Fix 3-Button Combo Download & Recovery Mode In Samsung Galaxy S GT-I9000

By Aatif Khan on Nov 10 2010 76 Comments

There was an unlucky batch of some Samsung GT-I9000 Galaxy S phones that cannot be put into download and recovery modes using the standard three-button combos. This poses a huge problem for the users of these phones, as they cannot literally apply any mods, leaked firmware etc whatsoever.

The problem is caused by a faulty SBL (secondary bootloader) in these devices. Luckily, a fix exists for this issue, involving flashing a custom ‘fixed’ secondary bootloader to your device, that should enable the 3-button combos once again.

Discalimer: Please note this process is highly dangerous, and can permanently brick your device if not follow properly. While the success rate is over 99%, proceed at your own risk.The instructions provided herein are ‘as is’ only, with no liability on AddictiveTips part.

Pre-requisites:

Make sure that you have:

  • Samsung drivers preinstalled (verify this by checking that Kies actually recognizes your phone)
  • ADB installed on your machine (refer to this guide here to ensure that)
  • USB Debugging mode turned on in device’s settings (go to “Settings –> Applications –> Development” menu)
  • Without plugging in the USB cable, type *#0228# in the phone dialer, and ensure that Voltage value is AT LEAST 3800 (mV). (This must be done WITHOUT plugging in the USB cable).
  • Odin3 Multi-downloader v1.3 (can be downloaded here)
  • Modified SBL tar file (Download here)
  • Removed SIM and external microSD cards

When all set, start Odin in administrator mode (or run it with an admin account). Load the downloaded TAR file as PDA, and make sure that Re-partition is UNCHECKED and Phone Bootloader Update is CHECKED.

image

Now plug the USB cable into the phone. Start a new command prompt window and navigate to the folder/directory where you have installed ADB.

Put the phone in download mode using adb method. Enter the following command:

adb reboot download

This will put your phone in download mode. Check Odin now, and if ID:COM has turned yellow, you’re good to go. (Again ensure that you have not selected any other files that the one in PDA, and that re-partition and bootloader update options are correct)

Once you’re satisfied, press the Start button on Odin. The flash will take about three seconds, after which your phone will reboot automatically.

That’s it. This should fix your download and recovery mode 3-button combo issue. You can now apply any mods with the normal procedure.

Reference:

To go in Download mode, press and hold Volume Down + Home + Power Button

For Recovery mode, press and hold Volume Up + Home + Power Button

Also check out our guide on flashing Froyo on your Samsung Galaxy S phone via Odin.

[VIA XDA]
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  • Urs

    Thanks for this guide! I thought my Galaxy S is lost. You where my lifesaver!

  • mossy1963

    excellent – after a lot of research this was the best advice and worked faultlessly

  • Vinícius E.

    Thank you very much. Your guide is the easiest one that I found in the internet and it helped me fix the 3 buttons issue.

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  • Majed

    Aweome man Ive been looking for a solution for so long and you really saved my SGS I9000 and made my day…cant thank you enough bro…yeppeeee

  • Muhammad

    Where to enter the command “adb boot recovery”. I have all the files on my computer but adb is not opening.

  • Abhishek

    This is too good ! Thank you soo much , Now I am able to use 3 button modes .

    Works perfectly on Android 2.2 official update .

  • luis

    does this work on the gt-9000t?

  • mbuzzz

    Hi

    I have battled getting with the following issues:

    1. the 3 button combo does not work and hence my attempt to apply this fix

    2. the adb command returns ” error device not found” message. i have loaded usb drivers and the PC can identify the my galaxy in windows 7.

    3. kies cannot connect to my device anymore though it once did

    4. odin ID: COM field does go yellow and message box say Added but the adb reboot download command returns ” error : device not found” message

    My device has std android 2.1 and never been upgraded before

    What must i do in order to upgrade from

    Regards

    Mbuzzz

    • http://www.hqraja.com Haroon Q. Raja

      Would have loved to help you but I’m more of an HTC expert rather than a Samsung one. Aatif rocks with Samsung devices but he is on a break these days.

    • marvel

      “adb reboot download” doesn’t seem to work on my device (debug mode on).
      Although id:com turns yellow.

      When i hit start i get

      Added!!
      Odin v.3 engine (ID:8)..
      File analysis..
      SetupConnection..
      All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

      Nothing happened.

      Any ideas ?

