I just got a TF201. It's my first Android device, so please bear with me for this newbie issue. I wanted to root it so I tried PrimeTime without considering that I was already running version .21. Obviously it screwed up... The worst that happened is seeing a caput droid while trying to load CWM. Don't know what's the deal with that, I guess it just didn't install properly.
The device otherwise still boots fine so I'm left wondering what to do with it. Can someone explain what PrimeTime does exactly, I'd like to know in what state is my TP now...
Is there a risk that an OTA could brick it?
Can I fix CWM and flash a rooted firmware (i.e. Virtuous)?
Can I factory reset everything and lock the bootloader?
Thanks
install touch cwm or twrp and it should be fine, obiesly ota will brick it. Dunno about reseting data.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using XDA Premium App
vanista said:
I just got a TF201. It's my first Android device, so please bear with me for this newbie issue. I wanted to root it so I tried PrimeTime without considering that I was already running version .21. Obviously it screwed up... The worst that happened is seeing a caput droid while trying to load CWM. Don't know what's the deal with that, I guess it just didn't install properly.
The device otherwise still boots fine so I'm left wondering what to do with it. Can someone explain what PrimeTime does exactly, I'd like to know in what state is my TP now...
Is there a risk that an OTA could brick it?
Can I fix CWM and flash a rooted firmware (i.e. Virtuous)?
Can I factory reset everything and lock the bootloader?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Another example of what may happen when people don't have patience, not reading everything.
Q: Is there a risk that an OTA could brick it?
Q: Can I fix CWM and flash a rooted firmware (i.e. Virtuous)?
A: Have you used ASUS Unlocker Tool to unlock your bootloader (thus voiding your warranty)? If you did, the awnser is yes for the first 2 questions.
Q: Can I factory reset everything and lock the bootloader?
A: Relocking bootloader isn't possible; You can factory reset everything through Android UI/stock rom only if you didn't install CWM as of yet.
bk201doesntexist said:
Q: Can I factory reset everything and lock the bootloader?
A: Relocking bootloader isn't possible; You can factory reset everything through Android UI/stock rom only if you didn't install CWM as of yet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply
Can you elaborate, I don't know how far PrimeTime went trying to install CWM. What happens if I reset with CWM present? Can it be cleaned?
vanista said:
Thanks for the reply
Can you elaborate, I don't know how far PrimeTime went trying to install CWM. What happens if I reset with CWM present? Can it be cleaned?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that if you try to factory reset with CWM installed it will bootloop/brick, I've read it somewhere here on xda.
Again, CWM can only be installed if bootloader has been unlocked. If you didn't and PrimeTime doesn't as well, you cannot have cwm installed.
I believe there was some information laying around about returning to stock, not sure if it's possible to return to stock recovery after flashing cwm.
bk201doesntexist said:
Again, CWM can only be installed if bootloader has been unlocked. If you didn't and PrimeTime doesn't as well, you cannot have cwm installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bootloader is unlocked but I'm not rooted, apparently I cannot install CWM from ROM Manager. Is it possible through fastboot? When I try to go into recovery mode I get the laid down dead droid... Is that caused by a faulty CWM or just that I don't have a recovery image anymore?
I modified ViperMODS tool to add Xda user wolf849's method of downgrading a transformer without root, so you can use this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25508554&postcount=52 to downgrade to .15 then root, then install OTA rootkeeper then update via ota to .21 again. Or you can just unlock and install cwm if you want to void warranty.
Okay this is just getting more and more confusing. Everywhere I read about CWM and custom ROMs it says you have to be rooted. If that is true then I'm in a dead end because I cannot downgrade to .15 without bricking and I can't properly install CWM either.
I finally found some official doc on fastboot source.android.com/source/building-devices.html , if its accurate you don't even need CWM to flash a custom rom. That seems to be much more reliable. Isn't CWM just a wrapper for what can all be done manually through adb??
Finally found some precise instructions... androidroot.mobi/2012/02/22/introducing-cwm-for-asus-transformer-prime/
Instructions for non-rooted Primes (or those who’d rather use fastboot):
Get fastboot from here, and extract it.
Download the blob file (tfp_CWM5_androidroot.blob), and put it in the same folder as where you extracted fastboot.
Power off your prime.
Boot with Volume-down pressed. Wait when you see text appearing. The prime will then allow you to start “fastboot”.
