[Q] Recovery mode not working - G Tablet Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

I can't get the silly thing to go into recovery mode. It says "recovery key detected" "booting recovery kernel image" and won't do anything else.
It used to be rooted and had a custom rom. Then I accidentally upgraded to a 1.2 rom - I forgot I had downgraded to 1.1. SO the darned thing was sorta bricked. I finally managed, through following several different sets of instructions, to get it back to stock. The tablet now works but I want to go back to a custom rom.
I've tried NVflash - my pc doesn't see the tablet. (it does see it when it's booted normally, just not in recovery mode).
I've tried loading CWM recovery via the SD card and it doesn't work.
I've read several instructions, including the G-tab for dummies but still can't get it to go to recovery. Suggestions on what to do next would be greatly appreciated.
Lanna

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lmanalo said:
I can't get the silly thing to go into recovery mode. It says "recovery key detected" "booting recovery kernel image" and won't do anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Those messages tell me that you have a 1.2 bootloader now, but, your recovery is still 1.1-based. So now, you'll have to load a version of CWM with a 1.2-based kernel: one of CWM-3.0.2.8rev5, CWM-4.0.1.5 (1.2 bl version), or CWM-5.5.0.4Beta15.
And, you'll have to load recovery using nvflash, like this:
1. Put the gTab into APX mode (for nvflash) by first powering it off, then powering it on by pressing both the Power button and the Vol [-] key. The splash screen with the 3 birds should appear, and then the screen should go blank.
2. Run this command to determine the partition no. of the recovery (SOS) partition--usually, it is 9: Open a CMD.exe window, then change into the directory containing both the nvflash.exe and the bootloader.bin files. Then run:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B].\nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --getpartitiontable p.txt[/B]
3. Now look through the p.txt file for a partition named SOS. Assuming, now, that the partition no. is 9, load the new recovery image using nvflash:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B].\nvflash -r --download 9 [I]C:\SOME\PATH\recovery.img[/I][/B]
You can get the recovery.img file either from any of the various CWM zip files on the board, or, use one of the image files themselves. Make sure the image is for the 1.2 version of the bootloader, though.
4. After the command completes, power off the gTab, and try to boot into recovery mode as usual.

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Thank you so much for your help!!
I followed your instructions and I'm still getting to the same point with the same messages. I verified that I am using an img file for 1.2 bootloader. Actually, I've tried 2 different ones.
I looked at the p.txt and there is a SOS partition and I checked the .cfg file and it lists SOS as 9. I even tried editing the cfg file and changing the name of the file called out in img9 to recovery.img (the CWM recovery image) and ran the complete NVFlash update. It rebooted into normal tablet mode just fine. I shut down and tried booting into recovery and it still doesn't get past those messages.
Is it possible that the partition is corrupt? If so, how do I go about restoring it or creating a new one? I've seen instructions for using CWM recovery but I can't get to it. Can bit be done with NVflash or another utility?
thanks again,
Lanna

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lmanalo said:
I even tried editing the cfg file and changing the name of the file called out in img9 to recovery.img (the CWM recovery image) and ran the complete NVFlash update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would avoid a complete nvflash if at all possible. Otherwise, you risk turning a simple problem--like this one seems to be--into a major headache. The commands I gave are safe because they only read stuff and operate on single partitions--so they won't make your problem worse.
It rebooted into normal tablet mode just fine. I shut down and tried booting into recovery and it still doesn't get past those messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. Which nvflash package did you use?
2. Which version of recovery did you load with the ``--download'' command I gave before?
3. Can you post the p.txt file?
4. Also post the *.img that this command produces somewhere so I can take a look at them:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B].\nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --read 4 ebt.img --read 9 rec.img --read 10 lnx.img[/B]
Is it possible that the partition is corrupt? If so, how do I go about restoring it or creating a new one? I've seen instructions for using CWM recovery but I can't get to it. Can bit be done with NVflash or another utility?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since you're now on the stock ROM you can load recovery only using nvflash--see last post for the command to be used. On rooted custom ROMs you could have used other commands to reload a recovery image.
5. In the stock ROM what TapUI version is displayed in Settings?

