootloader though, so feel free to reflash.