Open up a command-line prompt, and navigate to where you extracted fastboot with “cd”.
Enter the following commandline to flash recovery: fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash recovery tfp_CWM5_androidroot.blob
Profit!
vanista said:
My bootloader is unlocked but I'm not rooted, apparently I cannot install CWM from ROM Manager. Is it possible through fastboot? When I try to go into recovery mode I get the laid down dead droid... Is that caused by a faulty CWM or just that I don't have a recovery image anymore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you awnsered yourself below
bpear96 said:
I modified ViperMODS tool to add Xda user wolf849's method of downgrading a transformer without root, so you can use this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=25508554&postcount=52 to downgrade to .15 then root, then install OTA rootkeeper then update via ota to .21 again. Or you can just unlock and install cwm if you want to void warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
he's unlocked, he can't run an official blob, that method does not work for him
vanista said:
Okay this is just getting more and more confusing. Everywhere I read about CWM and custom ROMs it says you have to be rooted. If that is true then I'm in a dead end because I cannot downgrade to .15 without bricking and I can't properly install CWM either.
I finally found some official doc on fastboot source.android.com/source/building-devices.html , if its accurate you don't even need CWM to flash a custom rom. That seems to be much more reliable. Isn't CWM just a wrapper for what can all be done manually through adb??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
don't look on source.android.com, aosp doesn't support transformer prime directly, and as you might have noticed, fastboot commands are a bit different for the prime that of galaxy nexus, for example.
why some say you need to be rooted to flash cwm? because they use ROM Manager nice UI to do it, instead of teaching people how to do it without an UI. Rom Manager needs root, as you know.
vanista said:
Finally found some precise instructions... androidroot.mobi/2012/02/22/introducing-cwm-for-asus-transformer-prime/
Instructions for non-rooted Primes (or those who’d rather use fastboot):
Get fastboot from here, and extract it.
Download the blob file (tfp_CWM5_androidroot.blob), and put it in the same folder as where you extracted fastboot.
Power off your prime.
Boot with Volume-down pressed. Wait when you see text appearing. The prime will then allow you to start “fastboot”.
Open up a command-line prompt, and navigate to where you extracted fastboot with “cd”.
Enter the following commandline to flash recovery: fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash recovery tfp_CWM5_androidroot.blob
Profit!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
exactly, use these steps from androidroot.mobi to flash cwm with fastboot. these are correct, and the only way to flash cwm, if you're unlocked but not rooted.
food for thought: i believe linux+fastboot is way safer than windows+fastboot.
Great! Thanks for the confirmation, quite reassuring, now I know where I'm headed... I'll at least fix my recovery with CWM. From there I don't know, I feel I have to do some more reading before I go ahead and flash any custom rom...
I may not know much on android yet, but I have 10 years experience in linux software dev, with a few pointers like this to get me started I should be able to do anything with this toy soon enough ;-)
Done, just flashed CWM as per the instructions and it works flawlessly. Backing up right now... I'm tempted to go ahead and flash Virtuous.
Done, totally virtuous now ... That was easy Thanks again for the help! Now I only hope I won't regret voiding the warranty
Related
Hey guys,
apart from my Un-Bricking-Thread I wanted to start a Thread dealing with how to prevent a brick in the first place.
--- Already bricked your Prime? Read on here, maybe you can recover it ---
In the last days I learned quite a few things about the TFP, its CWM and how to work with it. I also hard bricked my Prime so I certainly know what I am talking about
Unfortunately ASUS didn't fully unlock our Bootloader. We still can't use NVFLASH for low level flashs.
This also means that we can't recover some things we could with NVFLASH access (like a broken bootloader).
So lets start with the things you better not do:
DON'T
Once you unlocked the prime and installed CWM, do NOT try to install a super blob from ASUS (that is a blob file from one of the 'full' updates from their site)
It seems that doing so totally bricks your Prime with no chance of recovery... (happened at least twice so far)
Don't flash kernels like you used to flash (with write_raw_image to /boot). This does not work on the Prime. More on how to do it later.
Don't rely on your newly created ROM to work, ALWAYS have a backup of a working ROM on your sdcard (or a zip of a working ROM)
Currently we can't mount the USB-Storage from inside CWM, so transferring files to the Prime while being in recovery is not as easy for many not so advanced users.
