I have an unlocked AT&T Samsung Focus which I just got two weeks ago. And for some weird reason, the phone got bricked. It wasn't because of any update or anything. What happened was I was just checking an app which I downloaded from the Marketplace, which got stuck (none of the buttons on the device were responding after several minutes). So I had to pull out the battery to restart the phone. It now gets stuck in what appears to be an endless boot cycle. All I see is the Samsung logo which disappears after a while and then reappears. The phone doesn't seem to go beyond that. I tried hard reseting the phone (Power + Volume DOWN + Camera), and even after formatting it several times, the problem is still the same. I also read somewhere that if you leave the phone in Download Mode (Power + Volume UP + Camera) for a few minutes, it somehow *magically* restores itself. This didn't work for me either even after leaving it in the download mode for about an hour. Now asking this community for help is the last thing I can do because since I'm not in the USA, Got it through a 3rd party in the US so I can't just return it. What I'm wondering is if the issue is in the hardware or the firmware. If it is the later, then is it possible to flash the ROM and see if it works? I can't even get a warranty claim on my Focus, and its nothing more than a paperweight right now. So any ideas/tips/suggestions on what I should do?
You might be able to force it into download mode by making a Jig with a 301k resistor across pins 4 and 5 of the micro usb connector as per the Galaxy S: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=819551
