Related
Okay guys, so here's a weird one.
My g-tablet was working great. Was running VEGAn-Tab Build, BETA 5.1.1, no reason to update it, because it did everything I needed. I finally had it to where I wanted it, then it all kind of started falling apart. Here's how.
I power it on and notice my home screen got all messed up for some reason (using launcher pro). All of the settings defaulted to the original. I tweaked it back to more or less how I wanted it, and when I had it back to normal, thought nothing better of it. Must have glitched out some how.
Then I notice a bunch of things starting to force close, specfically android market, amazon market, titanium backup, google services framework, launcher pro, etc. Odd thing is it would do it one at a time, but otherwise my tablet would carry on as normal.
I go ahead and restart the tablet, to see if that helps at all, and what do you know, the homescreen is messed up again! I thought launcher pro might have been the culprit, so I un-installed the app and rebooted... And launcher pro is still there.
I go ahead and delete it again and start deleting other apps, restarting the tablet, and no matter what I do, everything stays the same. time for some clockwork mod action. I go into clockwork mod, and try to do the factory reset option, thinking what the hey, I'll try anything right now. Hit it, mourn the loss of my user data, and reboot the system... and again, everything is still the same.
I hook up my tablet to the computer via usb, and it looks like I'm able to at least delete misc. files that way. But when I return to good old Tabatha (my nickname for Gtab) everything is stuck just the way it is.
Needless to say, it feels like I'm stuck in the twilight zone.
I know I should have researched it by now, but I'm going to finally look it up to see if I can recover with NVFlash (I know I know, very noobish of me, using strange roms and not knowing any of the basics).... but I'm increasingly worried I've got some kind of a hardware malfunction on my hands. Could it be the memory? The internal SD card?
Oddly enough, my tablet still functions... I can browse the web, hook it up to my computer, etc etc, but no matter what I do I can't alter the data I already have on my tablet. Can't delete things, can't change settings, update apps, etc. etc. Which makes it pretty much useless for what I wanted to use it for.
I finally realized what this is like. The movie groundhog day, and I'm stuck in the same day, over and over again.
Any help or input that might get me out of this mess would be greatly appreciated.
Phil: "I was in the Virgin Islands once. I met a girl. We ate lobster, drank piña coladas. At sunset, we made love like sea otters. *That* was a pretty good day. Why couldn't I get *that* day over, and over, and over..."
This is now the second time that I've seen this exact same problem. I was in the process of troubleshooting the original one when the user returned his gTablet for replacement. If you can stand the deja vu, read this thread.
Do not nvflash your tablet--nvflash cannot fix SD-card related problems. Read this post for why not.
Instead, do this for me: Reboot the gTablet, then open a Terminal, or, use adb and run this command:
Code:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Attach that dmesg.txt which will contain messages from the kernel to your next post.
I'll check this thread in the evening.
rajeevvp said:
This is now the second time that I've seen this exact same problem. I was in the process of troubleshooting the original one when the user returned his gTablet for replacement. If you can stand the deja vu, read this thread.
Do not nvflash your tablet--nvflash cannot fix SD-card related problems. Read this post for why not.
Instead, do this for me: Reboot the gTablet, then open a Terminal, or, use adb and run this command:
Code:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Attach that dmesg.txt which will contain messages from the kernel to your next post.
I'll check this thread in the evening.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the direction, at least I know it isn't an isolated incident. It's 1:45 AM where I am right now, and I have to wake up for work in about 5 hours... So I probably won't be able to get in depth with the follow up on this stuff untill after work tomorrow night (so long as the wife doesn't hog the computer )
Again thanks for the quick response, I appreciate you pointing me into some sort of direction. Can't wait to try to get this sorted out!
Currently trying to figure out how to get ADB going.... pretty intimidating, but I'm trying. I got the Java JDK installed, installing the SDK, but can't find the "SDK Setup.exe" file or even a USB driver folder in the SDK directory. Got a good resource for getting ADB set up?
Save yourself some trouble. Got to http://www.knoppix.org/ and download the latest Knoppix live CD image.
Burn it, boot it, then use the adb executable from this post. For simple things like just running adb, you don't need the entire Android SDK.
Get me a dmesg while inside ClockworkMod:
Code:
$ [B]sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
ADB commands documentation
Thanks, I'll try it out sometime this weekend!
Well, I really screwed myself now. I got the Linux distro loaded but still couldn't figure out how to get ADB to work. For whatever reason, When I boot from the DVD, I can't download the zip from within linux (get errors) and I could not open the ADB command by navigating to where I have it extracted in my hard drive. [Do I need to load the OS onto a flash drive instead?]
So I started messing with some stuff in clockwork mod. I apparently really goofed it, and I got a "Magic Value Mismatch" error everytime I tried to boot it up.
I looked up Magic Value Mismatch, and from there it pointed to using NVFlash to try to fix that problem. So tried that. After I flashed it, I thought for sure I finally had it back to stock, as the intro screen started to show the tap n tap logo... but i basically got stuck in a boot loop, tap n tap, then "n", then tap n tap, then "n", etc, until it dies.
I looked up this issue and apparently the key is to get into clockwork mod and do factory reset, reset cache, and partition the SD card to 2048 and 0, which I did... (per post #4 on this thread: http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/17501-helpstuck-in-bootloop/ ) but still no dice.
Not sure where to go from here, or if I can even get it to interface with ADB in its current state. Looks like I'm done for
Thanks for trying though
On second thought, I may have had a breakthrough, at least in getting ADB to see my tablet!!! Woohoo! It finally sees the device and has a serial number. Was following the device on this thread:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum/viewsonic-gtablet-technical/5377-adb-g-tab-step-step.html
7. under the "[Google.NTx86]" section, paste the following:
Code:
;NVIDIA Tegra
%SingleAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7000
%CompositeAdbInterface% = USB_Install, USB\VID_0955&PID_7100&MI_01
save the file and exit.
But I have a 64 bit machine, so I finally figured it out and plopped that into the 64 bit portion of the .inf file. DOH!
So now let me see what I can drum up through the previous commands above.... though the parameters have changed now to be sure... Due to my haste things may have taken a turn for the worse.
To recap, now my tablet is stuck in a boot loop after having done NV Flash, after having screwed up some settings in clockwork mod trying to fix a "Magic Value Mismatch" error.
Tried:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
I just run this in the cmd prompt at my platform-tools directory where the adb is correct?
All it says is, "The system cannot find the path specified."
Am I doing something wrong, or is my tablet that messed up?
Okay, this is slightly weird. So I was browsing around in clockwork mod, and lo and behold, the original zip flies for vegan tab are all STILL THERE. So I reloaded them... And My tablet zips back to exactly the way I had it before!
Only this time, so far no force closes. This looks way too good to be true after what I've been through. I'm going to try modifying some files and settings and restart my tablet to see what it does. I'm pretty sure I can't be out of the woods yet. Allthough it is 3:33 AM as this is happening... magic hour. I may be going insane.
EDIT: Nope, was definitely way too good to be true. All my data is as stuck as it was ever was. But at least now I can get into it again. But now we're back to square one. Lemme figure out this dmesg business and get back to you. X(
So I would try issuing the following exactly in the command line at the adb platform tools folder:
$ dmesg > /mnt/sdcard/dmesg.txt
Is that code supposed to be copy and paste in? I don't seem to be getting anything. I can do the following command and get the info to pop into the command interface:
adb shell dmesg
But I can't figure out how to save that to a text file. And you want me to do that while the g tablet is in recovery, correct?