Always make sure you have all files you need before rebooting to recovery.
DO
Kernel flashing: There seem to be two methods on how to flash a new kernel. One is safer but needs a bit more work, and the other is rather unsafe but okay when you (or the ROM dev) know what needs to be done.
Flash your boot.img via fastboot. This is usually rather safe (as safe as fastboot can be) but needs you to have a working fastboot environment. Update: It seems kernel flashing via fastboot does not work at all. Fastboot doesn't give you an error but it doesn't update the kernel either...
Flash your kernel via the /staging partition. In order to use this method you first need to pack your boot.img into a blob file.
Then you need put the data from the blob file to the /staging partition.
Once you reboot the kernel gets automatically installed.
Please be aware that you can flash almost everything like this, even the bootloader.
So if you screw up packing the blob file, you could easily brick your Prime.
The advantage of this method is that the user doesn't need to do anything, but you really need to take care of what you are doing.
Also make sure that the /staging partition is ALWAYS unmounted before flashing anything to it. Otherwise this will result in a Brick 3.
Always make a backup of your current ROM before flashing anything else. As stated earlier, we currently have no access to the sdcard in recovery, so transferring files to Prime is not as easy in recovery mode.
So I hope I can find some more topics in the future, but for now that's it
Diamondback said:
DON'T
Once you unlocked the prime and installed CWM, do NOT try to install a super blob from ASUS (that is a blob file from one of the 'full' updates from their site) It seems that doing so totally bricks your Prime with no chance of recovery... (happened at least twice so far)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But but but how can I has update?! I want Update! RWAR!
Thanks, thanks, bump, and thanks again! Due to the current state of our device's development (especially with an early build of CWM), misinformation floating around, etc. this is invaluable! Now I know what "staging" is and what its use is. Well done - keep up the great work
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
mtotho said:
But but but how can I has update?! I want Update!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use custom ROMs. We currently don't really know if it ALWAYS bricks your Prime. We just know that two updates bricked two primes
I think nobody wants to try
Diamondback said:
Use custom ROMs. We currently don't really know if it ALWAYS bricks your Prime. We just know that two updated bricked two primes
I think nobody wants to try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yea I am just kidding. I knoweth better plus I like custom roms (and I am very flash happy)
I won't be happy until we get some sort of nightly rom that I can flash daily
thanks diamondback this prob saved me lots of time and the almost $700 i have in my device+dock
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using xda premium
Will be possible to use NVFLASH anytime? Have we to look for a dev or is Asus that must upgrade its apk?
Thanks Diamondback for making this. This needs to become a sticky immediately. To many people are blindly unlocking then get mad when they find out they can't do OTA updates. Or people installing CMW without even unlocking and blaming others issues on that when they found out device should've been unlocked first..lmfao
Unlock tool release=operation sabotage for those who don't know any better or ignorant or lazy to research first. QnA section had several people with semi or hard bricked primes. Primes are dying off left n right..lol
Diamondback said:
Unfortunately ASUS didn't fully unlock our Bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you download their software, run it to completely void your warranty (they've already denied support on one unrelated hardware issues that I know of), and you STILL don't have full access?
WTF!?!?!!?
Not being able to use NVFlash has completely put me off, for me NVFlash was the ultimate aim for unlocking the bootloader ... pretty **** !
(unhappy smiley)
Diamondback, I'm so sorry to hear that you bricked your Prime! Any luck getting unbricked yet?
Thank you so much for posting this invaluable guide. You are generous beyond words, to go to this effort to save other users from the lessons you had to learn the hard way. There aren't enough thanks in the world.
If we can at least ATM use fastboot that's a good thing. A good thing for fastboot is you can first do-
fastboot boot boot.img and it will boot the kernel the first time, basically so you can test it before it writes the .img
then you can fastboot flash boot.img to write the image. It'll work for now, sucks that any non-dev who just wants to flash a kernel has to set up fastboot
Edit- girluvsdroid- just saw you were in wilmington- me too.
This was very helpful.
BUMP!
Reading is fundamental! Lol I don't know how many times I've just glanced over post, just to get the newest firmware, and kernals, just to end up on the verg of a bricked device. Thanks.
What ?
So If I UnlockBootLoader
I cant OTA Anymore ? Seriously
AndyMclamb said:
What ?
