[unbrick] - Fixing partition table, or completely dead nook - Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet

An Unbrick Guide for 16GB Tablet. I am not responsible for damage, otherwise this should fix any damage. But am more than happy to help.
meghd00t's 8GB and 16GB partition rescue sdcard: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1562130
For whatever reason the repartitioning card didn't work on my 16gb tablet, which is why I had to do it manually.
When to use this guide
1. If you used parted to remove your entire partitions and cannot recreate them in parted
2. If 1 is true, and you can't boot into Clockworkmod
3. If 2 is true and nothing will boot at all--the only exception being booting from the sd card--and it just won't turn on at all and get into any splash screen.
4. If everything else has failed
5. If all the above are true but you can boot Clockworkmod from an sd card. This is important.
If your nook will boot into cwm, then your partitions are fine. If you would like to, however, you can still use this to fix your nook, but I insist you try other methods around the development section before trying this one. This is a long process, and most other solutions for an otherwise dead nook can easily be solved, and a lot faster. This should only be used as a last resort. Otherwise if you just want to experiment around a bit, feel free!
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Okay. So, visit Goncezilla's thread on making a bootable cwm-sd:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1446987
Download the files on the first method ("METHOD 1- SDCARD")
Instead of a 50mb partition, just make a 2gb partition, make sure it's formatted to fat32 and enable boot, and lba flags. I reccommend at least a 2gb microsd. Anyways, unzip the files that are provided, but put them in the root folder of the sd card, not "SDCARD". Make a folder called blk.
Go to lavero.burgos' topic on "restoring partitions with dd":
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1570022
Download the provided files: mmcblk0p1, mmcblk0p2, mmcblk0p3, and mmcblk0p4. Place them in the "blk" folder.
Download the two files provided by meghd00t here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=24805392&postcount=74
unpack gdisk and sgdisk to the root folder of the sdcard. unpack "scripts" into the same root folder of the sdcard. Don't worry about the mess. Now make sure your nook is off by pressing and holding the power button for like 15 seconds. Then, insert the the microsd card into your nook. Connect the cable to the nook and either to the wall adapter or to your box. Let it boot into cwm. Once in, open up a terminal. First thing you want to do:
Code:
$ adb start-server
$ adb devices
now make sure your device's serial number shows up, and that it shows your nook in recovery. Now, this next part is very important. VERY important. I wish I would have done this before. But even so, there is always hope!~ But still, make sure you follow this next step:
Code:
$ adb shell
~ # mount sdcard
~ # dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5 of=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p5
This will backup your rom partition, which holds important information, like serial no. and MAC address. You'll be happy you did this before.
**Note, if it brings up an error, make sure the sdcard is mounted, try again, and cd over to /sdcard/blk to make sure that the rom partition is there safely. If it brings up an error and everything is mounted, try changing the extension name to "mmcblk0p5.img" when you use disk dump.
Optionally, it might be smart to backup the rom partition to your computer:
Code:
~ # exit
$ adb pull /sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p5 /path/to/backup
So now, you've got all the files you need. For the sake of argument, I'll assume you have made a cwm backup before your nook died. So, go ahead and destroy your nook completely:
Code:
~ # cd sdcard
/sdcard # ./sgdisk -Z /dev/block/mmcblk0
And now re-create it:
Code:
/sdcard # ./sgdisk /dev/block/mmcblk0 -a 256 -n 1:256:511 -n 0:0:1023 -n 0:0:31743 -n 0:0:65535 -n 0:0:163839 -n 0:0:262143 -n 0:0:1019903 -n 0:0:2273279 -n 0:0:3145727 -n 0:0:+12G -n 0:0:0
This is a lot easier than re-creating the partitions with parted by the way. I'd like to give a special shout out to meghd00t for compiling these static binaries for ARM. Thanks! This is a full stock partition, if you want meghd00t's 10gb media, 2.8gb userdata partitions:
Code:
