Hey, guys,
So here's the deal. My tablet was bricked, and I used nv flash method as found on g tablet for dummies. Worked great. Accessed recovery menu, and installed gtabcomb 3.3--rom was stable and awesome. I reboot, and it gets STUCK AT THE SPLASH SCREEN (three birds). Then it doesn't move. I can't access recovery at this point, either. Only APX mode.
So I did NV Flash again, but whenever I reboot, the same problem happens: Stuck at three birds, with no access to recovery anymore, thereby forcing me to reformat to stock rom.
Any guesses?! There has to be an android wizard out there!
Try this procedure out.
No dice
Did you follow the steps exactly? At a few places it asks you to make sure that certain things have happened and not to proceed if they haven't. In Part 1, Step 4, for example, you have to verify that you got into CWM. Did that happen? If that worked, then which step failed?
If you installed 3.3 right it takes up to 5 minutes or more for the system to actually show any action, getting past the three birds. Then you will see the android logo and it will take a while for it to run also. It could be another 5 minutes. Its slow on the first start up but it gets faster after the first initial run.... also you want to make sure that your NOT using REBOOT in CWM to run the initial set up, it can cause a loop.
I could recommend a very good video for step by step gtabcomb 3.3 install. This guy is very good at showing you how to do this with less stress.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnbikAdqKys
Related
Ok so i'm trying to figure out whats wrong.
I got my G- Tablet, got clockwork running with no issues, installed Cyanogen 7 build 38 (which was available at the time) and installed gapps.
Everything was running perfect.
Today I got an SD card in the mail for it and I popped it in, booted up, and now its stuck in the Cyanogen boot animation screen. I've rebooted several times, removed the sd all together (at the time it had nothing on it), loaded the latest build along with cyanogen 6 beta 4 etc and i'm always stuck at the boot animation.
I've done factory resets, and wiped cache, and even tried to wipe the Dalvik cache.
I'm at a total loss, does anyone know what I can do?
You know what I have found. with the CM7 boot. When I first installed it with no apps it would take 3 to 4 arrow passes around the android to get to the home screen about 4 seconds. But after I installed all my apps the time went up a lot. After about 30 passes I stopped counting and it takes several minutes to boot up.
worst comes to worst you can always use nvflash to go back to stock and start over again
Well....i thought that maybe that was the issue....that ill just let it loop its way to death and see what happens when i walk away for 5 minutes but I found the tablet turned itself off :-/
Hows this nvthing work?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=861950
that has a very good step by step guide on what needs to be done. Just an FYI that will put you on stock rom and I think the OTA update is down right now, so you might not be able to update to 3588 till OTA comes back up.
wow excellent, thank you so much for the info.
I will give this a try, and report back my findings
ok, so I tried this nvflash thing and it ran successfully. I let it reboot....and now instead of the cyanogen flash animation i get the g tablet animation loop.
For some reason this thing is getting stuck at the boot animations...is there something I can do within clockwork to format something...???
Wiping Cache and Data usually clears up looping at the animation for me. If that doesn't help then repartition.
SOLVED. Ok so I did some reading on the topic, it turns out that the tablet needs to have the sd card partitioned a certain way in order to get everything running again. The link at the bottom has all the information if your g tablet doesn't get past the splash screen and your stuck in a boot loop.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=865245
I just received my new Gtab and wanted to test it before making any changes. After charging, I booted it and the first thing I noticed was that it did not enter setup as it was supposed to. I went through the steps in the manual and set up my network, etc. No problems. I checked for updates and got the message that it was up to date. I thought this odd since Viewsonic says there's an update that you should download immediately. I tried all the installed apps and then tried the update again. This time I got the message that an update was available so I downloaded it and then installed it. When this completed, the screen started to flash and I could get nowhere else. I rebooted and I get the startup screen and then the flashing. I can't get pass this because I can't use the touchscreen - it's blank and flashes every 10 seconds or so. Any suggestions????
When you use the Gtab for the first time, you will not get a setup screen like mentioned. I think this is because they tested at the factory and did the setup for you. If you revert back to stock rom and boot for the first time, the setup portion comes up and you have to make a few selections before you enter the rom for the first time.