So If I UnlockBootLoader
I cant OTA Anymore ? Seriously
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But why would you unlock if you were not going to install custom roms (that have the latest OTA built in) anyway?
Diamondback said:
Flash your boot.img via fastboot. This is usually rather safe (as safe as fastboot can be) but needs you to have a working fastboot environment.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm.. Does not seem to work for me. Built a kernel, switched in fastboot mode. Then:
Code:
$ sudo ./fastboot -i 0x0b05 boot zImage blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz
creating boot image...
creating boot image - 4214784 bytes
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 0.748s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: ()
finished. total time: 0.749s
Prime displays: Failed to process command boot error(0x120000)
Any advice?
saturn_de said:
Hmm.. Does not seem to work for me. Built a kernel, switched in fastboot mode. Then:
Code:
$ sudo ./fastboot -i 0x0b05 boot zImage blob.LNX-ramdisk.cpio.gz
creating boot image...
creating boot image - 4214784 bytes
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 0.748s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: ()
finished. total time: 0.749s
Prime displays: Failed to process command boot error(0x120000)
Any advice?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. fastboot boot does not work at all.And we also found out that kernel flashing via fastboot does not work either.
You have to flash your kernels via a custom made blob ;-)
Gesendet von meinem Desire HD mit Tapatalk
Prime Stuck in CWM boot loop hell.
I have a Prime that is stuck in a CWM Recovery boot loop.
Brick 1a
All thanks (sincerely) to Viperboy and his ViperMOD PrimeTime 4.5, I had my Prime rooted, boot loader unlocked and loaded with ClockworkMOD Recovery 5.5.0.4.
I used CWM to create a backup, wipe the data/factory, cache partition and Dalvik cache, rebooted the system (from CWM menu) just to verify that the unit was really wiped back to setup, powered down the unit, rebooted into CWM Recovery (using Power while holding Vol.Down, wait for small/white text, Vol.Up) and Restored using the previously created Backup.
I rebooted Android from CWM menu and my Prime was restored.
Everything was great, but not for long.
The next time that I booted into CWM recovery I selected “Reboot System Now”.
It went dark, displayed the ASUS splash screen, went dark and went back into CWM.
I am stuck in that loop.
I have tried all the suggested fixes I can find but all methods are useless because:
1. I can’t acquire an ADB connection because Windows doesn’t identify the bricked Prime correctly and won’t install the USB drivers. Device Manager sees “Full Android as Emulator”.
2. I can’t boot into the boot loader to use Fastboot because I never see the option to choose it. It boots or reboots directly into CWM after “Booting Recovery Kernel Image”, ever while holding the Vol.Down button.
I have repeatedly tried installing and uninstalling the drivers by installing and uninstalling the Asus Sync and Asus Android USB Drivers. I have repeatedly tried to install the drivers via the Device Manager. No good. I’ve installed and uninstalled Android SDK Tools repeatedly.
Is there a way out of this? I hope I'm not efed.
Thank you in advance for any help.
Temporalmind said:
I have a Prime that is stuck in a CWM Recovery boot loop.
Brick 1a
[..]
I apologize for the length of this post. I hope I’m not efed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please try to manually installing these drivers here
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1426502
Adb should be working afterwards
Universal Naked Driver works great!
Ok, you saved me and my precious.
Your drivers were exactly what I needed.
After installing them in Device manager I was able to achieve a “ASUS Android Composite ADB Interface” connection.
Following the “How to Unbrick your Transformer Prime (or not)”, Option 1a and restoring I’m up and running.
Thank you!
Then, I deliberately caused the boot looping condition again to see if I could figure out how I got there.
There is an app that I think comes preinstalled on the Prime called ”Transformer Recovery Boot”. The icon is labeled "Recovery". This is the app that took me into the Brick 1a the first time and I duplicated it the next time I used it.
Then I was able to ADB my way back to civilization, again.
Thought I’d pass that on incase it helps to determine why the unlocked Prime seems to be so susceptible to bricking.
Again, Thank You!
Hey everyone,
Have Prime with .21 Firmware
Did/do NOT want unlocked bootloader, but I want the root.
Downgraded the Prime to the .15
Rooted it using the ViperMod
-Now this next part if it doesn't make sense I blame it on me being sick, and it being late here.-
So, it wasn't offering the OTA .21 update to me after this.
I read that wiping the cache was a step that I may have missed.