/sdcard # ./sgdisk -c 1:xloader -c 2:bootloader -c 3:recovery -c 4:boot -c 5:rom -c 6:bootdata -c 7:factory -c 8:system -c 9:cache -c 10:media -c 11:userdata /dev/block/mmcblk0
Now follow up:
Code:
/sdcard # ./sgdisk -p /dev/block/mmcblk0
verify the list is correct. Now do this:
Code:
[b]/sdcard # cd /sdcard/sbin
/sdcard # ./genptable /tmp/genptable[/b]
This will create a partition table, the stock nook tablet modified gpt table in /tmp
Code:
/sdcard # mv /tmp/genptable /sdcard/blk
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/genptable of=/dev/block/mmcblk0
You now have your partition table back that will pass consistency checks! but we aren't done yet. We need to reformat everything:
Code:
/sdcard # cd sbin
/sdcard/sbin # ./mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/block/mmcblk0p5
/sdcard/sbin # ./mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
/sdcard/sbin # ./mkdosfs -F 32 /dev/block/mmcblk0p10
/sdcard/sbin # cd ../../
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p1 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p2 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p2
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p3 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p4 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p5 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p5
Who just got their Serial number back. :]
Now this next part is confusing, but for some reason make_ext4fs didn't want to work for me, so I had to do it the painful way:
Code:
~ # parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
(parted) rm 7
(parted) rm 8
(parted) rm 9
(parted) rm 11
(parted) mkpartfs primary ext2 134MB 522MB
(parted) mkpartfs primary ext2 522MB 1164MB
(parted) mkpartfs primary ext2 1164MB 1611MB
Now the userdata partition all depends on how big you made your media partition. But I will go ahead and use the stock settings
Code:
(parted) mkpartfs primary ext2 2684MB 15.9GB
(parted) quit
~ # tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
~ # tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p7
~
~ # tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
~ # tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p8
~
~ # tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
~ # tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p9
~
~ # tune2fs -j /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
~ # tune2fs -O extents,uninit_bg,dir_index /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
~ # e2fsck -fDp /dev/block/mmcblk0p11
~
~ # parted /dev/block/mmcblk0
[b]
(parted) name 7 factory
(parted) name 8 system
(parted) name 9 cache
(parted) name 11 userdata
[/b]
(parted) print
Now verify that your table looks like, or at least similar, to this. Basically, you want to make sure everything is formatted correctly:
Code:
Model: MMC 016G4A (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 15.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 131kB 262kB 131kB xloader
2 262kB 524kB 262kB bootloader
3 524kB 16.3MB 15.7MB recovery
4 16.8MB 33.6MB 16.8MB boot
5 33.6MB 83.9MB 50.3MB fat32 rom
6 83.9MB 134MB 50.3MB fat32 bootdata
7 134MB 522MB 388MB ext4 factory
8 522MB 1164MB 642MB ext4 system
9 1164MB 1611MB 447MB ext4 cache
10 1611MB 2684MB 1074MB fat32 media
11 2684MB 15.9GB 12.9GB ext4 userdata
If something looks a bit off, go back and repeat the appropriate step.
Code:
(parted) quit
~ # umount sdcard
~ # exit
Go ahead and shut down the device. Remove the sdcard, and turn it back on with the power button.
Status: xloader, bootloader, recovery, and boot partitions were all flashed and should be working perfectly. Which means you have probably noticed yourself booting into cwm, which is a good sign!!
Now, insert an sdcard that has your original cwm backup. And go ahead and restore your backup. Wipe /cache. Reboot the nook. You should see a splash screen. Dead nook... alive!11!
That's pretty much it. I'm just happy my nook is working. Hopefully this will help someone out who has a dead nook and has no clue how to fix it, like I did. If you have any questions, let me know so I can try to help. If you notice an error or inconsistency in my guide, please let me know so I can fix it before someone breaks their nook because of me. Sorry about reformatting the ext4 partitions guys. Since make_ext4fs wouldn't work for me, that was the only other way I knew how to do it. If someone can post what they did to reformat to ext4 using make_ext4fs, I'll edit the post to accomodate everyone else.
Thanks to: meghd00t, lavero.burgos, AdamOutler, tselling, and CelticWebSolutions.