I can't really comment on your situation with the update install since I am on vegan ginger rc1 and do not get the OTA updates. But when I first got my GTAB a few weeks ago, I did an OTA update to 3588 I believe, and it worked fine. Some of these updates take a while to configure before the first boot into the updated rom. Without seeing your problem I don't really have an answer for you but maybe you should power on and give the tablet some time to configure.
Same story
I assume you finally got your from woot, as I did. I had the same thing happen. I got the tablet back by booting into recovery, Volume up plus power, hold them, both until it turns on. Follow the directions to move the cursor and wipe cache, then factory reset, then apply update.zip. That should get you back in business.
Good luck.
Tom
Purchased from Tiger Direct. I tried booting into Recovery but I get the first message in the top left of screen and then screen goes blank except for the occasional flash!
I suggest you go under development sections and find the section on how to use nvFlash. Once you have it setup use nvFlash to restore back to stock.
nvFlash is a very powerful utility that has been made very easy to setup and use because of the devs here. It will come in handy when you start putting custom roms on your tablet(which I strongly recommend), and will help you recover from any kind of soft-brick.
Was it a brand new gtab or a returned used one?
Also you probally picked the wrong day for this because of the new update. Did you happen to notice the version before you updated?
If I was in your situation I would do an nvflash back to stock and start over.
Thanks for the suggestion. It is new and I managed to restore it back to stock and started over. Everything is running fine now but I know I'll need help from here as I mod on!
I installed everything correctly on my gtablet for CWM 8 and Cyanogenmod 7. Everything was working fine. Everything synced. All apps work perfectly. The problem is when you turn the tablet off and you want to turn it back on, it gets stuck at the three birds. I have nflashed it, and started over. I get the same thing. I even re partitioned, went back to stock and started over. I have done everything the way the instruction s say to the T. No matter what I do it will load and operate correctly until it is time to turn it on again. CWM will not allow any other ROM to install except cyanogenmod. It will give me the error 7 message. Please help!
Your nvflash is missing a critical step that isn't mentioned in the instructions on these forums. Go to my website.
http://viewsonic-gtablet-for-dummies.webs.com/starthere.htm
Use code red. Please follow the instructions carefully. Don't skip any step. People keep skipping the most critical step for some reason.
Please tell me what is the part that I am missing, because I went to your site and did it exactly like I said. I can nflash. I can get back to stock. I can load cyanogenmod 7, but if I shut off the tablet and restart it, it will go to three birds.
Wipe data RIGHT AFTER nvflash.
Update: Hallelujah, we have seen the birds!
Just for future reference to those of you who may be stuck in an "APX loop", where NVFlashing and even repartioning do not work for you. I tried many things, and only one thing worked.
Didn't work:
1) NVFlashing to anything
2) Repartioning or wiping
3) Wiping out all storage on the SD card
After doing many, many rinse and repeats on the above, the only thing that did work were these instructions:
imurg said:
Please check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11306979&postcount=92
Note that he is using the NVFLASH_46 and although is has been deprecated, it works like a charm:
1) NVFlash the g tab_46 (it works with 46 and doesn't with other)
2) Let it finish and boot up
3) Go to storage setting and unmount the sd card.
4) Run a format.
5) Go to security and do Restore to factory settings
6) As part of this it will reboot. When restarts you'll see the birds. Everything is back to normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, I don't know of too many cases like mine where APX was the only thing that was working and that no amount of CWM or NVFlashing could bring back whatever was wrong with the bootloader, but this method forced a recovery image restore and got me back to the point where I can now power down and reboot. And for that, I thank this fine community!
I think we need a better guide somewhere on... Stages of recovery. If this doesn't work, here's the next deeper level. (Example: Level 1, wipe data/cache and reflash the rom. Level 2: Repartition and fix permissions. Level 3: NVFlash for 1.1 or 1.2 back to stock. Level 4: run the steps I have listed above. Level 5: fixing the bootloader. Level 6: Remove the case cover and short the back.)
Anyways, thanks again guys. Hopefully someone else will search with the same issue I had and get fixed as I have.
try this (not a developer here) when it boots up use your computer to delete all the files on the sd card so it looks blank- not sure if it will fix your issue but if there is a file on there messing your reboot into cwm that should will get rid of it. let me know how it goes. (standard at your own risk disclaimer) i have done this before just to see what would happen and nvflash brought it back up.