From my experience with tinkering with the old Galaxy S and rooting/throwing on custom roms I remembered that CWM is the way to go for this!
Puts on Rom Manager
Flashes CWM and then the new CWM Touch after that.
Tries to reboot into recovery mode so that I can do the wipe.
Doesn't work from manual hard reset, adb commands, or from the Rom Manager UI.
Now I just want to get rid of CWM and go back with stock recovery, and then just push the .21 blob on there instead.
Please tell me I didn't somehow unlock my bootloader... >_< I thought I would have had to agree to something to do that.
If I didn't, how do I pull the CWM off, but keep the root and the bootloader UNLOCKED.
Yes, I have been hunting through the Forum, and through Google. I'm finding things that are close, but just far off enough that I'm not sure the answers are applying to this situation.
(By the way, if I did something completely stupid in my thought process let me know... but I'm still going to bank on being sick and tired )
You cant install cwm unless you unlocked your bootloader... So im not sure how you flashed it with rom manager. Are you sure you didnt select the option to unlock and install cwm in viperMOD?
Positive that I didn't. Mainly because it mentioned the unlock tool in the same line as CWM.
Everything that I did after following Wolf's directions was through Rom Manager (aka the CWM install and ROM backup).
another advice: don't think "cwm" when you want to install asus blobs
still, everything i read so far says that to install cwm you need unlocked bootloader.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201
bk201doesntexist said:
another advice: don't think "cwm" when you want to install asus blobs
still, everything i read so far says that to install cwm you need unlocked bootloader.
Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that I was "thinking" properly >_<. But I will make sure and keep that in mind.
That's what I've read too. What's strange is that, unless some program did it without telling me that it did it, I avoided anything that looked like it said "unlock".
So, just did some more Google searching and came across this link: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1575138
(tl;dr Don't need to unlock bootloader, just need to have root)
I know it's not a TF201 thread, but should the principles still apply (you actually have to read the thread to see what I mean).
Alright, after a little more reading, investigating on the prime, and putting a little more thought into it I think I've come to believe that (even though OM Manager thinks it is) CWM isn't actually installed on the Prime. I'm thinking that when ROM Manager supposedly flashed it, it only installed a random file or two that it could. the ONLY CWM folders I could find in ANY directory on my prime was in the sdcard folder and the clockworkmod folder.
I just deleted that, restarted, and it isn't broken... yet.
Hello everyone, Hope to have a little help here, I've looked through some of the threads where people are having issues but I still cannot get my device to boot.
I have a tf201
Here's what I did, I am new at this so.
I unlocked my bootloader, no issues. I installed an older version of CWM and my prime finally booted to recovery. I heard that twrp was better so I downloaded the "Update" and flashed it via fast boot and that's where everything went wrong.
Here's what I can do. I can get into fastboot, It just wont boot into recovery and stays on the asus screen. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thank you all so much. I used to be heavy into the incredible modding but ever since I got a bionic everything got harder and harder.
Alan Shore said:
Hello everyone, Hope to have a little help here, I've looked through some of the threads where people are having issues but I still cannot get my device to boot.
I have a tf201
Here's what I did, I am new at this so.
I unlocked my bootloader, no issues. I installed an older version of CWM and my prime finally booted to recovery. I heard that twrp was better so I downloaded the "Update" and flashed it via fast boot and that's where everything went wrong.
Here's what I can do. I can get into fastboot, It just wont boot into recovery and stays on the asus screen. Can anyone point me in the right direction?
Thank you all so much. I used to be heavy into the incredible modding but ever since I got a bionic everything got harder and harder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So did you flash the newest version of TWRP? Was it the .img or the .blob?
Loco0729 said:
So did you flash the newest version of TWRP? Was it the .img or the .blob?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I actually haven't known what to do next. I wanted to install AndroWook_Hairy_Bean_v1.4_FINAL_1 I tried installing http://www.gamerzxtreme.com/HairyBean TWRP Updater (normal).zip
Which is on this page http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1674827 when I installed Hairybean TWRP Updater (normal) that's when everything got bricked.
Thanks
Alan Shore said:
I actually haven't known what to do next. I wanted to install AndroWook_Hairy_Bean_v1.4_FINAL_1 I tried installing http://www.gamerzxtreme.com/HairyBean TWRP Updater (normal).zip
Which is on this page http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1674827 when I installed Hairybean TWRP Updater (normal) that's when everything got bricked.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You say you was on CWM before so that means that you was probably still on ICS.