FYI, trying to do it through Windows 7. Would that command only operate in the linux environment via knoppix?
Thanks
titobetlogs said:
I can do the following command and get the info to pop into the command interface:
adb shell dmesg
But I can't figure out how to save that to a text file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Redirect the output to a file:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
titobetlogs said:
I got the Linux distro loaded but still couldn't figure out how to get ADB to work. For whatever reason, When I boot from the DVD, I can't download the zip from within linux (get errors) and I could not open the ADB command by navigating to where I have it extracted in my hard drive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I suggested using Knoppix just because it is so easy to use adb in Linux. Broken-down steps for future reference:
1. Download and burn the latest Knoppix Live CD iso image. Check the downloaded file size. The .iso file should be ~700MB in size. Also, test the CD by booting it and then typing at the boot prompt: knoppix testcd
2. Boot Live CD and skip the creation of any partition or file to store user data. After all, we just want to run adb.
3. After Knoppix has booted into the desktop, run a browser, right click on the adb.zip attachment in this post, then select "Save Link As..." and save the zip file into /tmp.
4. Connect the gTablet to the PC via the USB cable.
5. Open a terminal window, then type in it:
Code:
hostpc$ [B]cd /tmp[/B] [I]Change to the dir. where adb.zip was saved[/I]
hostpc$ [B]unzip adb.zip[/B] [I]Unzip zip file[/I]
hostpc$ [B]ls -l adb[/B] [I]Check if the adb program was extracted OK[/I]
-rwx------ 1 rvp rvp 159620 Dec 1 22:23 adb
hostpc$ [B]chmod 555 adb[/B] [I]Make adb executable.[/I]
hostpc$ [B]sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
Note 1: do not type in the shell prompt, 'hostpc$'. It is only there to show you what the screen should (roughly) look like.
Note 2: If adb says something like "device not found", just unplug the USB cable from the PC, wait a few moments, then re-plug the cable and re-run the adb command again.
6. Go back into the browser and attach the dmesg.txt file that is there in /tmp. You will have to tell the Noscript plugin to allow scripts from xda-developers to enable attachments. Right click on the page, then select the Noscript menu item, then choose "Temporarily allow xda-developers.com".
I thought for sure I finally had it back to stock, as the intro screen started to show the tap n tap logo... but i basically got stuck in a boot loop, tap n tap, then "n", then tap n tap, then "n", etc, until it dies.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not surprised. If the files on the internal SD card cannot be modified then that boot loop behaviour is to be expected. Here's why:
Android requires certain partitions to exist on the system. These partitions can be either on the flash or on SD cards. The partitions are:
/system: This is where the binaries and system apps that come with the firmware are stored. This partition is usually mounted read-only to protect it. On the gTablet, this partition is on the 512MB built-in NAND flash chip.
/cache: As the name indicates, this is the partition used to speed up the execution of the Java apps. Temporary files are also created here. This partition too is on the built-in NAND flash chip.
/data: This is where user-downloaded apps are stored by default, and also where Android stores its system configuration data. This partition, on the gTablet, is on the internal SD card.
/sdcard: This is where user content like media files, books, and the apps moved to SD card are stored. This partition too is on the internal SD card.
The first 3 partitions are critical and Android won't come up without them being present (or, if there are any errors on them). Among these 3, only /system needs to be correctly populated (When you install a ROM, new stuff is copied here). The other 2 partitions, /data and /cache can be empty and the system will boot up fine--with defaults. In fact, when you select "wipe data/factory reset" in CWM, /cache and /data are re-formatted--effectively, wiped clean.
(There are 2 other important partitions on the NAND flash chip, but, these are not mounted because they don't contain a proper filesystem. You have to use special tools to create the contents of these 2 partitions.
The first of these is the "boot" partition. This one and "system" are re-written when you install a new ROM. The "boot" partition holds the Android Linux kernel. If you install a new kernel, only the "boot" partition is rewritten.
The second is the "recovery" partition. This contains a separate, and usually different (and safe), Linux kernel and a mini filesystem image. This is a fail-safe partition. Stock recovery and ClockworkMod sit here.)
In your case, nothing on the internal SD card can be modified, so the stuff in /data will still be from your old ROM. (nvflash also cannot modify SD card contents, as I mentioned before.) When the stock firmware boots up, it will find incompatible stuff in /data. Critical apps will then die. Android will restart them, they will die again. This is your boot loop.
Get me the dmesg output and then we'll run a few tests using CWM, but, judging from your previous posts, I don't think your internal SD card can be fixed. You have 2 options:
1. Return the tablet for a replacement.
2. If you can't return it, I can switch the internal and external SD cards on your ROM so that you can boot and use the system (almost) normally. But, this is a custom solution and you will need to have an external SD card in its slot always. Read through this thread.
Wow, you really know you're stuff! I'll see what I can get you later on in the day with regard to the dmesg, I'm currently still at work.
I had suspected a hardware error... bummer. I'll definitely be interested in seeing if I can just use the external micro sd slot to sub out for the internal sd card. I would at least like this thing to be functional again, though I suppose I'll never be able to try any of the honeycomb roms when those get past alpha. Oh well.
Do you know if this thing takes 32 gb micro sd cards? That would be pretty awesome, I at least wouldn't feel too limited on space.
By the way, thanks for all your help on this, I know I'm a huge noob. I greatly appreciate your patience and taking the time to break everything down for me. I have absolutely zero background in programming or anything computer related, though I do find this stuff extremely fascinating! If I could rewind the clock and study this stuff in school, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Again, thanks so much, can't thank you enough.
titobetlogs said:
I would at least like this thing to be functional again, though I suppose I'll never be able to try any of the honeycomb roms when those get past alpha. Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, you should be able to run whatever ROM you want. I'll send you an installable zip file, in a few days, which should get you going again on Vegan-Tab, at least. You'll just need to remember to flash this zip file right after you've flashed the ROM (of your choice).
Right now, I don't know if I need one zip file for each kind of ROM in existence for the gTablet, or, if I can use some scripting and do the internal/external SD card switch using just a single installable zip file. I'll look into this on the weekend.
Do you know if this thing takes 32 gb micro sd cards?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it does.
By the way, thanks for all your help on this, I know I'm a huge noob...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was a complete noob to Android myself back in April of this year. I've picked all of this up in just a few months. I'm pretty sure you can do it too, with a bit of poking around in the system. Of course, having a background in Unix/Linux helps a lot.
In your honor, below are some inspiring lyrics from the Karate Kid soundtrack:
You’re the best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you down
You’re the Best!
Around!
Nothing’s gonna ever keep you dow-ow-ow-ho-how-ho-own
INSPIRING GUITAR SOLO
Dude! you're embarrassing me -- I haven't send you the zip file yet... and, you haven't sent that dmesg output I wanted.
I know I've been stuck at work and family functions every day this week so far. Hopefully I'll get to it soon
Finally got to this! Here you go! Thanks again!
titobetlogs said:
Finally got to this! Here you go!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't see any problems in that dmesg output. Time for some tests on the internal SD card.