Hey, thanks for the reply. The sdcard was already blanked out through my various steps, so that doesn't appear to be the problem. Same things happen.
Now, that's just the app data and such on the sdcard, so I am guessing if I was able to see/delete all the system files instead via USB and delete it that way, I'd see something else.
just to bee clear i would delete everything on there not just the system files- so when you go to the drive from your computer it shows nothing at all.
here are the steps i would take start to finish.
1 nvflash rom
2 connect to computer, mount usb, then highlight and delete all files on gtab.
3 nv flash again (preferably with a stock rom with cmw pre loaded
4 reboot and pray that this fixed it.
OP - What size is the nvflash file you are using? I have run into a similar issue before with the larger nvflash.exe (like 152kb). It should be 140KB.
Just something else to check.
So to clarify, when you nvflash the 3588 stock image, it will automatically reboot at the end of the nvflash_gtablet.bat batch file?
pugsby said:
Hey all. Little frustrated since I've tried most of the tricks and still have a soft-bricked device. Not sure how it happened originally, but one way or another, I have a bad bootloader and no access to CWM.
APX works. I can NVFlash 1.1 or 1.2-based Stock or otherwise roms, and they boot (once, and only once...) . I can get USB mount. I've tried them with and without CWM pre-installed and see no differences.
But as soon as I reboot or power off, it just returns to APX mode. It is only a black screen, however. No birds, no logo, no nothing. The only way to make it boot again is to NVFlash it again.
All the instructions say to enter CWM to re-partition or to wipe data. That's great, but I have no access to CWM. Pressing the buttons during bootup does nothing because the device never makes it that far through bootup. And the format utility doesn't wipe enough data to return this back to a truly blank device, because when I nvflash, my apps still show to be there and I want it back to a blank slate.
I've tried pressing the buttons directly after a NVFlash to enter CWM that way, but it just goes straight into the rom.
Others have suggested popping off the back of the case and grounding out things to reset that way, but I thought that was just if APX didn't work, but APX is the only thing that DOES work, so not sure if it applies. (Let me know if I'm wrong there)
More things to try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the tablet in APX mode and plugged into your computer...
1) Open a command shell
2) Navigate to your nvflash directory
3) type in the following command but DO NOT hit enter
nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --download 6 part6.img --go
4) Hold down the volume UP key on the tablet and press the enter key on your computer.
5) Continue to hold the volume UP key until the tablet starts the nvflash.
6) Release the volume up key and when the nvflash finishes it should boot into CWM
After you repartition, wipe data, clear cache, etc. it might still loop into APX. If it does you'll need to force it to install a new bootloader. I'll dig up a link to the procedure if you need it.
I'm interested to know what the hell you did to get to the apx bootloop in the first place. I've gone through great lengths to try to replicate people's problems. I've even purposely done things out of order, done things wrong, drop the gtab couple times, etc. and I've never run into this problem.
goodintentions said:
I'm interested to know what the hell you did to get to the apx bootloop in the first place. I've gone through great lengths to try to replicate people's problems. I've even purposely done things out of order, done things wrong, drop the gtab couple times, etc. and I've never run into this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've worked on quite a few of these and still can't replicate it on my own either. Most of them had flashed an incompatible version of ClockworkMod (usually with ROM Manager) and a few had tried to move from Cyanogen directly to a 1.2 based ROM. A very small minority of them had issues with their internal flash memory. No one consistent thread that ties them all together that I've found. One interesting point though... In every case it was easy to recreate the problem after the tablet had been "Fixed." All I had to do was nvflash with the same image that was traditionally used for returning the devices to stock (bekit 1105).
K J Rad said:
I've worked on quite a few of these and still can't replicate it on my own either. Most of them had flashed an incompatible version of ClockworkMod (usually with ROM Manager) and a few had tried to move from Cyanogen directly to a 1.2 based ROM. A very small minority of them had issues with their internal flash memory. No one consistent thread that ties them all together that I've found. One interesting point though... In every case it was easy to recreate the problem after the tablet had been "Fixed." All I had to do was nvflash with the same image that was traditionally used for returning the devices to stock (bekit 1105).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'v tried rom manager, wrong cwm version, and wrong bootloader. And I still can't replicate this apx bootloop thing. And I have 2 gtabs to work with. A 3rd one should be coming soon. Weird.
