Your problem is most likely here:
if (isBlank(i, j))
{
for (int n = 1; n < 10; n++)
{
if (setCell(i, j, (char)n + '0'))
{
if (solveBoard(i, j + 1, count + 1))
{
return true;
}
}
}
}
Somehow it is going through this section, which is why it isn't going through the else
in the end, but since it hasn't returned before, it gets stuck.
This needs more debugging, but here is an idea that could lead to a solution:
if (isBlank(i, j))
{
for (int n = 1; n < 10; n++)
{
if (setCell(i, j, (char)n + '0'))
{
if (solveBoard(i, j + 1, count + 1))
{
return true;
} else {
echo 'Looks like it ended on the farthest-level..';
}
} else {
echo 'Looks like it ended on the second-farthest level.';
}
}