  • Peter

    My phone cant be reset using the 3 button method.
    Its stuck in the logo screen and vibarate once and a while after installing the OCLF.

    PLEASE HELP ME

    • http://www.hqraja.com Haroon Q. Raja

      Aatif is on a break these days, as you might have noticed. He will help you with your issue as soon as he returns. I would have helped you myself but despite searching, I couldn’t find a fix for your issue.

  • Peter

    Thanks Haroon,

    I will wait for Aatif to return.

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  • alexei

    ( had same problem. except logo. i see only computer and phone with ! triangle. ( any combination of buttons make phone reboot to same logo.
    cannot see phone not in device manager, not in kies, not in odin.
    i’m on samsung vibrant 9000 from tmobile.

    pleeeeeease help. i’m desperate.
    thnx a lot!

    • http://www.hqraja.com Haroon Q. Raja

      Aatif isn’t around and I couldn’t find a solution for this issue despite searching. I guess you’ll just have to wait for a while. I’ll notify him in the meantime, and see if he can come online for a while to check this out.

  • jorge

    would trhis work in the captivate??

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  • alexei

    (( had to send it to recovery to mobile phones lab.

  • Max

    Awsome, worked great!
    Thank you so much for this guide!
    (samsung galaxy s ,2.2 europe)

  • KD

    Hiya, I have followed the instructions (which are excellent) and all works well except the last step. The phone goes into download mode but encounters a serial com error when Odin tries the flash. I have pasted below the message output from Odin. Your help would be greatly appreciated:

    Added!!
    Odin v.3 engine (ID:5)..
    File analysis..
    SetupConnection..
    Can’t open the serial(COM) port.
    All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

    P.S. I am a complete newbie at this.

    Thanks,

    KD

  • KD

    …..quick update for on my serial comm error issue; I had the Kies program running in the background, so once I closed the Kies app and retried the Odin flash upgrade it worked. Yippeee!!!

  • Anis

    during flashing with odin v 3 I have turn off my battery, after that I cant start my samsung i 5801 phone. is there any solution to bring my phone at download mode? pls! help me!!!!!!

  • Mehdi

    Hi,

    the links to download ADB (android SDK http://dl.google.com/android/android-sdk_r09-windows.zip) is broken or its not working!

    do you have another link where I can get the android SDK.

    thanks guys

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  • phil

    that for the guides
    its works on me

  • Giuseppe

    I’ve checked my voltage and I’ve seen that my voltage is under 3800mV.
    How I can improve that?

    • afeef

      just put your phone on charging dude

  • Alejandro

    Hi!

    I made all the steps, but when I hit “adb reboot download”, Windows tells me it’s not working properly and it’s an unknown device and nothing else works, Hitting “adb reboot” doesn’t do anything as the system doesn’t see the device (Oding tells me it has been disconnected right after I hit “adb reboot download”).

    As it doesn’t do anything, I have to remove the battery.

    Any advice?

    • Alejandro

      btw, I don’t see it in the Device manager as an adb interface… =/

      • afeef

        you should check that the drivers for your phone are correctly installed on your system

  • Mike

    I have the Samsung GT-I9000 Gal S… The phone is awsome BUT! Im having a problem when connecting it to my laptop…. Once connected my phone will say it is connected but Keis just carrys on trying to connect and it is not showing any connection at all on the laptop? what do I do???
    :-s

  • Gregg

    This is heaven sent. Not only did it fixed the 3 button reset, it also fixed my wifi connection issue. I don’t know if its related, but all I know is that its working. Because the work around that I did before was to connect to allshare for AP’s that I had problems, now, its a breeze. Thanks for this..

  • Rafeek

    Thank you.
    Went through as described except:
    when the adb-reboot-download command was given, instead of 1 ID:COM, many (4!) were showing yellow. Tried to see any reference to such an outcome but couldn’t see any. The mobile was showing “downloading-don’t switch off target” message. For some time I didn’t know what to do next. Finally, decided and proceeded with bated breath. 1.. 2 and 3 seconds passed and gracefully, mobile restarted and the odin screen showed PASSED! in green color in only ID:COM slot (first one).

    To be sure, pressed the 3 button combination, and viola.. it went to the downloading mode (which wasn’t working before!)

    Thanks again..

  • EM WAI

    HOLY!! THANKS!!

  • bensonnjonjo

    worked like a charm :) thanks

  • galaxys

    worked great! brilliant!!