Added by edit.
I'm assuming you're some kind of technician or repairman? If so, then it's good that you're telling me this. I've been considering the possibility that this apx bootloop thing is not really an apx bootloop but rather something the user is doing or a button is stuck or something silly like that. Good to know the problem is real.
Mind telling me how you fix this? Since I can't replicate this, I have no idea how to even begin fixing this.
Acidburn find out a solution for this problem
Please check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11306979&postcount=92
Note that he is using the NVFLASH_46 and although is has been deprecated, it works like a charm:
1) NVFlash the g tab_46 (it works with 46 and doesn't with other)
2) Let it finish and boot up
3) Go to storage setting and unmount the sd card.
4) Run a format.
5) Go to security and do Restore to factory settings
6) As part of this it will reboot. When restarts you'll see the birds. Everything is back to normal.
Good luck
K J Rad said:
With the tablet in APX mode and plugged into your computer...
1) Open a command shell
2) Navigate to your nvflash directory
3) type in the following command but DO NOT hit enter
nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --download 6 part6.img --go
4) Hold down the volume UP key on the tablet and press the enter key on your computer.
5) Continue to hold the volume UP key until the tablet starts the nvflash.
6) Release the volume up key and when the nvflash finishes it should boot into CWM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This got me into CWM (Yay!). This, however, did not fix the APX looping (boo).
I repartitioned, wiped, nvflashed, wiped, repeat. Even though I have more options now with CWM, the end outcome is still the same that after the initial boot, it won't boot again.
BUT, I did find a working method. See the original post.
goodintentions said:
I'm interested to know what the hell you did to get to the apx bootloop in the first place. I've gone through great lengths to try to replicate people's problems. I've even purposely done things out of order, done things wrong, drop the gtab couple times, etc. and I've never run into this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping you'd respond, goodintentions, as I used your NVFlash files and instructions this last time around from your very handy site.
I'm not sure exactly what happened. I do know that Rom manager was involved somehow, trying to use that integration with recovery. (I know, not recommended, but at first it acted like it would work).
Also, I think a 1.2 Rom was mistakenly flashed on top of a 1.1 bootloader somehow.
The details are fuzzy. It's been so many things since then that who knows..
goodintentions said:
I'v tried rom manager, wrong cwm version, and wrong bootloader. And I still can't replicate this apx bootloop thing. And I have 2 gtabs to work with. A 3rd one should be coming soon. Weird.
Added by edit.
I'm assuming you're some kind of technician or repairman? If so, then it's good that you're telling me this. I've been considering the possibility that this apx bootloop thing is not really an apx bootloop but rather something the user is doing or a button is stuck or something silly like that. Good to know the problem is real.
Mind telling me how you fix this? Since I can't replicate this, I have no idea how to even begin fixing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a tech. Been working with/on/in electronics and computers for roughly 35 years. I had a hard time believing the problem was real until I had one in my hands that was doing it. I've tried doing it to my own tablet but a simple nvflash always got me going again.
imurg said:
Please check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11306979&postcount=92
Note that he is using the NVFLASH_46 and although is has been deprecated, it works like a charm:
1) NVFlash the g tab_46 (it works with 46 and doesn't with other)
2) Let it finish and boot up
3) Go to storage setting and unmount the sd card.
4) Run a format.
5) Go to security and do Restore to factory settings
6) As part of this it will reboot. When restarts you'll see the birds. Everything is back to normal.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is successful in some cases but not all. In some cases the bootloader has to be updated using factory stock recovery. ClockworkMod and nvflash don't update the bootloader (and I suspect some other system related partitions/information) properly. For those cases the fix is a little more complex. This process...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13474033&postcount=114
has worked on all but one of the tablets I've recovered. The odd one out required an extra reboot (though I was doing the steps from memory and on an unfamiliar computer so I could be mistaken). However... as noted above... a subsequent nvflash of even the same image resulted in another APX loop. The end result was I had to craft a custom nvflash for each of those machines to avoid the problem in the future. That may or may not be necessary for all cases but since it's relatively easy I just do it out of habit now.