Boot into CWM, then run on PC (on Linux run: sudo ./adb shell):
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell[/B]
~ # [B]mount /dev/block/mmcblk3p1 /sdcard[/B] [I] Mount internal SD card partition[/I]
~ # [B]mkdir -p /sdcard/a/b/c[/B] [I]Make a directory tree[/I]
~ # [B]echo test > /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Create a file[/I]
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Read it back again[/I]
test [I]Correct[/I]
~ # [B]echo 3 > /proc/sys/vm/drop_caches[/B] Flush kernel caches
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] Read it back again
test Correct
~ # [B]umount /sdcard[/B] [I]Unmount[/I]
~ # [B]mount /dev/block/mmcblk3p1 /sdcard[/B] [I]Remount /sdcard[/I]
~ # [B]cat /sdcard/a/b/c/test.txt[/B] [I]Reread file[/I]
test [I]You should see "test" here[/I]
~ # [B]umount /sdcard[/B]
You should see "test" after the kernel flush and the remount.
Next, reboot the tablet--back into CWM, then run the cat command again. `cat' should output "test", again, if the SD card is OK.
Here's a screen of the commands I entered and what I got back. Did I do anything wrong? Looks like something's a bit off.
I apologize if this has been covered in another thread but I have been doing multiple searches on XDA and in google trying to find a solution but so far no luck. Long time reader of XDA but first time poster.
Details -
I successfully used NVFLASH, loaded Clockworkmod 0.8 and loaded Vega-Ntab gingerbread edition (stable RC1 I believe its called). I have been running this for a month or so with no major issues but I want to test out Vega-Ntab 5.1 and Brilliant Corners. Thinking of going with 5.1 for the hardware acceleration for gaming etc. Oh I also received my new Gtab with bootloader 1.2 and I downgraded that to 1.1 successfully before loading Vega-Ntab gingerbread. I think I can handle loading the new roms etc (may have to switch to 1.2 for Brilliant Corners I believe) but I want to do a full backup before doing so with clockworkmod so I can go back to gingerbread if I decide I liked it the best. But clockworkmod will not do a backup for me. I have tried multiple times and it always freezes/hangs at the same point. On the screen I see
ClockworkMod Recovery v2.5.1.1-bekit-0.8
SD card space free: 9697MB
Backing up boot...
Backing up recovery...
Backing up system... and here it will go no further
I have let it set at that point for hours but nothing changes. I checked the clockworkmod backup folder and it has a folder dated the current date of the backup but the contents is only boot.img and recovery.img and nothing else so I think that confirms it really isnt completing the backup.
I am unsure what the cause or solution to this is. I thought about reloading clockworkmod 0.8 but I don't think I can do this since it's already loaded. I thought about loading a newer version but from what I have read gingerbread and the other 1.1 roms will not work with anything but 0.8. I could just do a melt and repour and just go back to stock level and load 5.1 or Brilliant Corners but then I lose any apps I have loaded. I am not concerned about the majority of them but I have loaded a couple good ones as of late from Amazon that were the free app of the day and I am unsure whether I can "reload" these at a later date without being forced to pay. I have also paid for a couple games but I am assuming I can reload those without issue. I did back up all of the apps I paid for and amazon games that I loaded that I got for free (normally have to pay) with titanium backup. So assuming I can restore these with titanium backup after loading brilliant corners or vegan 5.1 then I guess the only thing that I lose by not being able to do a full backup/restore with clockwork is that if I want to go back to gingerbread then I have to start from scratch for reloading the rom.
So is the problem I am having running the back up successfully a known issue that I just can't seem to find a discussion thread about?
Thanks in advance for any help or advice.
Boot into ClockworkMod Recovery and get me a dmesg output (kernel messages) using adb. See this post for how.
Attach the dmesg.txt to your next post.
thanks for the reply. Unfortunately I am not having any luck getting the dmesg.txt file for you. I downloaded the iso image for Knoppix 6 but when I boot off the disc it starts processing everything but then it gives an error "the file /mnt-system/knoppix/knoppix is broken. then after about 30 secs it gives the following
/sbin/init: line 76: syntax error near unexpected token '/usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts/a010013l.pfb'
/sbin/init: line 76: '/URWGothicL-Book (usr/share/fonts/type1/gsfonts/a010013l.pfb);
I will try and download the iso from a different site and burn another disc.
I also tried a different route and loaded SDK manager to get to ADB by that route. I am running windows 7 if that makes a difference. I am not 100% sure when I am supposed to run the adb command line you listed. Do I have my gtab running clockworkmod and then mount USB so it will show up on my pc? Do I have to try and perform a backup and then run the adb command when it freezes? I don't think I can do that because if I navigate away from the mount USB it automatically unmounts it. Anyway adb doesn't appear to be seeing the gtab anyway. When I run the SDK manager it does not find any android devices. If I run the "adb devices" command it comes back with no devices. So I am not sure what basic thing I am missing to get adb or SDK to recognize the gtab.
I apologize for my lack of knowledge on adb. Your first link says if I have adb already set up to run adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt while in clockworkmod so I am assuming I do this after mounting USB to get the pc to recognize the gtab.
I will try download and burn another iso image from a different location and see if I can boot off a disc. Assuming this time it is successful do I run the ADB command you listed in the second link while the GTab is mounted to USB and recognized by the pc? Hopefully ADB will see it if I can get this to work.
*update* I downloaded the ISO image from a different location. When I went to the folder it was downloaded to I noticed that the first ISO image I downloaded was only approx 100MB in size instead of 700+ mb. So I am re-burning another disc. Hopefully this will allow me to boot properly.
*update #2* I was able to successfully boot off of the new disc. Now I just need to figure out how and where to enter the adb command line in your link ($ sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt) i tried this using the Shell option but it says command not found. If I choose the File Manager option and navigate to where the adb file is that was in your linked zip file it just prompts me to edit/copy/move/rename or delete the file. I am out of time tonight so I will work on it more tomorrow. The good news though is that when I use File Manager the Gtab is listed so it is at least recognized. Now I just need to figure out how to get the dmesg.txt file you request but making some progress... I think
ashton555 said:
*update #2* I was able to successfully boot off of the new disc. Now I just need to figure out how and where to enter the adb command line in your link ($ sudo ./adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Step by step instructions in this post.
thanks a bunch. Those instructions were easy to follow and made sense. I have never used linux before but alot of it reminded me back of my old unix days (terminal commands that is).
Anyway I think I did everything correct and I am now attaching the txt file.
Thanks again for your help and patience with this Linux newbie let me know if I need to provide any additional information.
ashton555 said:
Anyway I think I did everything correct and I am now attaching the txt file.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You did indeed. And I can't see any obvious problems with the NAND-flash device, judging from the kernel messages.
Since you've already tried to take backups using CWM before, that action should've created a log file. This file might be useful. Retrieve it. Inside an xterm window on Linux, run:
Code:
hostpc$ [B]sudo ./adb pull /cache/recovery/log recovery.log[/B]
Attach this "recovery.log" file.
Next, try to read, one by one, the NAND flash partitions that CWM usually backs up. Here's an example run on my gTablet:
Code:
hostpc$ [B]sudo ./adb shell[/B] [I]Get into the shell in CWM[/I]
~ # [B]dump_image boot /dev/null[/B]
~ # [B]dump_image recovery /dev/null[/B]
~ # [B]dump_image system /dev/null[/B]
mtd: read error at 0x029a0000 (I/O error)
mtd: read error at 0x02da0000 (I/O error)
~ # [B]dump_image cache /dev/null[/B]
~ #
Type in only the commands in bold.
As you can see, my "system" partition on the NAND flash has errors (and the kernel also report this when it boots), but, the command will not hang. According to the kernel message that you just supplied, you don't have any errors on your onboard NAND flash, so, theoretically, you shouldn't get any errors at all. But, we'll see if the dump_image command hangs when reading system just like CWM does.