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Thanks for finding time to make this.
All i can say is Bravo!
We need more of this guides coming up.
2TU!

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Nice guide.....
Sent from my Non-B&N Tablet running CM7

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Very nice guide for dead nook, may i advice you to put a link for meghd00t recovery for 8GB NT so 8gb users work with the proper cwm recovery for them. I will be linking to this guide in my Unbrick thread.
Also would be good if you advice people to try alternative methods if they don't have dead dead nooks and with this i mean people that their boot block(s) is working and they have just flashed wrong recovery or flashed a rom that they should had not. This is advanced and if people have messed enough with their devices to competely wipe the partitions and more then im sure they will have fun with this .
Big thanks to meghd00t for build the tools and the cwm recovery for 8GB NT.
~ Veronica

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lavero.burgos said:
Very nice guide for dead nook, may i advice you to put a link for meghd00t recovery for 8GB NT so 8gb users work with the proper cwm recovery for them. I will be linking to this guide in my Unbrick thread.
Also would be good if you advice people to try alternative methods if they don't have dead dead nooks and with this i mean people that their boot block(s) is working and they have just flashed wrong recovery or flashed a rom that they should had not. This is advanced and if people have messed enough with their devices to competely wipe the partitions and more then im sure they will have fun with this .
Big thanks to meghd00t for build the tools and the cwm recovery for 8GB NT.
~ Veronica
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks!
I did try to say when to use the guide at the beginning but I will be more specific most definitely, to make sure users don't get confused!

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demetris_I said:
Thanks for finding time to make this.
All i can say is Bravo!
We need more of this guides coming up.
2TU!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was kind of hard, because I couldn't remember where all the topics I used went to. Like Goncezilla's cwm sd files. I couldn't find them anywhere! I apologize for taking so long though. I'm really lazy...... not my greatest strength1!
Thank you though! I'm glad I finally figured it out1; :]

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okey, so I get this error:
/sdcard # ./sgdisk -Z /dev/block/mmcblk0
/sbin/sh: ./sgdisk: not found
EDIT: never mind it didn't mount the sdcard had to restart the computer and nook then it worked.
EDIT2: now I got this error
/sdcard # /sdcard/sbin/genptable
Usage /sdcard/sbin/genptable <raw_output_file>
/sdcard # mv /tmp/genptable /sdcard/blk
mv: can't rename '/tmp/genptable': No such file or directory

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Pete1612 said:
okey, so I get this error:
/sdcard # ./sgdisk -Z /dev/block/mmcblk0
/sbin/sh: ./sgdisk: not found
EDIT: never mind it didn't mount the sdcard had to restart the computer and nook then it worked.
EDIT2: now I got this error
/sdcard # /sdcard/sbin/genptable
Usage /sdcard/sbin/genptable <raw_output_file>
/sdcard # mv /tmp/genptable /sdcard/blk
mv: can't rename '/tmp/genptable': No such file or directory
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you do the genptable script?
EDIT: Aw, son of a..!! I messed up, hang on, give me a second.
EDIT 2: oKAY, I fixed it. I'm sorry about that, my mistake. i bolded the text so you can see what I fixed.