Keep in mind that serious APX looping issues are very rare in the grand scheme of things. Many times folks get confused and fail to follow directions properly and think they have a bigger problem than they really do. The overwhelming majority of times a simple nvflash and repartitioning will fix these things right up.
Added: BTW, the best way I've found to avoid the APX loop issue entirely... do a data wipe before you flash a new ROM and then again immediately after and before you boot it for the first time. I know... one should be enough... but if you make it a habit to do two... then you'll probably remember to do at least one of them ;-)
Great info. I shall try not to enter another painful APX loop. I was shocked how many things I had to try and places I had to go before I found a working method. I guess I really did a number on this thing somehow. But I'm happy that it's back.
I didn't have to do the more painful one you mentioned, but honestly I was ready to try about anything short of slaying a dragon.
Okay, I think I'm completely hosed. But I thought I would ask if anyone has a solution. Here's the deal.
I was running the new stock 5274 on 1.2, went to turn on the tab and it wouldn't power up. This has happened before so I cracked the case, pulled the battery connector and plugged it back in then shorted A4 and powered up into APX. I ran NVFlash for the stock 4349 based image, figuring that I could then update it again after I loaded Clockwork. I've done this a bunch of times before, never had a problem. Until this morning.
When I try and run NVFlash, every time on part7.img I get "Failed to verify partition command failure: create failed" and NV stops dead in its tracks. I also tried to run the Format tool, which I've also done before, and get the same error at the same place. In fact, no matter what flash and try to run, 1.1 or 1.2 BL, NV bombs out at part7.img.
I'm at a loss. The only way to get the tab to power on is to short A4 into APX, but I can't flash anything. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Ronin916 said:
When I try and run NVFlash, every time on part7.img I get "Failed to verify partition command failure: create failed" and NV stops dead in its tracks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like you've developed some bad blocks on the NAND flash. Just skip loading that part7.img, then.
On most gTabs, partition 7 is the /misc (MSC in nvflash) partition which is not used by most ROMs (GtabComb uses it to create a single log file). So, it doesn't matter if this partition is not written by nvflash.
On some gTabs (like mine), partition 7 holds the .bmp file for the first splash screen (VS's 3 Gouldian finches). This, too, is not important. You'll just not get that first splash screen.
Just erase the partition, if you can, using the erase_image program in CWM after you restore the remaining partitions using nvflash.
Thanks for the tip. I tried removing part7.img from NV, but now it bombs on part9.img with a NvError 0x30012. So, that's a no-go, and now I can't even get into APX. Maybe the battery died, so I'm going to charge to full and see what happens. Still could use suggestions, though.
EDIT: Well, color me confused. The battery was dead, so I gave it a good 4 hour charge to full. Then I cracked the case and was able to get back into APX. I have NVFlash and the 1.2 4349 load here, so I figured I'd give it a shot. Sure enough, it ran through NV without an issue, and I'm back to stock 4349. Not one hint of an error. Dunno....maybe the tablet gods decided to smile down upon my today. All I know is, I'm back up. Don't know how....don't know why....just is.
so im pretty much a noob to this website and my g tablet but heres my problem
i was stuck at the bootloader (those frickin birds) so i decided to nvflash to get it back to normal, i followed the instructions step by step and it seemed to work, it booted normally and i thought all was good untill it randomly turned off, so i plugged it back into the computer and held the power button and i heard it connect so i nvflashed again and the white writing popped up, it finished, it got to the g tab screen then turned off again. i let it die last night and i just went to turn it on and nothing. help please
Sgt,
You may have to crack open the case and pull the power connection for a few seconds and then plug it back in. Seems like every tab is a little different, but you can reference this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1118087
Maybe that gets you back up into APX at least.
thanks for the help unfortunantly it didnt do anything, i think im stuck in apx mode because i can still nv flash, every time i do it goes straight to gtab screen then shuts off, i turn it back on and i can flash but nothing else
You may want to try this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1030042
It shows you how to NVFlash Clockwork. If you can then get into that, you could repartition and format you GTab, then load the ROM of your choice.
Posting here in hopes to expand help request.
deleted...
10char..
ok i nvflashed cwm and i believe it worked but i still cant get into it, the moment i turn on my tablet i dont get any load screens it just goes into apx mode thats it