And if the dump_image command does hang somewhere, we can see if formatting just that system partition will get it working again. There is a utility on this board which we could use for doing that, though I've never tried it.
I successfully completed the next two tasks. I am attaching the recovery.log file. Note I had an issue copying the .log file to where I could access it in win7 (for some reason I cant attach a file while in linux). I opened it with a word processor and then saved it to my c drive which messed up the formatting. So I opened it in Word to get the formatting correct and saved it as a txt file so thats why the attached file is recovery.txt. Let me know if it messed it up to where its not useable.
On the second task
~ # dump_image boot /dev/null
this worked fine and quick
~ # dump_image recovery /dev/null
this worked fine and quick
~ # dump_image system /dev/null
this worked but took maybe 10-15 seconds
~ # dump_image cache /dev/null
this one gave an I/O error but completed the dump
mtd: read error at 0x00080000 (I/O error)
ashton555 said:
Let me know if it messed it up to where its not useable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The file is just fine... and I can't see any error messages in it.
~ # dump_image system /dev/null
this worked but took maybe 10-15 seconds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is normal -- "system" partition is ~200MB.
~ # dump_image cache /dev/null
this one gave an I/O error but completed the dump
mtd: read error at 0x00080000 (I/O error)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This also looks like normal behaviour, but, I'm puzzled that the kernel did not report any bad blocks on this partition. Check if this is a transient error:
1. Repeat the "dump_image cache ..." command a few times and see if the I/O error location is the same.
2. Try to "fix" the error on the cache partition by using the "wipe cache partition" menu item in CWM. Do this a couple of times.
3. Run the "dump_image cache ..." command again.
4. Attempt another full system backup using CWM.
If step 4 fails, we'll see if the writing of the backup to the sdcard is the problem, because the reading seems to be completing without any hangs as of now.
BTW, the most important partitions are all being read fine. The "cache" partition is not that important -- it can be empty (but not corrupt) each time the system boots and only the initial bootup might go a little slower.
And, if, in the end of all this, you can't use CWM at all, you can still make a full system backup using nvflash and a few Unix commands.
1. Repeat the "dump_image cache ..." command a few times and see if the I/O error location is the same
....i did the dump 4 times and it always gave the same I/O location
2. Try to "fix" the error on the cache partition by using the "wipe cache partition" menu item in CWM. Do this a couple of times
.... I wiped the cache 4 times successsfully
3. Run the "dump_image cache ..." command again.
.... same I/O error location
4. Attempt another full system backup using CWM
.... still freezing at backing up system
So I guess I need to try and do the backup with NVFlash and unix/linux commands? If you have a link on how to do that I will give it a try or I can search for it and see if there is a discussion thread on it.
Thanks again for your help and trying to resolve this
Question - if I started over from scratch and went back to stock and then loaded vegan gingerbread would this issue possibly correct itself? Also more importantly if I back up some apps using titanium backup before I go back to stock can I then restore them with Titanium once I have vegan ginger back loaded? Also if I loaded vegan 5.1.1 could I restore the same apps I backed up in vegan ginger? Hopefully that made sense. I don't mind starting from scratch if I need to I just wasnt sure if I would permanently lose certain apps I have loaded. It's only about 10 apps I care about
*update* - well I think I am going to be forced to start over anyway. After wiping the cache a couple times and attempting another backup (froze again at backing up system) I now can't get the gtab to boot completely. It is stuck at the flashing vegan ginger edition screen. It flashes for awhile then the screen goes black then it goes back to the flashing screen again. I know you said it would take longer to boot up the first time after wiping the cache but was doing the flash cycling for over an hour which I assume is too long? I tried wiping the cache again and I also wiped the davlik cache as someone suggested in another thread but it is back to being stuck in the flashing screen loop. Assuming I do have to start over can I at least boot to CWM, mount ext USB and copy off the titanium backup files I made so I can restore some of the paid for apps?
ashton555 said:
3. Run the "dump_image cache ..." command again.
.... same I/O error location
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like a permanent I/O error in the cache partition, then. But, I don't understand why it is "system" which is hanging on backup.
4. Attempt another full system backup using CWM
.... still freezing at backing up system
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Get me the recovery.log.
So I guess I need to try and do the backup with NVFlash and unix/linux commands?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll think this over during the weekend. In the mean-time, read through this thread. You can safely take a complete backup of your tablet while I do a bit of experimentation on a clockworkmod-like solution. But, I suspect that you may not be able to backup "cache" using nvflash going by the I/O errors. I have errors on my "system" partition and a nvflash backup fails on it, but CWM doesn't have any problems backing up and restoring.
Question - if I started over from scratch and went back to stock and then loaded vegan gingerbread would this issue possibly correct itself?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably not. But, see this thread. It shows you how to wipe all the partitions on the NAND flash device. We don't need to format the entire NAND flash. We can see if doing a few repeated formats of the "system" and "cache" partitions gets CWM working again, if you're willing to wipe "system"--you will have to load Vegan-Ginger right after this.
Also more importantly if I back up some apps using titanium backup before I go back to stock can I then restore them with Titanium once I have vegan ginger back loaded? Also if I loaded vegan 5.1.1 could I restore the same apps I backed up in vegan ginger? Hopefully that made sense. I don't mind starting from scratch if I need to I just wasnt sure if I would permanently lose certain apps I have loaded. It's only about 10 apps I care about
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't used Titanium backup so I can't say how well it works, but, judging from the reports that other users have made, what you're suggesting should work without any problems. User downloaded applications are stored either on /data or on /mnt/sdcard (for apps moved to SD card). Since your SD cards don't seem to be affected, you can go ahead with Titanium backup.
ashton555 said:
Assuming I do have to start over can I at least boot to CWM, mount ext USB and copy off the titanium backup files I made so I can restore some of the paid for apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, copy the files in CWM, then just do a "wipe data/factory reset" and see if it boot loop goes away.
But, before you do that, gimme a half-hour and I'll send you commands which you can use to save the files in /data and /sdcard. I just have to compile and test a new version of busybox. The tar command already present in CWM doesn't seem to work properly for me.
Attaching the recovery file
I am running the nvflash back up right now.
It successfully did part-1.img through part-11.img with no errors. The last thing it said though is
"rem CACHE PARTITION BACKUP NOT NEEDED
"nvflash.exe" -r --read 12 part-12.img
press enter to continue
Is this maybe because I wiped the cache and it's empty?
I looked on my ext SD card and the titanium backup files are there (except for a couple I had forgotten do ....) so I think I am okay for going back to square one if need be.
I will go ahead (tomorrow probably) try doing what is described thread about wiping partitions on the NAND device and just formating the system and cache partitions. I am assuming that at this point I guess its okay to go ahead and try to load vegan tab 5.1.1 instead of ginger again since I wanted to try out 5.1.1 anyway or if you have any experience with it would you recommend Brilliant Corners instead since its a newer rom. I think I will have to reload the 1.2 bootloader which is okay.
ashton555 said:
Attaching the recovery file
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No errors in there.
The last thing it said though is
"rem CACHE PARTITION BACKUP NOT NEEDED
"nvflash.exe" -r --read 12 part-12.img
press enter to continue
Is this maybe because I wiped the cache and it's empty?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think so. The cache partition isn't that important anyway, so it can be skipped.
