How to Avoid EMMC Brick on Galaxy Note N7000 to Easily Factory Data Reset Your Phone

We have been getting lots of requests to do a tutorial on how to avoid EMMC brick problems on the Galaxy Note GT-N7000. We all love flashing a custom firmware / ROM on our phones because they give more functionality and enhanced the stock features on your Android phone.

EMMC brick has caused many users to permanently brick their Galaxy Note and it would not turn on at all then. Why? Apparently, Galaxy Note N7000 units have been shipped with faulty EMMC chips. That, when trying to factory reset or full wipe your phone using ClockworkMod recovery or any recovery using Samsung stock ICS kernel as base, it will brick Galaxy Note permanently.

Not just on official stock firmwares, it also happens when you install a leaked ICS custom ROM or simply install a custom ROM that has been using Samsung’s stock ROM as base can trigger the EMMC brick problem on its full wipe or factory data reset. There is more to it, but let’s not get into the details and move towards the solution.

NOTE: Before everyone gets worried, AT&T Galaxy Note SGH-I717 does not have the EMMC brick issue as it uses a slightly different hardware.

Galaxy Note N7000 with EMMC brick can be recovered back, but that is a long hassle as you would have to buy a JTAG device (worth $50) and reset your phone. None of the previous Android phones have ever been into such problems, but Samsung messed it up somehow. Other than the Galaxy Note N7000, Galaxy S2 I9100 is also affected with the same EMMC brick issue.

EMMC Brick Solution? We Have One!

You would only use the “wipe data/factory reset” option in ClockworkMod recovery when you would want to install / flash a new custom ROM on your phone. We have a solution to this problem.

Since we install a lot of custom firmwares, it is always best to keep a copy of a Gingerbread-based kernel in your SD card. So whenever you want to flash a new ICS ROM, simply install the Gingerbread custom kernel (preferably based on ClockworkMod recovery) and install your ROM using that recovery after doing a full wipe (data reset) safely without having to worry it might brick your Galaxy Note.

We will be using Abyss Kernel for Galaxy Note in our quick tutorial on how to flash a custom (safe) kernel with ClockworkMod Touch recovery on Galaxy Note N7000 so that you can safely install custom ROMs. Proceed below for the tutorial.

HOW TO: Install Abyss Kernel on Galaxy Note N7000

We have put together a detailed step-by-step instructions guide on how to install Abyss Kernel on Galaxy Note N7000. If you are used to installing custom ROMs on your Galaxy Note N7000, then this should not be any different for you.

However, for beginners, you need to root your Samsung Galaxy Note and install a custom recovery on your phone WITHOUT doing a full factory reset (just as a precaution) if you are on an ICS custom ROM. Please read the tutorial below once before actually performing it on your device.

To Remember:

• This tutorial is only for installing Abyss Gingerbread Kernel (ClockworkMod Toucy) on Samsung Galaxy Note N7000. Please do NOT try on any other Galaxy Note variants.
• Your phone SHOULD be rooted and should have a custom recovery (Clockwork) already installed so that you can flash Abyss Kernel.
• Make sure you backup all your data in your phone before proceeding.

Complete Step-By-Step Instructions:

Step 1 - Download Abyss Kernel for Galaxy Note to your computer.

Step 2 - Connect and mount your Galaxy Note USB memory on your computer using the USB cable.

Step 3 - Now copy/paste the downloaded AbyssNotekernel-TeamAndroid.zip file to your SD card or internal storage. Make sure the file is in the SD card root (not in any folder).

Step 4 - Then turn off your phone and disconnect from the USB cable.

Step 5 - Now to get in the recovery mode. Switch on the phone while pressing and holding Volume Up + Home + Power buttons together.

Step 6 - In ClockworkMod recovery, scroll down to “flash zip from SD card” and press the power button to select it.

NOTE: Again, do NOT perform a full wipe or data reset in this step!

Step 7 - Press the power button again and select “choose zip from sdcard”.

Step 8 -Now using your volume keys, navigate to the AbyssNotekernel-TeamAndroid.zip file that you copied to your SD card and select it using the power button. Confirm the installation on the next screen and the installation procedure should start now.

Step 9 - After the installation completes, go to “+++++Go Back” and now you can flash any other ICS custom ROM safely on your Galaxy Note N7000 without having to worry about the EMMC brick.

Remember, you should always perform the above steps of installing Abyss Kernel on your Galaxy Note before updating it to a new custom ROM which is based on ICS — or before performing a full factory reset or data wipe.

If you run into any problems, feel free to drop us a comment below and we will reply you back ASAP with the fix or the solution to your problem.