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1. Which nvflash package did you use?
nvflash 1.2
2. Which version of recovery did you load with the ``--download'' command I gave before?
cwmod v_08
3. Can you post the p.txt file?
4. Also post the *.img that this command produces somewhere so I can take a look at them:
Ive posted them on dropbox but I don't have enough posts on the forum to be able to include the links. Suggestions?
5. In the stock ROM what TapUI version is displayed in Settings?[/QUOTE]
1.2 - 4349
Thanks again,
Lanna

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lmanalo said:
1. Which nvflash package did you use?
nvflash 1.2
2. Which version of recovery did you load with the ``--download'' command I gave before?
cwmod v_08
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No need to post your files. It's as I suspected: your bootloader is 1.2, but, you're trying to run a CWM with a 1.1 kernel on it (cwmod v_08).
See post #2 above and get the correct 1.2 versions mentioned there.

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IT WORKED!!!
Now, what ROM do you suggest for 1.2?
Thanks so much.
Lanna

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lmanalo said:
Now, what ROM do you suggest for 1.2?
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Click to collapse
That's up to you really. There are a range of 1.2-based ROMs from Froyo (Android 2.2) all the way up to ICS (Android 4.0.4) to choose from. Read the recommendations other people have made on the board when similar questions have been asked.

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Hello rajeevvp,
I tried using NVFLASH to unbrick my device, but I get an error message, "USB Device not found".
I updated the APX driver. I can hear a system beep when I plug in my device and then go into APX mode. I tried download.bat and also the nvflash string. Still says no USB found.
Where did I go wrong?
Thanks for any help with this. I have been pretty lucky up to the point of bricking my device.
Thanks Steve.

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Moving to Q&A

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same problem.
rajeevvp said:
Those messages tell me that you have a 1.2 bootloader now, but, your recovery is still 1.1-based. So now, you'll have to load a version of CWM with a 1.2-based kernel: one of CWM-3.0.2.8rev5, CWM-4.0.1.5 (1.2 bl version), or CWM-5.5.0.4Beta15.
And, you'll have to load recovery using nvflash, like this:
1. Put the gTab into APX mode (for nvflash) by first powering it off, then powering it on by pressing both the Power button and the Vol [-] key. The splash screen with the 3 birds should appear, and then the screen should go blank.
2. Run this command to determine the partition no. of the recovery (SOS) partition--usually, it is 9: Open a CMD.exe window, then change into the directory containing both the nvflash.exe and the bootloader.bin files. Then run:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B].\nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --getpartitiontable p.txt[/B]
3. Now look through the p.txt file for a partition named SOS. Assuming, now, that the partition no. is 9, load the new recovery image using nvflash:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B].\nvflash -r --download 9 [I]C:\SOME\PATH\recovery.img[/I][/B]
You can get the recovery.img file either from any of the various CWM zip files on the board, or, use one of the image files themselves. Make sure the image is for the 1.2 version of the bootloader, though.
4. After the command completes, power off the gTab, and try to boot into recovery mode as usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same problem. I can boot into my custom ROM without a problem (running Smooth_Bean), however, when i try to boot into recovery mode (pressing power and vol+) my gTablet gets stuck on the "recovery key detected" "rebooting recovery kernel image" messages. I tried getting the table and got the p.txt file but its corrupted or something, I tried opening the file with different programs and different code languages but I could not for the life of me figure out which partition is the SOS located in. Thanks in advance!

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rvmedina20 said:
I have the same problem. I can boot into my custom ROM without a problem (running Smooth_Bean), however, when i try to boot into recovery mode (pressing power and vol+) my gTablet gets stuck on the "recovery key detected" "rebooting recovery kernel image" messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can boot into a rooted ROM, then you can use the flash_image program to write to a new recovery:
1. Copy the file containing the recovery image (some filename.img) to the SD card.
2. Open a Terminal Emulator window and type these commands (only the stuff in bold):
Code:
$ [B]su[/B]
# [B]/system/bin/flash_image recovery [I]/SOME/PATH/filename[/I].img[/B]
I tried getting the table and got the p.txt file but its corrupted or something, I tried opening the file with different programs and different code languages but I could not for the life of me figure out which partition is the SOS located in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file is OK--it's just in binary format. The nvflash program you used has created a binary NAND partition table layout file instead of the usual plain text one. The SOS partition is still #9 as per that file.
Try a different nvflash program the next time.