I will go ahead (tomorrow probably) try doing what is described thread about wiping partitions on the NAND device and just formating the system and cache partitions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would suggest that you copy the Titanium backed-up apps safely away immediately, then format just the system and cache partitions as per that thread. You will need to be in APX mode to use nvflash.
Immediately after the nvflash, (since the system partition is now gone), boot into CWM, then do a factory reset, repartition the internal sdcard, copy the Vegan-5.1.1 update file onto the now clean sdcard through the PC and then flash it. This should give you a clean slate.
Then check if you can do a backup using CWM. If you still can't, then I'll see if a solution can be devised to do partial backups.
And, I have tried neither Vegan* nor Brilliant Corners, so the choice is up to you.
Sorry, my test commands aren't working so I can't send you those commands I promised to back up your /data and /system--I suspect a bad USB cable.
Hi
I've done a bit of searching but can't find anything too specific to what I'm trying to do. Basically we have 10 Android tablets, and I want to make them all standardised e.g. have the same Apps on, configured in the same way (e.g. enterprise wireless network added).
Now the thing is if anyone messes around with them I want a really easy way to restore them to the original config which I've done.
One way I thought was to configure one fully, install Titanium Backup on it, do a full backup of apps/system data etc, and put the backup onto an SD card. Then I already have the base ROM on an SD card so if theres any problems, I can just flash the ROM over it again, install TB, and restore all the data. Would this be suitable to do to duplicate the data onto 10 tablets, and also restore the data if required?
The other thing I looked into was customising a ROM myself, don't want to do anything too tricky it'll just be a case of removing all the preinstalled crap I don't want, preloading the Apps we do want, and if possible preloading the wireless key and getting rid of the first boot initial set up wizard.
PS I've looked at installing CWM and doing whole image backups, but supposedly the tablet isnt supported (its an Ainol Novo 7 Elf 2)
Any advice would be great, hopefully theres some fairly straight forward way of managing this
Thanks
One of the reasons I integrated a full blown GNU/Linux on my devices, was the need to run full and automated backups. If you are looking into the possibility making a custom ROM, this might be a solution for you as well. I'm using BackuPC to run backups nightly, backing them up as any other GNU/Linux machine (using tar over ssh).
See the link in my signature for more information about this.
kuisma said:
One of the reasons I integrated a full blown GNU/Linux on my devices, was the need to run full and automated backups. If you are looking into the possibility making a custom ROM, this might be a solution for you as well. I'm using BackuPC to run backups nightly, backing them up as any other GNU/Linux machine (using tar over ssh).
See the link in my signature for more information about this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Thanks for the reply, not too sure this would be the right option for us. I don't really need to take nightly backups, I just need to make a backup of a preconfigured image, and then put that image onto 10 other devices. Then I want to keep the original backup and have an easy way to restore it onto any devices which have been messed up. Sort of like image cloning for PCs, I want to prepare a base image, and then flash it over all the devices.
fro5tie said:
Hi
Thanks for the reply, not too sure this would be the right option for us. I don't really need to take nightly backups, I just need to make a backup of a preconfigured image, and then put that image onto 10 other devices. Then I want to keep the original backup and have an easy way to restore it onto any devices which have been messed up. Sort of like image cloning for PCs, I want to prepare a base image, and then flash it over all the devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I see. Compile the image to you likings (boot image and system partition), and then flash it using fastboot onto you devices.
Hi
Does anyone have any more thoughts on this?
I have experimented with Titanium Backup and this seems to work quite well. I have installed a ROM, and customised it e.g. installed the apps I need and configured the apps, wireless settings and home screens etc. Then I do a full apps + system backup in TB to my SD card.
Then the plan is, I can reflash the ROM onto the other device, install TB and then restore this backup. This saves my user state and wireless settings etc.
Only problems is when I flash the ROM, I have to go through all the initial set up again and also remove some preinstalled apps which I dont want. Any ways around this?
There must be something I'm missing. Why don't you install the device, walk through the setup, remove the bloatware you don't want and then dumps the disk partitions into images you flash the other devices with using fastboot? This way you'll get'em cloned, isn't it this you want..?
Of course there's still some tinkering needed once restored/cloned, such as giving them individual Google accounts etc, but you can easily fix this without re-running the setup wizard.
kuisma said:
There must be something I'm missing. Why don't you install the device, walk through the setup, remove the bloatware you don't want and then dumps the disk partitions into images you flash the other devices with using fastboot? This way you'll get'em cloned, isn't it this you want..?
Of course there's still some tinkering needed once restored/cloned, such as giving them individual Google accounts etc, but you can easily fix this without re-running the setup wizard.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Yes that's what I want to do! How would I go about dumping the disk into an image and then flashing?
fro5tie said:
Hi
Yes that's what I want to do! How would I go about dumping the disk into an image and then flashing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are several methods. Some boot loaders (such as nvflash for tegra based devices) can actually read back the disk partitions to a computer via the USB port. You can also on the tablet read the raw mtd device with busybox/dd. I assume you've unlocked the bootloader and gain root access to the device, since this is a requirement for flashing them as well. A third alternative is using busybox/tar, and then recreate the filesystem image using mkyaffs (or if ext3/ext4 even easier, just loopback mount an image on you linux maching to unpack the tar archive to). Once you got the images (system and userdata partitions), you flash the devices with "fastboot flash system system.img" and "fastboot flash userdata data.img". I don't believe you'll need to tamper with the other partitions.
kuisma said:
There are several methods. Some boot loaders (such as nvflash for tegra based devices) can actually read back the disk partitions to a computer via the USB port. You can also on the tablet read the raw mtd device with busybox/dd. I assume you've unlocked the bootloader and gain root access to the device, since this is a requirement for flashing them as well. A third alternative is using busybox/tar, and then recreate the filesystem image using mkyaffs (or if ext3/ext4 even easier, just loopback mount an image on you linux maching to unpack the tar archive to). Once you got the images (system and userdata partitions), you flash the devices with "fastboot flash system system.img" and "fastboot flash userdata data.img". I don't believe you'll need to tamper with the other partitions.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Thanks for the quick reply, much appreciated.
Unfortunately you've lost me a bit here!
Yes the device is rooted, I dont have a linux machine though.
Any chance you'd be able to provide some more specific instructions? The device is a chinese tablet from manufacturer Ainol, the model is a Novo 7 Elf 2. Unfortunately there isn't much discussion on these online so specific help is hard to find!
fro5tie said:
Any chance you'd be able to provide some more specific instructions? The device is a chinese tablet from manufacturer Ainol, the model is a Novo 7 Elf 2. Unfortunately there isn't much discussion on these online so specific help is hard to find!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can provide you specific answers to specific questions, but I have no experience of the tablet in question, so you'll have to do some digging yourself first. Make sure it supports fastboot, investigate what the proprietary bootloader is capable of, see how/if you can obtain an original image etc.
One maybe easier solution, especially if you plan to restore the tablets on a regular basis, is to only make a new boot image to reflash the devices with. The only modification done is that you change the /init.rc script to mount /data and /system from the SDcard instead of from the internal nand disk device.
