jim_pie wrote:
Yes I tried pressing the button to go into kies mode when prompted after plugging in my phone as well as setting it to automatically go into kies mode when plugged in. You can't set the usb mode when in debugging mode but I did try it in debugging mode.
To the people that have had success: what is on the screen of your phone when kies mini was downloading the binary files? Mine had the connecting to kies mini with the little usb plug image on it. Then after the download when I received the SGH-I997 could not be upgraded message, my phone switched to the downloading yellow android caution sign and my computer was asking to search for drivers to install a new device. Yet the drivers are already installed with kies mini. Am I missing something here?
That may be your problem, about the drivers already being installed on Kies mini. Samsung's website says that when your phone goes into download mode, there needs to be more drivers installed (specifically, two of them). Regardless, even if that happened for me, the upgrade still failed on me for a mysterious reason. The entire upgrade instructions on the website apparently assume that you're connecting your phone to the computer for the very first time.
I have six suspecting causes of the upgrade failing:
1. My previous phone's drivers were never uninstalled from the computer; they were installed but the phone was never able to be connected to my computer since the phone could not even turn on past the Samsung logo. (Proposed solution: Back up all documents and other files on computer and then do a clean install of Windows or borrow someone else's computer to do the upgrade.)
2. If the two drivers never installed, then you might have a driver conflict. (Solution: Connect your phone in USB debugging mode with Kies mode enabled, open Device Manager and uninstall anything that contains "Samsung" or "SGH" for a name. Then remove Kies mini, download a fresh copy from Samsung's website, and reinstall it, connecting your phone with only Kies mode turned on, NOT along with USB debugging.)
3. Certain apps on my phone that conflicted with the upgrade process. (In progress because I didn't try the upgrade yet: Do a factory data reset and don't install any apps or put any files on the phone, including music and captured video, until after you try the upgrade and finishes successfully.)
4. My phone's internal storage (not external SD card) was nearly full. (Solution: Same as #2.)
5. External SD card is full. (Solution: Remove it before even connecting your phone to the computer.)
6. My damaged and bent USB connector. (Solved: Get a new data cable from an AT&T store.)
If any of these apply to you, please try taking these suggested solutions. It's worth a try. However, please bear in mind that these are SUGGESTIONS, so something could go wrong even after taking the appropriate actions. For those of you who didn't get the upgrade successfully and are trying to find a solution, I am not responsible for anyone's phones getting bricked after trying out these solutions.
I noticed that on Samsung's website, the default instructions do not mention that USB debugging needs to be turned on. Instead it just shows the three options when connecting to the computer (no such options are available when USB debuggin is on). Only in the basic troubleshooting checklist does it mention that, in the event Kies mini doesn't see the phone.
It's kind of unusual that Samsung expects you to have never ever connected your phone to your computer until the Gingerbread update. What if you needed to transfer lots of files from your computer to the phone, or if you were dying to check for that update on Kies mini (which, in this case, is completely understandable because they took so long to get it out and we never knew exactly when it would be released)?