There are warnings everywhere on the forums and in the instructions for installing hairybean that you must be on the jellybean bootloader before installing them. There is even instructions in the second post explaining how to upgrade from ICS and in big writing at the top of the Hairybean Twrp updater it says "MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON JB BOOTLOADER"
If you have flashed a twrp meant for jellybean over the top of ICS bootloader and you cannot get yourself into bootloader then I am afraid you are hard bricked unless you have nvflash backup files created.
flumpster said:
You say you was on CWM before so that means that you was probably still on ICS.
There are warnings everywhere on the forums and in the instructions for installing hairybean that you must be on the jellybean bootloader before installing them. There is even instructions in the second post explaining how to upgrade from ICS and in big writing at the top of the Hairybean Twrp updater it says "MAKE SURE YOU ARE ON JB BOOTLOADER"
If you have flashed a twrp meant for jellybean over the top of ICS bootloader and you cannot get yourself into bootloader then I am afraid you are hard bricked unless you have nvflash backup files created.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can still get into fastboot.
Is there anything I can do from fastboot? This was the same method I used to install the TWRP.
Alan Shore said:
I can still get into fastboot.
Is there anything I can do from fastboot? This was the same method I used to install the TWRP.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GENTLEMEN
I think I just made a successful unbricking for you all for other people.
For this I started searching on google.
I found this (Search jb bootloaderblob on google first result)
The first result is a blob file that you download.
Then I edited the HairyBean TWRP Recovery Flasher batch file. and replaced the twrp with the jb boot loader. After doing this I rebooted and booted back into the recovery and now have access to recovery the TWRP recovery in fact. Its interesting...
I am now booting into a rom.
That hard brick is no longer a hard brick its fixable now.
Hope this helps you all in the future.
( I am a new user so I can't post links but I have unbricked my prime!)
Alan Shore said:
GENTLEMEN
I think I just made a successful unbricking for you all for other people.
For this I started searching on google.
I found this (Search jb bootloaderblob on google first result)
The first result is a blob file that you download.
Then I edited the HairyBean TWRP Recovery Flasher batch file. and replaced the twrp with the jb boot loader. After doing this I rebooted and booted back into the recovery and now have access to recovery the TWRP recovery in fact. Its interesting...
I am now booting into a rom.
That hard brick is no longer a hard brick its fixable now.
Hope this helps you all in the future.
( I am a new user so I can't post links but I have unbricked my prime!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I replied to your pm mate but this is not a fix for a hard brick.
I replied earlier saying if you couldn't get into bootloader you was hard bricked but you could get in there.
Thats all you did was flash a system blob thru fastboot in a complicated way unfortunately.
Hey XDA, can we talk? cause im about to cry man tears.
First off you are much better at android then I am, this isn't me trying to sound humble, I suck and the threat of bricking my toys scares me.
Today I found a way to get root access without unlocking my bootloader and I was thrilled, it was easy and it worked! I had root access and then decided I was going to try to install CyanogenMod 10 (latest nightly) and so I installed ROM Manager and downloaded CyanogenMod, when I tried to boot to recovery mode (hold down volume and power, then up volume) I would get the dead android with an exclamation point, every time.
So I decided to unlock my bootloader, I went searching and came across the ASUS official bootloader unlocker and it said the unlocker was for ICS and I have already upgraded the ASUS rom to jellybean, I decided to try the unlock device app anyway and now when I restart the words "this device is unlocked" show in the top left corner, I thought that meant the bootloader is unlocked but when I restart into recovery mode I still get the dead android.
I cant find any information anywhere about how to unlock an ASUS jellybean bootloader and I am only guessing that why I keep getting the dead android.
Anyway, if you can help thats awesome, I am usually the kind of guy that can read and find the answers but **** me if I cant find them anywhere, I was never good at the world of bootloaders, whether PC or Android and I am hoping to find a hand and learn something more here
Thanks
I know its my first time here to post but I have read loads of stuff off this site.
78 people read this already, one of you must be able to point my dumbass in the right direction?
bueller, bueller ...:crying:
Once I get an idea of what I am doing wrong and why I keep getting the dead android, I think I will try to install AndroWook 2.2
ArghMonkey said:
Once I get an idea of what I am doing wrong and why I keep getting the dead android, I think I will try to install AndroWook 2.2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are unlocked but you do not have a custom recovery installed yet.