Once this is done, you'll power up and run the installation wizard and everything on your master tablet. Then power it down, and clone the SDcard. This SDcard now contains everything, so you'll simply restore a device by replacing its SDcard with a copy of this master card. I guess it's easier to clone a SDcard than reflashing several internal partitions. Easier to make the master as well - you don't need to dd or tar them, they are already in "image" format. If you can get hold of the original firmware, this should be quite easy without the need to preserving data from the device itself.
fro5tie said:
Any chance you'd be able to provide some more specific instructions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Issue the commands "cat /proc/mtd" and "mount" on your device at command prompt (e.g. via "adb shell" or the "ConnectBot" terminal app). This shows you if the device allows you to copy the boot image from it. Paste in the output into this thread. If you believe the "clone the tablet via the SDcard" is a good solution for you, the process is in short terms something as below;
Copy the boot image to the sdcard:
# dd if=/dev/mtd/mtd2ro of=/mnt/sdcard/boot.img bs=2048 (device dependent of contents of /proc/mtd)
Remove the sdcard, insert into a computer, split the boot image info kernel + initramfs. Read http://android-dls.com/wiki/index.php?title=HOWTO:_Unpack%2C_Edit%2C_and_Re-Pack_Boot_Images for instructions about how to work with the boot.img file. I really recommend a GNU/Linux environment for this.
Then edit /init.rc replacing the "mount yaffs2 [email protected] /system" with "mount ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /system" for system and data (use p3 for data partition, the device name may be different on your tablet, see mount output).
Create an SDcard with three partitions: #1 vfat (standard), #2 and #3 ext3. Insert into you device and boot it up again.
# mount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 /root
# cd /system
# tar cf - . | (cd /root ; tar xf - )
# umount /root
# mount -t ext3 /dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /root
# cd /data
# tar cf - . | (cd /root ; tar xf - )
# umount /root
This copies your partitions to the SDcard. Shutdown the tablet again.
Make a new boot.img using the instructions in the link above, using the edited init.rc script.
Now you can non-destrutive give this a try.
Place you tablet in fastboot mode (often vol-up (or vol-down) during power on).
$ fastboot devices
This vill verify the tablet is in fastboot mode. It should be listed. Then:
$ fastboot boot boot.img
Note here, only BOOT the tablet, do NOT use the "flash" keyword. This in case of the image isn't working, you'll just have to restart you tablet, and no harm's done.
Look around. Do a "mount" command. Everything works? Mount shows /data and /system from sdcard? Perfect. Now you can reflash it. Shutdown and flash:
$ fastboot flash boot boot.img
Now the device will use /data and /system from the SDcard every time. Customize your device, and then clone your SDcard and try it in tablet #2 you'll booting with your new boot.img and the cloned SDcard. Verify that #tablet #2 is a perfect clone of tablet #1. It is? Now you can flash the boot,img into all your tablets.
--------------------
But don't forget, there may be other solutions as well, maybe more suitable. This you'll have to investigate yourself.
And the usual disclaimer - you can probably not follow above by the letter. There sure is some obstacle you'll have to overcome, something non-standard, etc.
Also keep the original boot.img file for safekeeping in the case you want to restore the device's boot image some day.
Wow! Thanks for the info! This is really helpful, I need to set aside a bit of time to work through this and have a look. Thanks again its really appreciated, I'll be back with info once I've had chance to give it a go!
I certainly can't offer more detailed info than the fellow from Sweden who seems to really know his stuff...but what about making a nandroid backup of your fully configured reference tablet (I'm assuming all tablets are rooted). Ensure all your tabs have CWM recovery and copy your nandroid file to each one.
If any of your fleet get 'corrupted' you can simply restore the original, fully configured ROM.
In fact that sounds too obvious..likely I missed something about your scenario which precludes this option from consideration!
Good luck mate.
tweeny80 said:
I certainly can't offer more detailed info than the fellow from Sweden who seems to really know his stuff...but what about making a nandroid backup of your fully configured reference tablet (I'm assuming all tablets are rooted). Ensure all your tabs have CWM recovery and copy your nandroid file to each one.
If any of your fleet get 'corrupted' you can simply restore the original, fully configured ROM.
In fact that sounds too obvious..likely I missed something about your scenario which precludes this option from consideration!
Good luck mate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Yes that was my first thought as well, tablets are rooted yes but there is no CWM for the tablet. Its an obscure Chinese branded tablet.
Unless there is another way to do nandroid backups?
hmm tricky situation. Catch 22 ! From what I know, your best bet is to backup all possible things through Titanium Backup given that you don't have the use of Nandroid backups. You can include wifi settings, messages etc but it's modular & not systemic.
I did a quick google search with no luck - time to upgrade your fleet dude :-0
Best of luck.
So I am stuck in a bootloop and no obvious way out.
US Galaxy Player 4.0
Rooted and been on custom roms for a year now. Problem started after upgraded to latest CM. Tried going back to stock but no luck in resolution. I am able to get into recovery and download mode and flash with odin. I can run adb shell. Just won't boot. The error message I get is as follows:
"E:format_volume: rfs format failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p2"
In my adb shell I can see that there is no "mmcblk0..." files at all.
I have tried to go through the full stock recovery and used the PIT files and the stock rom through odin. I get the same boot loop and cant get the data to wipe due to the same error. I can flash anything through Odin easily without fail but everything is stuck in boot loop. I just don't seem to have /data to wipe.
There are some other posts around which indicate the Partition may be screwed but I am not sure what it is supposed to look like or the command line syntax to use to correct.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1468213&highlight=wipe+data+shell
I have several nandroid backups on an external location but now I can't get the external card to recognize in CWM so haven't been able to try to revert backwards that way. I have backup of efs and all other stuff just can't seem to get to it.
Anybody with Ideas or direct help are greatly appreciated
map1122 said:
So I am stuck in a bootloop and no obvious way out.
US Galaxy Player 4.0
Rooted and been on custom roms for a year now. Problem started after upgraded to latest CM. Tried going back to stock but no luck in resolution. I am able to get into recovery and download mode and flash with odin. I can run adb shell. Just won't boot. The error message I get is as follows:
"E:format_volume: rfs format failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p2"
In my adb shell I can see that there is no "mmcblk0..." files at all.
I have tried to go through the full stock recovery and used the PIT files and the stock rom through odin. I get the same boot loop and cant get the data to wipe due to the same error. I can flash anything through Odin easily without fail but everything is stuck in boot loop. I just don't seem to have /data to wipe.
There are some other posts around which indicate the Partition may be screwed but I am not sure what it is supposed to look like or the command line syntax to use to correct.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1468213&highlight=wipe+data+shell
I have several nandroid backups on an external location but now I can't get the external card to recognize in CWM so haven't been able to try to revert backwards that way. I have backup of efs and all other stuff just can't seem to get to it.
Anybody with Ideas or direct help are greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is how we fix that with the Player 5 : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2398120&page=4 (read the whole thread from page 4 on)
You'll need to do pretty much the same thing but you need an image from the Player 4.:good:
recrtora above
Thank you Meticulus. I see that you were involved in the thread I referenced too and this is where I figured I needed to go. However this is where I get tripped up. The main issue being that I don't have an image from a 4.0 US player. The thread I linked to had the Intl Player shown... There were even a few requests for the US version later on in the thread.
So- Anyone want to share their US player working partition table?
Is this information contained in the .PIT files somehow?
anyway to retrieve this?
map1122 said:
Thank you Meticulus. I see that you were involved in the thread I referenced too and this is where I figured I needed to go. However this is where I get tripped up. The main issue being that I don't have an image from a 4.0 US player. The thread I linked to had the Intl Player shown... There were even a few requests for the US version later on in the thread.
So- Anyone want to share their US player working partition table?
Is this information contained in the .PIT files somehow?
anyway to retrieve this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know that's the only way to do it is with the picture.... Be patient, I'm sure someone will post an image...
