Samsung Galaxy A54 stuck on "Downloading" error page which says "ODIN MODE (SVB Fail)!"

[Dudley Brooks]

Last Sunday (today is Wednesday), apparently while putting my phone in
my jacket pocket without turning it off, I seem to have accidentally hit
a "System Update" request. A couple of hours later when I took it out,
it had a light blue-green error screen, with the message described in
the Subject line above, plus some numerical information.

(I couldn't see "ODIN", only "IN", because the first part was offscreen.
But I found out about ODIN online.)

I have been unable to get rid of this screen for three days.

I called Samsung tech support, and they looked up various info ... and
tried a few things ... and then didn't know what to do (!!!) They gave
me the names of three local stores which are authorized Samsung repair
locations ... and which didn't return my phone messages (!!!)

I found this online:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ic5k2yD-8_k

(I did *not* download Dr.Fone, because I don't trust third-party apps,
especially ones which get bad reviews! Among other things, it destroys
all your data -- Factory Reset, I guess -- which I definitely don't want.)

None of the keystrokes mentioned in this video worked. The one which
came closest to working, which the error screen also said to use, was
VolumeDown+Power. That was supposed to reset the phone and then
continue the download.

It *started* to work -- the screen went black and the Samsung name came
up. But then it immediately went back to the blue-green error screen.

And while I definitely want to get out of this screen, I'm not sure I
want to continue the download. I don't know what the System Update was
that I accidentally hit - legitimate or malware? This morning, just for
moment, a completely different screen spontaneously appeared. It said

"<name-I-didn't-get> UI"

plus an apparently legitimate Samsung error message about non-standard
(or whatever term the message used) UI's being undesirable.

And then it went back to the blue-green "Downloading" screen ... which
it's still stuck on.

I've been leaving it unplugged in hopes of draining the battery and
turning it off that way. But I guess it draws very little power,
because it still hasn't gone dead.

--
Dudley Brooks, Artistic Director
Run For Your Life! ... it's a dance company!
San Francisco

[Wally J]

Dudley Brooks <dbr...@runforyourlife.org> wrote

> I have been unable to get rid of this screen for three days.

I have a thread on a similar topic for another Samsung of mine.

How to un-freeze an unresponsive Samsung Galaxy A32 5G with reboot, reset,
factory reset, odin mode, download mode, android recovery mode & debug mode

https://forum.xda-developers.com/t/how-to-un-freeze-an-unresponsive-samsung-galaxy-a32-5g-with-reboot-reset-factory-reset-odin-mode-download-mode-android-recovery-mode-debug-mode.4526629/

Hope it helps. Let us know what you find out as we all learn from each
other and we all help each other - so that we can do anything we need to.

[Andy Burns]

Dudley Brooks wrote:

> Last Sunday (today is Wednesday), apparently while putting my phone in
> my jacket pocket without turning it off, I seem to have accidentally hit
> a "System Update" request.

I no longer have a Samsung phone available, but this page

<https://www.thecustomdroid.com/samsung-galaxy-download-odin-mode-guide>

says it's easy to leave Download mode (aka Odin mode)
"hold the Volume Down and Power/Side key for 7-10 seconds"

[Dudley Brooks]

Thanks. Some of this looks familiar for the A54 5G as well.

VolumeDown+Power was supposed to work ... and does not.

The above, immediately followed by still holding Power down and pressing
PowerUp *does* work.

The problem is that the "Reset" option means "Factory Reset" (according
to Samsung Tech Support).

I'm not willing to do that until I check that the Automatic Backup to my
online Samsung account has actually been working, and see how much got
backed up before the problem happened.

I won't bother you with the details of why trying to access the account
has not worked. To summarize, it started with Two-Factor Authentication
texting a 6-digit code to the cellphone ... which, of course, I can't
access.

Then followed an hour or more of Samsung Tech Support trying all kinds
of things, none of which worked.

It ended with "I have sent a request to <whatever department> to cancel
Two-Factor Authentication. They will notify you about it in 48 business
hours."

I forgot to ask how many business hours in a business day. I assumed
that "48 business hours" meant "two business days". But perhaps there
are only 8 business hours in a business day, in which case we're talking
*six* business days! >:^(

I will call tomorrow (now today) to find out.

(The only upside of this is that I have been on the phone (landline) to
Tech Support for several hours a day, every day this week! At least I
will now have "48 business hours" during which I will *not* have to talk
to Samsung Tech Support ... which, btw, I am starting to have a very low
opinion of, since I'm having the usual experience of different (and
conflicting) information from different personnel.

The other problem is that I don't have access to a Windows computer,
only my Macbook Pro. I know that I was not able to get the Macbook to
connect to the phone with the standard software (can't remember the
name, late at night), which Samsung had me download for another problem
last month (!)

But the link you provided shows a lot of options, so I will try to check
them out. Thanks for that link!

[Dudley Brooks]

Hi. The actual error page also recommended that ... as did many
different Samsung Tech Support people on several different days.

It never worked.

Please see my response to Wally J, above, for more details (plus more
suggestions he provides a link to -- including some which the link says
to try if the above does not work), to continue this thread.

Thanks.

[Dudley Brooks]

This is old now, but I thought I should report what the fix turned out
to be -- regrettably, the ONLY fix that worked:

I first took it to one of Samsung's authorized repair stores (Best Buy
in Colma, California) who told me that, despite what Samsung claimed,
they were NOT authorized to work on the Galaxy A54, but they strongly
suspected it was a hardware issue. They recommended taking it to
another authorized Samsung repair store, Samsung Experience in Palo
Alto, California.

Samsung Experience first tried all the prescribed methods listed below.
Those methods didn't work for them, any more than they had for me.

So, unfortunately, the ONLY solution was the "solution of last resort" -
a complete factory reset. BUMMER!

(Since then I have had another issue with the same phone and, again,
Samsung phone support was no help whatsoever but, again, Samsung
Experience is fixing it. If you live anywhere near Palo Alto,
California [I'm an hour away] I highly recommend them.

I don't think I'll start a thread about that problem, since it's being
fixed, so I don't need any advice. But I am tempted to start a thread
merely to say how disgusted I am with Samsung phone support's inability
to solve problems, when Samsung Experience fixed them so easily.)