Go to the TWRP thread and follow the instructions for installing TWRP for the JB bootloader. Do not install CWM.
Make sure you get the correct TWRP for the JB bootloader.
flumpster said:
You are unlocked but you do not have a custom recovery installed yet.
Go to the TWRP thread and follow the instructions for installing TWRP for the JB bootloader. Do not install CWM.
Make sure you get the correct TWRP for the JB bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sweet, im on it right now
Wow, there are TWRP threads everywhere, several downloads, I even did a search within the transformer prime subthread and cant find one version mentioned for the JB bootloader.
Ill keep looking ...
Lost again.
So I found this
http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/93
But then I read this
"We STRONGLY recommend users enable and backup your device before flashing custom roms/recoveries with nvflash courtesy of AndroidRoot.mobi (this also makes your device essentially "brick-proof") - you need to be on the ICS bootloader to do this, if you have taken the JB OTA from Asus you cannot get nvflash access.
If you have updated to the JB OTA bootloader then you must use the -JB version of the recovery, flashing the non -JB version could potentially permanently brick your device (unless you have nvflash as noted above)."
And have no idea which way I should proceed, should I downgrade? no idea how to do that, I think I read somewhere if I have the official formware updates from ASUS that I can stick it on my microSD and the asus recovery will see it and install the downgrade.
Or should I just go for it, that bricking is a risk but low?
I know I am running jellybean but I still dont have a clue exactly what bootloader I have, I assume there are several versions under jellybean but I cant find any guides to tell me exactly where to find what bootloader version I have.
1: Can anyone tell me how I find exactly which bootloader I am running? I have JB installed (4.1.1)
2: So what version of TWRP do I need to download?
3: How would I install TWRP?
and yes, I am unlocked and rooted, help!
Download TWRP 2.5.0.0 for JB blob from here: http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/93
Rename to twrp.blob
Use command prompt on your computer to flash recovery to tablet using this command: fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash recovery twrp.blob
....................
Follow this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2038464
---------- Post added at 12:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:35 PM ----------
ArghMonkey said:
Lost again.
So I found this
http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/93
But then I read this
"We STRONGLY recommend users enable and backup your device before flashing custom roms/recoveries with nvflash courtesy of AndroidRoot.mobi (this also makes your device essentially "brick-proof") - you need to be on the ICS bootloader to do this, if you have taken the JB OTA from Asus you cannot get nvflash access.
If you have updated to the JB OTA bootloader then you must use the -JB version of the recovery, flashing the non -JB version could potentially permanently brick your device (unless you have nvflash as noted above)."
And have no idea which way I should proceed, should I downgrade? no idea how to do that, I think I read somewhere if I have the official formware updates from ASUS that I can stick it on my microSD and the asus recovery will see it and install the downgrade.
Or should I just go for it, that bricking is a risk but low?
I know I am running jellybean but I still dont have a clue exactly what bootloader I have, I assume there are several versions under jellybean but I cant find any guides to tell me exactly where to find what bootloader version I have.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't use NVFlash because you are on the JB bootloader. You can't downgrade to ICS.
Great links!
Thanks for your help, I will report back once I try this
ArghMonkey said:
Great links!
Thanks for your help, I will report back once I try this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any update? I've had my Prime for over a year. Rooted tonight, looking to unlock the bootloader and flash a custom ROM. Interested to hear the results.
Flash TWRP:
Once unlocked, power it off. Once off power it on by holding BOTH volume down and power buttons. When you see the menu appear the first option is RCK. press Volume Down to change the cursor to be over the USB logo (two presses of the button) and press volume up. This puts your device in fastboot mode
Back on your computer you should hopefully see a successfull driver install for fastboot. I got all my drivers from downloading and installing the Android SDK so you may or may not need to do that. Android SDK
If all is prepared and you are in fastboot with drivers loaded:
On your computer hold shift and right click on the folder where fastboot and the twrp.blob file are and you will see a context menu. Click on "Open Command Window Here" (Vista + only or if you installed powertools on 2000/XP)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, so I followed your link, I downloaded the Android SDK and when I opened it I see a million things, the Google USB Driver was highlighted so I installed it, are there other drivers im supposed to install before I go to the next step?!
