My Note 2 random reboots under 4.1.2 ROMs

I posted an old thread about this but now I have spent a lot of time trying to investigate and I am at a complete loss of ideas now.

The first thing that has to be stated is that my N7100, bought in Sweden, is rock solid under the ALJ3 based BatteryPlus 0.2 ROM. It works absolutely excellent, not a single problem. Just stable and reliable operation.

The problem:

Now to the very strange problem.

The 4.1.2 ROMs causes the device to reboot randomly. I have tried the following options:

1. Stock ROM XXDLL7 flashed through Odin 3.0.4 in Windows 7.

It reboots very often, even without a single app or mod installed. Even before rooting, it reboots. When it reboots, it can perform the whole process and return to a working state.

2. Omega 9.1 flashed through CWM 6.0.1.5.

It reboots less than with stock DLL7 but still very often. The longest uptime I managed to get was approximately 10 hours and that was with the memory card removed as an experiment. During many of those reboots, it fails to boot up completely, it just hangs at the Omega animation. A reboot by pressing the power button works.

3. JellyBam 3.3.0 flashed through CWM 6.0.1.5.

This ROM worked great for a couple of hours but then started to reboot. I.e. it worked for approximately 4-5 hours without any problems and then the rebooting started and reached a high frequency.

4. Kingdroid 2.1 flashed through CWM 6.0.1.5.

This ROM carried my farthest with approximately 8 hours between the reboots. It worked reliable for that amount of time between the reboots while the other ROMs showed a tendency to reboot frequently when that "cycle" started.

5. WanAm Lite DLL5 based flashed through CWM 6.0.1.5.

It rebooted in a similar fashion to the Omega ROM.

The interesting thing with all this is that stability and reliable operation returns immediately when I flash back to BatteryPlus 0.2. I can experience random reboots with a high frequency with a 4.1.2 ROM and then immediately flash BatteryPlus 0.2 and get stability. One example is a ROM that reboots within 5 minutes or even during initial setup, if I then flash the BP 0.2 - everything works perfect again without any reboot.

The steps I have taken in order to troubleshoot are:

1. Full wipe - every flash has been made with full wipe including format /system and /preload.

2. I removed the memory card as one step, unfortunately the random rebooting continued but with a longer period.

3. I reformatted the card both from CWM and from the Settings but the rebooting continued.

4. I tried an older 8 GB SanDisk Ultra card from my Vivaz - and it still rebooted.

5. I removed the SIM card (Straight Talk mini SIM cut to micro SIM) - and the rebooting persisted.

6. I downloaded the emergency restore ROM and made a .PIT repartitioning through Odin - and the rebooting persists.

7. I flashed the latest XXDLL7 through Odin - and it reboots.

The interesting detail is that the flashes itself has been successful and I have been unable to pinpoint anything, for example radio or bootloader. I am now running BatteryPlus 0.2 with the latest DLL7 bootloader and radio - without any single problem.

The fact that the reboot behavior differs between different ROMs (some experiences random reboots within 10 minutes, others works for hours) together with the fact that BatteryPlus 0.2 works perfect clearly points AWAY from hardware problems. The memory card and everything runs perfectly well under that older ROM.

The only thing I have been thinking about is if there is a recovery problem. On my N7000 I had to revert to HyperDroid RedPill Recovery (Abyss Kernel 3.9 RedPill) since I noticed that CWM didn't properly wiped the cache partition (I got "Android is updating xx of yy" even after a full wipe) and instability. With the RedPill, everything worked perfectly well.

I have also tried to do some logcat but has been unable to pinpoint any single process causing a reboot. I suspected the Pure Messenger Widget for example (which works perfect in 4.1.1) but when the rebooting started without a single application installed etc, that theory failed.

The recovery I have used is the CWM 6.0.1.5 flashed through Odin as a part of the root package.

I tried to flash DLJ2 ROMs through TWRP as an experiment one month before but still with rebooting.

I am at a complete loss at this stage, the only thing I can think about is if there are some kind of "mismatch" between 4.1.2 based ROMs and CWM 6.0.1.5 - or if there is something going on with the CSC that is Nordic (I have never changed it).

The Note was delivered with ALJ1 originally if I remember that correctly.