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okey that worked and now I get this if I do dd:
~ # dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p1 /dev/block/mmcblk0p1
BusyBox v1.19.4-cm7 static (2012-02-04 22:27 +0100) multi-call binary.
Usage: dd [if=FILE] [of=FILE] [ibs=N] [obs=N] [bs=N] [count=N] [skip=N]
[seek=N] [conv=notrunc|noerror|sync|fsync]
Copy a file with converting and formatting
if=FILE Read from FILE instead of stdin
of=FILE Write to FILE instead of stdout
bs=N Read and write N bytes at a time
ibs=N Read N bytes at a time
obs=N Write N bytes at a time
count=N Copy only N input blocks
skip=N Skip N input blocks
seek=N Skip N output blocks
conv=notrunc Don't truncate output file
conv=noerror Continue after read errors
conv=sync Pad blocks with zeros
conv=fsync Physically write data out before finishing
Numbers may be suffixed by c (x1), w (x2), b (x512), kD (x1000), k (x1024),
MD (x1000000), M (x1048576), GD (x1000000000) or G (x1073741824)
EDIT: It has to be dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p1 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 you forgot the of=
EDIT2: mkpartfs primary ext2 2684GB 15.9GB I think the 2684GB is supposed to mean mb
EDIT3: so after doing your tutorial my partition table looks like this:
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 131kB 262kB 131kB xloader
2 262kB 524kB 262kB bootloader
3 524kB 16.3MB 15.7MB recovery
4 16.3MB 33.6MB 17.3MB boot
5 33.6MB 83.9MB 50.3MB fat32 rom
6 83.9MB 134MB 50.3MB fat32 bootdata
7 134MB 522MB 388MB ext4
8 522MB 1164MB 642MB ext4
9 1164MB 1611MB 447MB ext4
10 1611MB 14.5GB 12.9GB fat32 media
11 14.5GB 15.9GB 1443MB ext4
as you can see a bunch of names for the partitions are missing, how can I name them

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Pete1612 said:
EDIT: It has to be dd if=/sdcard/blk/mmcblk0p1 of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p1 you forgot the of=
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, yeah laugh away. I always forget it, I'm just half dumb okay? <.<;
Pete1612 said:
EDIT2: mkpartfs primary ext2 2684GB 15.9GB I think the 2684GB is supposed to mean mb
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The laughter doesn't stop. ;_;
Pete1612 said:
EDIT3: so after doing your tutorial my partition table looks like this:
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 131kB 262kB 131kB xloader
2 262kB 524kB 262kB bootloader
3 524kB 16.3MB 15.7MB recovery
4 16.3MB 33.6MB 17.3MB boot
5 33.6MB 83.9MB 50.3MB fat32 rom
6 83.9MB 134MB 50.3MB fat32 bootdata
7 134MB 522MB 388MB ext4
8 522MB 1164MB 642MB ext4
9 1164MB 1611MB 447MB ext4
10 1611MB 14.5GB 12.9GB fat32 media
11 14.5GB 15.9GB 1443MB ext4
as you can see a bunch of names for the partitions are missing, how can I name them
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ooh. I forgot about that!!! Thanks for reminding me actually. You know, you've helped me with a lot of errors I've made. :l Just go back into parted and do this:
Code:
(parted) name 7 factory
(parted) name 8 system
(parted) name 9 cache
(parted) name 11 userdata
And that should do it. Go into cwm and either flash an old backup or one of the other roms.
By the way, while you're at it, do me a favour. When in clockworkmod, on the terminal, if you enter "adb devices" does it show your nook with your original serial number? This is the part I am most concerned apart. I want to make sure the serial number stays intact.
And I'm sorry for taking so long to respond. I was replacing my stupid laptop's old keyboard. It had broken shift and backspace keys. Which is probably why I seemed illiterate most of the time.