@zaclimon ???
Needed: out put of fdisk on mmcblk0
Code:
adb root
adb shell
fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
Then post a screenshot, or just the output.:highfive:
Meticulus said:
As far as I know that's the only way to do it is with the picture.... Be patient, I'm sure someone will post an image...
@zaclimon ???
Needed: out put of fdisk on mmcblk0
Code:
adb root
adb shell
fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
Then post a screenshot, or just the output.:highfive:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here it is, do note that it's a intl device though too.
zaclimon said:
Here it is, do note that it's a intl device though too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's definately not what I expected... to see from the 4.0's partition table...
Meticulus said:
That's definately not what I expected... to see from the 4.0's partition table...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
We only have mmc blocks for the actual storage of the device. The system partition and others are pure raw nand (which is why we use mtd and yaffs2)
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus 7 avec Tapatalk 4
zaclimon said:
We only have mmc blocks for the actual storage of the device. The system partition and others are pure raw nand (which is why we use mtd and yaffs2)
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus 7 avec Tapatalk 4
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So then, will recreating these partitions solve the OP problem?
Meticulus said:
So then, will recreating these partitions solve the OP problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most probably because it will only touch /data and internal storage. Actually this is the first time I see a problem like this for the 4.0.
Envoyé depuis mon Nexus 7 avec Tapatalk 4
So any confidence in the international vs the US version being the same?
Now the next thing is I used the command fdisk to start trying to recreate the partitions using the post instructions you recommended. I did not get an option for "new". I attached the output from the shell command. Tried looking up shell command references on fdisk but is not helping me here. Is it because there is not mmcblk0 at all? I don't seem to be getting into the command mode of the fdisk command.
If I use fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0 I get "no such file or directory"
map1122 said:
So any confidence in the international vs the US version being the same?
Now the next thing is I used the command fdisk to start trying to recreate the partitions using the post instructions you recommended. I did not get an option for "new". I attached the output from the shell command. Tried looking up shell command references on fdisk but is not helping me here. Is it because there is not mmcblk0 at all? I don't seem to be getting into the command mode of the fdisk command.
If I use fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0 I get "no such file or directory"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... Can post a list of /dev/block ?
Code:
adb shell
ls /dev/block
Here you go.
map1122 said:
Here you go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmmmm .... see if you can get here: /sys/bus/platform/devices/s3c-sdhci.0 and post the output
Like so?
map1122 said:
Like so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes.... I'm not sure what's wrong but id recommend installing a full odin flashable rom...
Not sure what that would be for the 4.0..
Here is another place you can check /sys/bus/platform/devices/s3c-sdhci.0/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0:0001/block/mmcblk0
Here is the output of that. No further.
I am already on fresh Odin flash. Several attempts actually. I have been able to flash back to Stock (and use PIT) files, access stock recovery. I did this first to think I could restore to OEM. Then flash the Terra-Silent kernel to obtain CWM and the IcyFusion Rom (did this again this morning so I could get adb to link). These are the only Odin flashable that I am aware of for the 4.0. Obviously nothing boots because the issues discussed here.
Thank you.
what does "partition SD Card" in the Advanced and Debugging menu in CWM do?
map1122 said:
Here is the output of that. No further.
I am already on fresh Odin flash. Several attempts actually. I have been able to flash back to Stock (and use PIT) files, access stock recovery. I did this first to think I could restore to OEM. Then flash the Terra-Silent kernel to obtain CWM and the IcyFusion Rom (did this again this morning so I could get adb to link). These are the only Odin flashable that I am aware of for the 4.0. Obviously nothing boots because the issues discussed here.
Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't know if those are "full" odin flashable roms.
Try here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1531850
Yes, that is the one I am using to revert to stock and additional PIT. I checked MD5 sums too.
Would this kind of thing be backed up in a nandroid?
map1122 said:
Yes, that is the one I am using to revert to stock and additional PIT. I checked MD5 sums too.
Would this kind of thing be backed up in a nandroid?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, It wouldn't be backed up in android...
I'm betting that the U.S. Odin ROM on that page is not a "full" recovery rom either... I'm downloading right now to check. If it isn't, we need to find out how safe it is to flash an INT version first then flash a USA over it.
On the 5.0, we can do that... and everything is OK but don't know about 4.0...
EDIT: Seem like the only difference is that INT has bootloaders and USA does not. That doesn't help us...
Hi I've been reading through the forum here for about 2 years now and got a lot of helpful advice on rooting and flashing my Android devices but this is my first thread. Unfortunately I've messed up my USA Galaxy Player 5.0 and don't know what to do that I haven't already tried. Let me start at the beginning.
I rooted my player a while ago and everything was fine untill my micro-SD card wouldn't mount in other devices but sometimes it would in my player. So, I installed AParted on my Player and proceeded to format what I thought was the SD card. I found out when I rebooted my player hours later that it had wiped my Player rather than that SD card and my Player wouldn't boot but gave a bunch of errors.
I had flashed Samsung devices with odin 1.85 before and decided to try some of the rooted ROMs from this site. They all appeared to flash just fine in odin, however when the Player rebooted it stopped at the CWM recovery screen saying it could not mount the /cache. I went into mounts and storage and tried to format /cache and got this:
E:format_volume: make_extf4fs failed on /dev/block/mmcblk0p15.
I also tried installing CWM recovery zip files and they installed way too fast and then didn't work. It seems like my Player cannot write all of the needed files. Any suggestions? I dual boot WinXP and Ubuntu. In Ubuntu I installed Heimdall 1.4 and the frontend but am not real sure how to use it. I did get Heimdall started ok with sudo heimdall-frontend.
Marty
What rom did you flash? Also heimdall frontend 1.4 is just weird lol. I use 1.1 instead.
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obscuresword said:
What rom did you flash? Also heimdall frontend 1.4 is just weird lol. I use 1.1 instead.
Sent from my YP-G1 using xda app-developers app
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Well I tried a lot of ROMs that I'll list. The one I have a backup from a year ago (that's from my first Galaxy Player 5 that I hard bricked before I bought this 2nd one) uses Eryigit 3.5 USA ROM and also has CWM on it. That's what is on it now, though it only boots to CWM. These are the ROMs I tried that wouldn't boot:
Odin:
Eryigit 3.5 USA
Stock ROM with PIT UEKI8_MIN
CWM:
CM7.2.0-RC1
CM9-HWA-12.5.2012
Noisy Fox GB ROM ZKP9
Supermaster CM9
Chip 1.5-1
I honestly don't think it's a ROM problem since these have all worked for me on my previous Galaxy Player 5 USA model. I think AParted messed up the partitions when it formatted the device.
How do I fix the partitions? I thought that's what a PIT file did, but it seems to just get stuck on the PIT file in odin...how long should it take?
Marty
LinuxHippy said:
Well I tried a lot of ROMs that I'll list. The one I have a backup from a year ago (that's from my first Galaxy Player 5 that I hard bricked before I bought this 2nd one) uses Eryigit 3.5 USA ROM and also has CWM on it. That's what is on it now, though it only boots to CWM. These are the ROMs I tried that wouldn't boot:
Odin:
Eryigit 3.5 USA
Stock ROM with PIT UEKI8_MIN
CWM:
CM7.2.0-RC1
CM9-HWA-12.5.2012
Noisy Fox GB ROM ZKP9
Supermaster CM9
Chip 1.5-1
I honestly don't think it's a ROM problem since these have all worked for me on my previous Galaxy Player 5 USA model. I think AParted messed up the partitions when it formatted the device.