Lavman72 said:
Any update? I've had my Prime for over a year. Rooted tonight, looking to unlock the bootloader and flash a custom ROM. Interested to hear the results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Working on it right now, flashed twrp over, prime is starting up right now *fingers crossed*
and yes! it booted to stock, now to transfer over supersu ...
Awesome TWRP is alive and in charge, now to flash with Androwook!
It aint over but its getting close
ArghMonkey said:
Awesome TWRP is alive and in charge, now to flash with Androwook!
It aint over but its getting close
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's great news. Did you follow the steps on this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2038464
Any suggestions or pointers? I've rooted/installed custom roms on many phones, but this one seems to be the most complicated/risky.
Lavman72 said:
That's great news. Did you follow the steps on this thread?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2038464
Any suggestions or pointers? I've rooted/installed custom roms on many phones, but this one seems to be the most complicated/risky.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yup, thats how i did it.
The biggest obstacle is unclear instructions or instructions that assume the reader is not a noob *L*
ArghMonkey said:
Yup, thats how i did it.
The biggest obstacle is unclear instructions or instructions that assume the reader is not a noob *L*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Excellent. I'll probably give it a go in the next couple of days. Strange that the Unlock tool works. I've read other posts that state if you are already on JB (which I am) the unlook tool won't work.
Lavman72 said:
Excellent. I'll probably give it a go in the next couple of days. Strange that the Unlock tool works. I've read other posts that state if you are already on JB (which I am) the unlook tool won't work.
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Click to collapse
Everything is totally installed and working great now, Whew, what a relief!
Thanks folks!
ArghMonkey said:
Everything is totally installed and working great now, Whew, what a relief!
Thanks folks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooted: Check
Unlocked bootloader: Check
Tired though, and it's late. So I'm going to hold off on the final steps.
Hello everyone!
I've been very happy with my rooted M9 for the last few months but now a system update message on my screen and I'm trying to figure out what to do about. I seem to recall when I rooted my phone that there could be complications if I install a system update on a rooted phone (like making a Nandroid Backup) but I'm finding scarce information on the topic. Does anyone here have some advice about this?
Rom...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3083799
Firmware...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=3073355
Follow the second link above.
You will need to restore the factory system.img using TWRP (exFAT or NTFS for external USB as file is > 4GB).
This puts the modified system (root) back to stock so the update will run successfully.
Flash the original recovery for you system version too.
Then you can accept the OTA and then root the phone again.
Thanks for the responses! I'm still uncertain about a few things so tell me if I have this right.
First I need to restore the factory image. Is that a guy named OJM is talking about on this thread? (http://forum.xda-developers.com/sprint-one-m9/general/rooting-guide-t3073004)
To restore your clean system backup to accept OTAs, you must use fastboot. If you are S-ON, you must be in download mode.
-copy your clean system.emmc.win to your adb/fastboot folder on your pc
-boot into download mode
-use cmd fastboot flash system system.emmc.win
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case, what is a system.emmc.win?
Then I flash the original recovery...what are you refering to when you say "original recovery"?
After that my phone should be locked again and I can go to that second link, download the latest firmware and flash it. And then I can unlock and root my phone again.
Edit: So it looks like someone has made a guide on how to get the OTA updates (if you use the right words in your search). It looks no one done anything with it since May so maybe it still works? http://forum.xda-developers.com/one-m9/general/best-unlocking-bootloader-rooting-guide-t3087354
I would just run the official RUU, it's a one shot process will take care of everything including the radios. Much easier than messing around, just make sure you are S-OFF before you do it. When it's done just flash the latest TWRP and install your rom you will be done.
Sim-X said:
I would just run the official RUU, it's a one shot process will take care of everything including the radios. Much easier than messing around, just make sure you are S-OFF before you do it. When it's done just flash the latest TWRP and install your rom you will be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was what I ended up doing. Had few bumps on the way but I managed to get everything working. Thanks for the help everyone!
RUU
Sim-X said:
I would just run the official RUU, it's a one shot process will take care of everything including the radios. Much easier than messing around, just make sure you are S-OFF before you do it. When it's done just flash the latest TWRP and install your rom you will be done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi sim I have a question the only thing I got to make sure is that the phone is S-OFF and nothing will happen because I read that also the bootlooder had to be lock again so I'm not sure