This problem annoys me since it would be nice to upgrade to 4.1.2 ROMs but all random reboots prevents this.

Is there anyone that has experienced the same problem?

To me is it a bit strange that the device works perfectly under the 4.1.1 based BP 0.2 but acts up with random reboots under anything 4.1.2. Since I got farthest with JellyBam 3.3.0 and Kingdroid 2.1, it is obvious that the reboots are triggered differently. With some ROMs, I have noticed reboots when the USB cable is plugged in. Not immediately but after a while (5 minutes or so). In BP 0.2, this don't happen.

I would be grateful for any kind of help here.

I am not interested in sending the device for service since I clearly suspect a software problem - the extremely reliable operation in BP 0.2 indicates this. If it would be the hardware, it would act up in a very similar manner - and certainly in BP 0.2 too.

adytum said:

Well that's intriguing. Sorry if I missed it in your extensive post, but have you tried going all stock and updating to 4.1.2 via kies or stock update to eliminate or confirm whether it's something in 4.1.2 itself? I haven't checked in a while (from Norway myself), but I believe official 4.1.2 is available for Scandinavia now.

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 2

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Yes, I have also tried to flash the emergency DLJ2 ROM including PIT repartitioning without success. I have also tried the LL7 stock ROM a couple of times, in those cases with full wipe made in CWM before rebooting into download mode and flash through Odin (PC).

Since I hadn't any success with any 4.1.2 ROM even if the reboot frequency varies, it seems to be some kind of compatibility problem - the question is what.

When I flashed the LL7 stock ROM, it updated the bootloader and radio without any problems so now I am on BP 0.2 with the LL7 radio and latest bootloader. Without any problems.

Interestingly, the ROMs that has worked best (with 4.1.2) has been Kingdroid 2.1 and JellyBam 3.3.0. Since the reboot frequency varies, it seems to be differenses in the ROMs that causes it.

It is also worth to mention that I have noticed different reboot frequency on the same ROM in connection with reflashing.

That somehow points towards a CWM problem. I.e. that something goes on during the flash and that "something" somehow causes problems with the 4.1.2 ROMs.

niehof said:

I have this strange reboots on my N7105 also. I'm on 4.1.2 with Deadman12' DLL1 Rom. I was not able to reproduce the reboots. Did not have them with T-Mobile branded 4.1.1 Rom.

Gesendet von meinem GT-N7105 mit Tapatalk 2

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This certainly points towards some kind of compatibility issue with 4.1.2 ROMs.

There is one theoretical possibility and that is if there are different batches of N7100/N7105 and that there are some kind of internal difference that creates the problems.

Otherwise, I suspect the CWM.

As I wrote before, on the N7000, I experienced problems with CWM flashing and solved them by switching to the RedPill Recovery in Abyss 3.9 kernel. It is also worth to mention that CWM worked well later, with ICS and JB. That problem persisted during the GB times with older kernels.

Thanks for the answer.

I will try the suggestions but I think that I will wait a little while, perhaps for a newer update than the LL7 since I have spent many days troubleshooting already and since I also formatted my memory card and therefore removed my old Titanium backups (in order to start fresh), it has taken me a while to configure everything again.

I have considered NAND corruption and that is why I tried a PIT repartition with the emergency rescue firmware posted here. I have also done full wipes including format /system.

It is worth to mention that the strange thing here is that stability returns immediately when I flash BatteryPlus 0.2/4.1.1.

The other important thing here is that the reboot behavior depends on the ROM, complete stock DLL7 reboots insanely, Kingdroid and JellyBam works for a far longer time before rebooting. What I think is strange, regarding the theory of NAND corruption, is the fact that there is no problems with the flashing itself and on the same time, the behavior differs between different ROMs. Since the difference is hours between the first reboot, it is really hard to pinpoint the exact cause.

The only idea I can think about then is to flash stock ALJ3 through Odin and then try to run the OTA from there.

I have taken the following steps during the flashing:

1. Wipe Data
2. Wipe Cache
3. Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Format /system
5. Format /preload

Some of the 4.1.2 ROMs reboots already during initial setup, i.e. they fail to complete the setup guide. The reboot can happen after putting the Google account in or under Dropbox setup for example. Otherwise, it reboots without doing anything in some cases.