  • Simon Parker

    Ok, tried this and it got the download mode working, but recovery mode still doesn’t. And I also not a problem when i boot up, the screen goes all mutlicoloured, all stripeyvertical lines, then the galaxy logo and it boots, not normal. I also get that mutlcoloured screen when trying the camera, so instead of image through viewfinder, i get couloured screen. Tried rebooting a few times, all the same. Maybe i did it in wrong order, or file was corrupted but i used a download usb jig to force download mode then upgraded to gingerbread. Then when all seemed ok, no funny coloured screen etc, the instructions said to force recovery mode to clear the cache, which is where i followed instructions above. Should i have done the above first, then updgrade firmware? Or dodgy file from above download? Need help, phone keeps turnings itself off now too. Should i just try again. One thing i noticed now, when checking the voltage, mine says 3780, not at least 3800mv, could that be the problem and how can i fix that, battery is at 50%. Any help and advice is much appreciated.

    • Kurani

      Hi Simon, not sure if your issue is fixed or not. I upgraded mine and my partner’s Galaxy S to gingerbread without issue, but when I used the same method for a friends, they got the same issue with the camera as you.

      We followed these steps:

      1. Reboot phone – if issue is still there go to step 2
      2. Go into Gallery, then tap on the camera app icon to access the camera – if issue is still there go to step 3
      3. Reinstall gingerbread using the same method. Once completed, if issue is still there go to step 4
      4. Reboot phone – if issue is still there go to step 5
      5. Go into Gallery, then tap on the camera app icon to access the camera – this should resolve the issue.

      What I recommend you do first before reinstalling gingerbread is testing whether going into Gallery, then tapping on the camera app icon resolves it, if not you might want to reboot the phone and try it again.

      They no longer have any issues, wish you luck.

  • marvel

    I followed all the steps.
    Although Odin turns yellow after “adb reboot download” my device isnt attached.
    After hitting start, Odin reports:

    Added!!
    Odin v.3 engine (ID:8)..
    File analysis..
    SetupConnection..
    All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

    Nothing happened.

    Any ideas ?

  • Bharath

    Worked Like a Charm dude! Thanks for all the effort! Appreciate it!

  • Andy

    So glad I found this guide.
    Worked like a charm.

    Thanks so much.

  • raiddroid

    hey…awesome man.. you save my day…thanks a lot…

  • lnuy

    why does it have a screen full of line when i turn on my phone ?

  • Sujan Karki

    thnx dude!!! finally my sgs rocks…going to update gingerbread… :-)

  • Sujan Karki

    gingerbread updated….thnx 4 ur gr8 information…. ha ha ha ha!!!!

  • Lars

    thanks dude, worked like a charm!!

  • Alex

    Everything works great, but when i put my phone in download with adb command, odin looses connection with my phone…what to do ?

  • Alex

    plz hellp, adb is working fine, it recognize my device in cmd and odin too, but whene i put my SGS in download mode, it goes unrecognized in odin and in windows

  • Navi

    hello everybody

    i tried same procedure on my galaxy s for tmobile, it went through without any problem but my phone did not reboot and will not turn on at all. any help on that please………

    • Sheni Ogunmola

      I tried the same procedure on my Samsung Galaxy S 4G and like Navi everything completed on Odin without any problems except it didn’t reboot my phone and when I tried to switch it on it wouldn’t power up. Why is this happening? I wish I had read this post before attempting this.

  • Maurice

    Do not try this if you have a newer “Samsung Galaxy S 4G” it will full brick your phone , with no way to recovey, has to be sent to Samsung. I done this and now won’t even power on or give you the charging icon, and followed it step by step, seem like alot of people are getting the same result, lucky mines is under warranty.

    • BRICKED

      JUST FOUND THIS OUT! SOB!!!!! =(

    • Jamie

      I wish I would have read this before I did it! *sigh* Oh well, thank God for insurance?

  • vic

    i love you man your the best!!

  • Senthil

    Thanks a lot man…
    you saved me……………
    :) )

  • Yen

    Hi,

    I Tried applying this fix but…

    Added!!
    Odin v.3 engine (ID:3)..
    File analysis..
    SetupConnection..
    Initialzation..
    Get PIT for mapping..
    Firmware update start..
    boot.bin
    Complete(Write) operation failed.
    All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
    All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 0)
    Removed!!

    Then it lost connection to my phone and now i cant connect to ADB, its sitting on the Mobile-!-Computer picture… What can i do?

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