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okey so I did adb devices and I only get zeros, the problem is though I couldn't pull partition 5 from my nook because the partition table was completely destroyed (and as far as I know partition 5 has the serial number and the mac adress in it)
EDIT: so I tried to install CM 7.2 which was succesfull. Then I rebooted my nook and it goes into CWM (internal).
EDIT2: just tried the recovery bootloop fix and it didn't help

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Pete1612 said:
okey so I did adb devices and I only get zeros, the problem is though I couldn't pull partition 5 from my nook because the partition table was completely destroyed (and as far as I know partition 5 has the serial number and the mac adress in it)
EDIT: so I tried to install CM 7.2 which was succesfull. Then I rebooted my nook and it goes into CWM (internal).
EDIT2: just tried the recovery bootloop fix and it didn't help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok i know about this one and it might help. Flash stock 1.4.2 recovery and then run the stock 1.4.2 update.zip from sdcard. More info in my thread where it says ATTENTION 8GB USERS but works for 16GB aswell.
~ Veronica
Sent from my BNTV250A using xda premium

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well and where can I find the stock recovery and the 1.4.2 ? the problem is, if this method doesn't work, am I still able to run CWM sd card?

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Did you take out the microsd card? Dumb question but yeah.
Okay, I see the problem:
EDIT3: so after doing your tutorial my partition table looks like this:
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 131kB 262kB 131kB xloader
2 262kB 524kB 262kB bootloader
3 524kB 16.3MB 15.7MB recovery
4 16.3MB 33.6MB 17.3MB boot
5 33.6MB 83.9MB 50.3MB fat32 rom
6 83.9MB 134MB 50.3MB fat32 bootdata
7 134MB 522MB 388MB ext4
8 522MB 1164MB 642MB ext4
9 1164MB 1611MB 447MB ext4
10 1611MB 14.5GB 12.9GB fat32 media
11 14.5GB 15.9GB 1443MB ext4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Boot is a secure partition that's supposed to start at 16.8mb not 16.3mb
Hmm...hmmm... Try doing "dd if=/sdcard/blk/genptable of=/dev/block/mmcblk0" one more time. And then repost your partition table.

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Pete1612 said:
well and where can I find the stock recovery and the 1.4.2 ? the problem is, if this method doesn't work, am I still able to run CWM sd card?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can still run CWM from sdcard. It's probably the best thing about the nook amirite.

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okey I"ll do the bootpartition fix. I changed the micro sd card becuase my bootable sdcard couldn't safe all the mmcblk0px files...

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Alrighty. Let me know what happens

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nope it's still at the same place:
Model: MMC 016G4A (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 15.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 131kB 262kB 131kB xloader
2 262kB 524kB 262kB bootloader
3 524kB 16.3MB 15.7MB recovery
4 16.3MB 33.6MB 17.3MB boot
5 33.6MB 83.9MB 50.3MB fat32 rom
6 83.9MB 134MB 50.3MB fat32 bootdata
7 134MB 522MB 388MB ext4 factory
8 522MB 1164MB 642MB ext4 system
9 1164MB 1611MB 447MB ext4 cache
10 1611MB 14.5GB 12.9GB fat32 media
11 14.5GB 15.9GB 1443MB ext4 userdata
EDIT: can I redo the boot partition and if yes how ?

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Pete1612 said:
nope it's still at the same place:
Model: MMC 016G4A (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/block/mmcblk0: 15.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 131kB 262kB 131kB xloader
2 262kB 524kB 262kB bootloader
3 524kB 16.3MB 15.7MB recovery
4 16.3MB 33.6MB 17.3MB boot
5 33.6MB 83.9MB 50.3MB fat32 rom
6 83.9MB 134MB 50.3MB fat32 bootdata
7 134MB 522MB 388MB ext4 factory
8 522MB 1164MB 642MB ext4 system
9 1164MB 1611MB 447MB ext4 cache
10 1611MB 14.5GB 12.9GB fat32 media
11 14.5GB 15.9GB 1443MB ext4 userdata
EDIT: can I redo the boot partition and if yes how ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm. You can't. Because parted will automatically revert it back to 16.3MB.
Try the process again, but this time dd genptable before you create the partitions, then create the partitions with sgdisk and let me know what it says.

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what do you think about the Ubuntu total recovery before I do anything else ?