S21 ULTRA ON BOOT LOOP

[Abe_T]

Literally woke up to my S21 Ultra (Exynos) on a boot loop. It was just charging overnight. Managed to enter recovery mode, but wiping cache or resetting to stock doesn't work.

Any ideas? Some have suggested that the main storage chip had failed based on the error messages. 

Messaged with a Samsung rep on live chat and they are asking me to bring it in for checking. Problem is that l live hours away from the closest service center. Literally have to fly/take a boat and drive some more to get there. 

RECOVERY MODE ERROR MESSAGES

[TeamGalaxyEvflor]

Amazing day! Jan here, Samsung moderator. Thank you for sharing your concern here in the Samsung member community. We're very sorry to hear that you're experiencing this kind of issue. In regards to this, I suggest that you may try to force restart again the phone using the power and volume down button, in this way the system might go through. We could also wait until the battery drained then we could safely restart the phone without forcing it. Nonetheless, if any of these solutions would not work, the last option is to bring the phone to the nearest Samsung Services Center if you have time. We're very sorry for the inconvenience. Hope this will be resolved soon. Stay safe and have a great day!

[starky02]

Try to restore the firmware using Smart Switch on PC.

[maxq1]

That won't work. Just dl then flash stock firmware via Odin. I'm pretty sure it'll work as you can go to DL/recovery modes. Lots of guide on XDA

[Abe_T]

Thanks, guys.

I've sent it in to Samsung. Will take a few days to go through the process. I'll post results here.

[Abe_T]

My S21 ULTRA unit was received by Samsung service yesterday.

They confirmed that my unit is still under warranty for parts and labor being just 1 month since purchase, but apparently replacements are only (readily) available within 7 days of purchase. I insisted on a replacement unit, not just a shop repair since the issue does seem to be memory/hardware, and I can't risk further inconveniences by hardware failure. I paid for a fully functioning brand new phone and got a lemon, I expect to get what I pay for and not a repaired lemon unit.

Service center said they'll forward my request to Samsung head office here in the Philippines and I have to wait 3-5 working days for their response.

Fingers crossed they just give me a new unit.

[Abe_T]

Despite my pleading, Samsung Philippines has refused to replace my phone because it is past the ridiculous 7 day replacement period. Instead, they have gone ahead and repaired the unit by replacing the motherboard and extended my warranty by 3 months.

They are currently testing the unit.

I really hope this ends well 😓

[TeamGalaxyEvflor]

We're hoping this will be fixed soon!