The strange thing is that immediately when I flash the BP 0.2 from the same recovery, stability returns. So I can have everything else the same, just flashing BP 0.2 and everything works great.

Regarding Odin. The procedure I have followed when I flashed stock DLL7 that way has been:

1. Boot into CWM, wipe data/factory reset, wipe Dalvik, format /system and format /preload (just in order to have everything wiped since the stock ROM doesn't do it).

2. After wiping in CWM, reboot into stock recovery/download mode and flash the DLL7 by Odin.

It is also worth to mention that I have checked the MD5 checksum on all ROMs in order to make sure that they are OK.

Still, despite wiping in CWM before flashing DLL7, the rebooting persisted.

Since it seems like this thread provides great input, I am planning to spend tomorrow with a new attempt to get 4.1.2 up and running.

I am going to remove Chrome and start from the stock 4.1.2 but will try to move to a custom ROM quickly since I want deodex etc. One option is obviously to flash a deodexed stock ROM or something.

mitky82 said:

Hm, and i have randomly reboots after update to 4.1.2
Nothing is help me, wipe device,factory reset, wipe memory and all thing. Only when remove chrome from system app reboots stoped. From 2 days i dont have that app installed on phone and problem is gone. I cant explain how it affect to system, but problem is gone.
Try

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Sounds great, I will try that tomorrow then.

Flash a new 4.1.2 ROM, just skip the initial setup and then remove Chrome as soon as possible and hope that it will solve the problem.

Edit: BatteryPlus 0.2 doesn't have Chrome at all. It would be great if that is the cause of the reboots and perhaps already tonight I will do a very simple test by flashing one of the custom ROMs through CWM and then put Root Explorer in ASAP and then remove Chrome. Then I can watch the device over the night.

The theory is certainly interesting.

I am on 4.1.1, BatteryPlus 0.2.

My reboots hasn't been in the browser though, most of them has been in completely random manner. Either during initial setup or randomly in different apps or when the device has been completely untouched, for example during the night.

I saw a possible explanation in another thread about issues on XXDLL7. It seems to point toward some kind of problem with CWM/custom recoveries in general and the XXDLL7 with the updated bootloader.

That could be a possible explanation for the problems.

I can live without a custom recovery for a while but I don't like it very much since I want to be able to flash mods etc.

The theory seems to be that Samsung changed something in the partition scheme in the XXDLL7 which results in problems when a custom recovery is used.

Latest update:

I have just made a full wipe including format /system in CWM and reflashed XXDLL7 through PC Odin followed by an extra factory reset (wipe data) in stock recovery.

I tried an emergency restore with Kies but it proposed the old ALJ3 since it seems like the DLL7 isn't released for Sweden yet (and I bought the device there).

So now I will see how it behaves with this stock ROM again.

I also made a Triangle Away since my counter was standing at 8.

At the moment, the device should be 100% stock, stock ROM, recovery, bootloader and everything.

Edit: As a further precaution, I disabled Chrome from Settings.

I also skipped through the Setup Guide.

Edit 2: At the moment, it seems to be more stable than before. I experienced reboots almost immediately on this ROM. Could it be that simple that an extra wipe is necessary after flash before first boot?

New update:

I encountered the reboots again under stock XXDLL7. I have therefore flashed Android Revolution HD and will monitor it and see what will happen. I flashed it with full wipe, format /system and everything.

The only anomaly I noticed at the moment was "the Clock has stopped" so I froze that app. I ran an extra wipe after flashing and topped up with fix permissions (despite this, the Clock app acted up).

I flashed with CWM 6.0.1.5 and rerooted with the standard package containing it.

Yes, I usually wipe the internal SD card when I flash.

Now, I am going to try to extract the logs. I had another crash with ARHD 8.0 now, it had been up for 2 hours 55 minutes (before that 2 reboots with approximately 20 minutes in between) and now when I activated WiFi, Settings just FCed and then it rebooted.

When I flashed the stock ROM, I wiped everything and after that, wiped again from stock recovery. Still rebooting....

Now with ARHD, it seems like the reboot behavior is similar to the stock ROM.

I am now going to see if I can find anything in the kernel logs.

