My Samsung Galaxy S Won't Turn On

[Krishan Modi]

Hey guys,

I flashed my Orange branded Samsung galaxy s around a month or so ago from 2.2 to 2.2.1 (JPY) as Kies kept losing connection to my phone.

The update worked fine and my phone has been running quick as ever, but recently I have noticed that my phone after having an "up-time" of more than 12-24 hours, that music playback sometimes fails and watching Youtube videos does as well. So a restart of my phone has been required every time this happens and has seemed to fix the problem.

This morning however, I tried to restart my phone after Youtube playback failed, but the problem is that it won't turn on; More specifically, after it gets past the flashing "S" symbol the screen goes blank and it vibrates once, then twice and then keeps vibrating every so often.

The touch button still light up when pressed but none of the hardware buttons seem to do anything, apart from the power button.

I have backed up data from when I flashed my phone, but I don't really want to lose anything I have saved since then that is on the internal memory such as messages etc.

I have taken the battery, sim and memory card out, given the phone a clean but every time I restart it, the screen goes blank.

Any idea what is causing this and anyway I can fix it without losing my stuff?

I dropped my phone face-down about two weeks ago, and the phone switched off, but the battery did not come out....there were no visible signs of damage to the screen or the casing at all....wondering if this has impacted it?

Please help!

Thanks.

[John-H]

Was the drop onto a hard or cushioned surface and did you have a rubber or gell case cushioning the edges? The more sudden the impact the more chance of damage but usually things stay connected and it's the screen that gets damaged.

You could of course reflash JPY without wiping the memory in order to refresh the system without loosing data. Can you get it into recovery mode with the three button boot up?

[Krishan Modi]

when i took it out of my pocket, it dropped facedown onto the tiles in my hallway...and thecase was not on at the time. Back casing did not come off and battery was still in...picked it up expecting the screen to be ruined at the very least....turned it on and it was absolutely fine....not even any scratches or dents on the phone!

How do I reflash JPY without losing data....just dont do a factory reset once its done?

I managed to do the three button boot up when I flashed to JPY... but it doesnt seem to be working now...let me keep trying..sometimes it doesnt work!

Anything else you can recommend, with the new information provided?

Update: Tried several times to get into recovery mode and download mode...not working....used to before. why would that be?

Just to double check... recovery mode: when phone is off, hold down vol+ key and home key. then hold power key (all three keys are held). once the white samsung writing appears let go of power button but other two remain held until recovery mode appears.

is that correct? ^

[Krishan Modi]

hey guys i really need help with this. my phone is just sitting there with a blank screen vibrating every minute or so.. is it worth taking it back to orange. if so, ask them to repair (bearing in mind i debranded and flashed to JPY), or just replace?

thanks.

[John-H]

They will probably say it's not covered by warranty as you've reflashed it. You need to get into recovery mode (or download mode) and reflash. There were versions of the software which didn't have the recovery enabled but I thought JPY was OK - I may be wrong.

Actually for the download mode with Odin (is that how you put JPY on?) it's Vol- but try different combinations such as letting go of all three buttons at once or letting go of power and volume and then home when SGS appears.

If you can't get the three button mode to work you can fix it with this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=785201

Then using Odin you could reflash JPY

[Krishan Modi]

ive tried all combinations and it doesnt seem to work

unless the phone is factory reset somehow, i dont think it can be accessed, which means that theres no way of knowing what firmware is on there

also, orange told me that it had developed a "major fault" and so a replacement is coming free of charge tomorrow between 9am-1pm.

i lose all my msgs, emails and texts but i can restore my contacts using Kies (although I last backed up in december so theyre out of date)

95% of my media is on my memory card so apart from the messages and app data, its not too bad?

[John-H]

You could still fix the three button boot, put it into download mode, re-flash JPY and not lose your contacts etc., whilst you are waiting

I don't know what Orange will do when they get your phone back with JPY on it. They may just repair and reflash it.

[Krishan Modi]

yeah i might try that! when the replacement arrives tomorrow..im flashing straight to JPY

thanks for the help!

[Krishan Modi]

oh yeah just looked at xda - the link you provided.... i cant access my phone and the computer doesnt connect to it...wont work!

[John-H]

There is the hardware download mode cable harness method you could try but it means hacking a lead and soldering in a resistor - but perhaps it's too far gone