Galaxy S Vibrant - Internal SD Failure

[JD]

So I think a couple of us have this phone on here, and I was wondering how you're phone is holding up after the 2.2 update released this week?

Mine lasted about 12 hours? Now it's bricked. The internal SD no longer mounts and thus it won't boot. All I get is the white logo that has Galaxy S GT i9000 flashing on and off as it tries to boot.

Reading on xda-developers, seems more and more people are reporting failures. One person said the Bell store they went to had 5 returned units sitting on the counter...

Since I only ordered the phone Nov 29, I can most likely get a direct exchange and skip over the repair/warranty process. However, I'm not sure if I want to deal with a faulty phone. A phone should be reliable and always there when you need it. I shouldn't have to worry about whether or not it'll turn on each day.

However at the same time, I'm not sure how well Virgin Mobile will be with me asking for a refund and cancelling my plan. I went with the SuperTab option though, which from what I understood, is not a fixed-term contract. So in theory it should be "easy" to get out of, especially with a defective/broken phone. I'm guessing they'll try and make me stay with them though, but there's no other phone they have that I want.

So I don't know what to do...

[Infiniti]

Download mode and Odin?

[chrisk]

My wife's friend today was complaining that her Galaxy wouldn't work either. Going to get it replaced via warranty.

Troubling. I would take another look at what they have and see if it will be suitable. Otherwise, see how painful it will be to find another carrier.

[JD]

Originally Posted by Infiniti

Download mode and Odin?

Done that many times. Flashing back to 2.1 can get me a bit further, but it's still no go.

There's a whole bunch of various threads on it:
(New After JK4 Froyo) POLL:Bell I9000M Internal SD Failures - xda-developers
POLL: International I9000 Internal 16GB SD issues - xda-developers
Bell Mobility (Ontario) repair timelines - xda-developers
[Q] Bell 2.2 upgrade and internal SD failure - xda-developers

Mobilicity's $40 fully unlimited plan is rather tempting too. However their phones are pretty lacking and not too many support this AWS frequency.

[Infiniti]

Grab a T-Mobile Vibrant and switch to Mobilicity.

That's my current phone, and damn this thing flies with CM6.1b3.

Maybe try loading up CM6.1 on your phone? I think there's a stable release for the i-9000.

[JD]

CM6.1? Unless it's a tar, I can't load any custom firmwares as Odin/Download Mode is all I have access to.

And like I said, I don't think any firmware will fix this. The internal SD is dead rendering the phone rather useless.

[Infiniti]

Hmm, reading on the XDA forum, it does seem like it bricks the hardware.

Strange, as the Galaxy S lines seemed virtually unbrickable, with its download mode and whatnot.

[JD]

Seems mainly with the GT-i9000M (aka Bell's version). The 8GB doesn't seem to have any problems, and the other 16GB models don't seem to be as bad.

Not sure why. Pretty wide-spread flash failure though. Must of been a hiccup on the production line or something.

My other choice was the Desire-Z originally, but I hear it has some issues too with freezing up, which is why I went with the SGS as it seemed to be problem-free. Oh well, maybe I'll just wait for the Nexus S, though I'm not too keen on it's looks but it uses different flash which hopefully is more reliable.

[Infiniti]

Yeah the looks of the Nexus S definitely turns me off it as well. I'm thinking of going back to Rogers though since the coverage of Mobilicity is at best mediocre in Vancouver. Would you be interested in a 2 month old Vibrant?

[Arinoth]

I didn't know the android 2.2 finally came out here in canada until now. I tried to update to see (got a 3 year warranty on the phone) and it bitched at me saying that there isn't enough battery charge to flash the firmware. Now i have to wait