I managed to extract the kernel log file. The last part of it looks like this:

Samsung S-Boot 4.0-679347 for GT-N7100 (Dec 26 2012 - 10:25:20)

EXYNOS4412(EVT 2.0) / 2047MB / 15028MB / Rev 11 / N7100XXDLL7

initialize_ddi_data: usable! (2:0xe)
PARAM ENV VERSION: v1.0..
<start_checksum:331>CHECKSUM_HEADER_SECTOR :4096
<start_checksum:333>offset:50, size:6296
<start_checksum:336>CHECKSUM_HEADER_INFO : NeedChecksum:0 PartNo:20
Not Need Movinand Checksum
Movinand Checksum Confirmation Pass
init_fuelgauge: fuelgauge power ok
init_fuelgauge: not POR status
init_fuelgauge: manual reset case, skip soc-cal.
get_table_soc: vcell(4025) is caculated to t-soc(77.410)
init_fuelgauge: start: vcell(4025), vfocv(4076), soc(78), table soc(77)
init_fuelgauge: finish: vcell(4025), vfocv(4076), soc(78), table soc(77)
init_microusb_ic: MUIC: CONTROL1:0x00
init_microusb_ic: MUIC: CONTROL1:0x00
init_microusb_ic: MUIC: CONTROL2:0x3b
init_microusb_ic: MUIC: CONTROL2:0x3b
PMIC_ID = 0x02
PMIC_IRQSRC = 0x00
PMIC_STATUS1 = 0x13
PMIC_STATUS2 = 0x00
PMIC_PWRON = 0x09
PMIC_IRQ1 = 0xc2
PMIC_IRQ2 = 0x00
s5p_check_keypad: 0x100000
s5p_check_reboot_mode: INFORM3 = 0 ... skip
s5p_check_upload: MAGIC(0x66262564), RST_STAT(0x10000)
s5p_check_upload: debug level is 4f4c!
s5p_check_upload: level low or unknown: skip 0
microusb_get_attached_device: STATUS1:0x3f, 2:0x00
s5p_check_download: 0
microusb_get_attached_device: STATUS1:0x3f, 2:0x00
check_pm_status: charger is not detected
check_pm_status: voltage(4025) is ok
ddi type = 1, S.LSI
cmu_div:6, div:2, src_clk:880000000, pixel_clk:62614944
41, 16, a2,
load_kernel: loading boot image from 1141838212..
- read_bl1
Verify_Binary_Signature: failed.
pit_check_signature (BOOT) invalid.
Set invalid sign flag
if_ddi_data: succeeded. (2:0xe)
ATAG_CORE: 5 54410001 0 0 0
ATAG_MEM: 4 54410002 20000000 40000000
ATAG_MEM: 4 54410002 20000000 60000000
ATAG_MEM: 4 54410002 20000000 80000000
ATAG_MEM: 4 54410002 1ff00000 a0000000
ATAG_SERIAL: 4 54410006 4df1f97c 36cf9ff5
ATAG_INITRD2: 4 54420005 42000000 85ce3
ATAG_REVISION: 3 54410007 b
ATAG_CMDLINE: 6e 54410009 'console=ram loglevel=4 sec_debug.level=0 sec_watchdog.sec_pet=5 androidboot.debug_level=0x4f4c sec_log=0x200000@0x46000000 s3cfb.bootloaderfb=0x5ec00000 sysscope=0xee000000 lcdtype=1 consoleblank=0 lpcharge=0 lpj=3981312 vmalloc=176m oops=panic pmic_info=67 cordon=58a4048e6da218bf13a26b048ba5702c androidboot.emmc_checksum=3 androidboot.bootloader=N7100XXDLL7 androidboot.serialno=4df1f97c36cf9ff5 snd_soc_core.pmdown_time=1000'
ATAG_NONE: 0 0

Starting kernel at 0x40008000...

SWITCH_SEL(3)

This is from ARHD 8.0.

Now, it suddenly did a "light factory reset" - i.e. it rebooted and then run the initial setup again, fortunately Root Explorer remained in place so I could extract the log file.

This is the last.kmsg log.

Edit: Since I see something about the .pit, perhaps I should try to use Odin 3.07 instead of 3.04 and reflash the stock ROM with it together with NAND erase, if there is something troublesome with the partition table.

On the other hand, it is still very strange that the old BP 0.2/ALJ3 works perfectly.