How do I fix the partitions? I thought that's what a PIT file did, but it seems to just get stuck on the PIT file in odin...how long should it take?
Marty
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You need to check your partition table. flash Entrophy512's daily driver then in adb: fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
Compare output to image in this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44626450&postcount=33
If it doesn't match exactly then read this entire thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2398120
EDIT: FYI - When you put a pit file in Odin, all it does is flash the PIT file to the PIT partition. If your partition table is jacked and the PIT Partition is missing...???
If you check "repartition" in Odin, then Odin reads the pit from the pit partition then reformats according to what the PIT says, but if your PIT Partition is missing...???
The galaxy player 5's PIT Partition is /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
Meticulus said:
You need to check your partition table. flash Entrophy512's daily driver then in adb: fdisk -l /dev/block/mmcblk0
Compare output to image in this post http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=44626450&postcount=33
If it doesn't match exactly then read this entire thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2398120
EDIT: FYI - When you put a pit file in Odin, all it does is flash the PIT file to the PIT partition. If your partition table is jacked and the PIT Partition is missing...???
If you check "repartition" in Odin, then Odin reads the pit from the pit partition then reformats according to what the PIT says, but if your PIT Partition is missing...???
The galaxy player 5's PIT Partition is /dev/block/mmcblk0p6
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Good-then there is still hope...I thought I messed up a 2nd Galaxy Player. It boots to CWM now...can I flash Entropy´s kernel there or do I need to do that in odin?
Marty
LinuxHippy said:
Good-then there is still hope...I thought I messed up a 2nd Galaxy Player. It boots to CWM now...can I flash Entropy´s kernel there or do I need to do that in odin?
Marty
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Click to collapse
It doesn't matter how it gets flashed as long as it does...
Meticulus said:
It doesn't matter how it gets flashed as long as it does...
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Click to collapse
Well, I read over the threads u posted, got ADB working in Win XP, and then flashed my kernel so that it's using entropy512's kernel. All looked ok till is issued the fdisk command on the SGP and it couldn't find mmcblk0. What else would it call the root device? I issued a couple commands in the attached screenshot and it looks like I only have 376 MB rather than ~ 8 GB.
The screenshot file is attached to this post.
Marty
LinuxHippy said:
Well, I read over the threads u posted, got ADB working in Win XP, and then flashed my kernel so that it's using entropy512's kernel. All looked ok till is issued the fdisk command on the SGP and it couldn't find mmcblk0. What else would it call the root device? I issued a couple commands in the attached screenshot and it looks like I only have 376 MB rather than ~ 8 GB.
The screenshot file is attached to this post.
Marty
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Click to collapse
Its /dev/block/mmcblk0
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That worked but the output didn't match yours at all. Besides there being no partitions (I was trying to format my SD card with a FAT32 filesystem) the device has 4 heads (yours had 1) and the units are cyclinder of 64 (you have 16). I attached another screenshot...I do still have 7944 MB, though!
So, with these differences should I proceed with repartitioning with fdisk??
Marty
I'm not root
LinuxHippy said:
That worked but the output didn't match yours at all. Besides there being no partitions (I was trying to format my SD card with a FAT32 filesystem) the device has 4 heads (yours had 1) and the units are cyclinder of 64 (you have 16). I attached another screenshot...I do still have 7944 MB, though!
So, with these differences should I proceed with repartitioning with fdisk??
Marty
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Click to collapse
I realized just now that I'm not root and when I try to change into root with su it cannot find that command because it doesn't have a /bin directory (in Ubuntu it's /bin/su). It may only display partitions to the root user and wouldn't let me create any without being root. Maybe it's running out of space and cannot create that directory? Could u put a link on here of the page for Entropy512's daily kernels? You had mentioned it, but the 1 I found is from 2012 and I'm not sure if it's daily.
Marty
I wrote my new partition table!
Well, I installed Entropy512's kernel from 01222012 and that gave me root. Then from ADB shell I was able to gain all the functions of fdisk. I still did not have any partitions. However, I could not follow your guide exactly because my Galaxy Player has 4 heads...this meant that each block was 32 bytes. So I had to use trial and error to try to get the Start and End blocks close to the number of blocks in each of your partitions. In fdisk I had to display the table after every new partition with P and if it wasn't the right number of blocks I would delete it with D and then try again keeping in mind that each block increased or decreased the size of the partition by 32 bytes.
I may be explaining this wrong and went about this the wrong way. I wrote the table and attached another screenshot. Before I wrote any ROMs to it, I wanted to make sure it looked good enough for ROMs to write to it.
Marty
Unpartitioned space
There is unpartitioned space at the end of this "drive".
Meticulus has 969728-969528=200
I have 242432-242373=59
This space is almost equal if u consider each head to use 50 and there are 4 heads...200. Each block takes 32 of these (bytes?).
I hope u can follow my reasoning since I don't know the units. If this space is unused, I'm wondering if 1 of these partitions could be increased by 32 bytes? If this space isn't used by a ROM, I could re-do this pretty easily to prevent my SGP from locking up again.
It looks like Samsung put out at least 2 USA geometries of their SGP5. Perhaps somebody else could post ADB outputs of fdisk -l /dev/blk/mmcblk0?
LinuxHippy said:
There is unpartitioned space at the end of this "drive".
Meticulus has 969728-969528=200
I have 242432-242373=59
This space is almost equal if u consider each head to use 50 and there are 4 heads...200. Each block takes 32 of these (bytes?).
I hope u can follow my reasoning since I don't know the units. If this space is unused, I'm wondering if 1 of these partitions could be increased by 32 bytes? If this space isn't used by a ROM, I could re-do this pretty easily to prevent my SGP from locking up again.
It looks like Samsung put out at least 2 USA geometries of their SGP5. Perhaps somebody else could post ADB outputs of fdisk -l /dev/blk/mmcblk0?
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Click to collapse
Please read the ENTIRE thread. Changing the heads is explained and you must change the head first. There is only one U.S.A "geometry".
Meticulus said:
Please read the ENTIRE thread. Changing the heads is explained and you must change the head first. There is only one U.S.A "geometry".
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Oh, I missed something. I'll read the posted threads again (there are threads inside of threads here) later. It's good to know that Samsung only put out 1 version of their USA SGP5...I was gonna comb the web later for partition table screenshots and that woulda been a complete waste of time.
Can u post the EXACT posting that I should re-read?
Marty
LinuxHippy said:
Oh, I missed something. I'll read the posted threads again (there are threads inside of threads here) later. It's good to know that Samsung only put out 1 version of their USA SGP5...I was gonna comb the web later for partition table screenshots and that woulda been a complete waste of time.
Can u post the EXACT posting that I should re-read?
Marty
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45458589&postcount=55
Have a better partition table!!
Meticulus said:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=45458589&postcount=55
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OK, thanks for the last link...that was helpful! I hadn't read that & didn't know after 12 years of Linux use that there was an expert mode for fdisk...now I can fix my computer disk that I re-partitioned years ago and has 4 heads (that's working, though and like I've always been told, "if it aint broke, don't fix it!" I now re-did the partition table with 1 head and it ALMOST looks like your table. I attached a screenshot of your table and mine side by side so u can easily compare. What's on your table and missing from mine are 2 lines:
Omitting empty partition (18)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
Are these important or am I ready to flash this puppy with the Low Level Russian ROM u suggested?
Marty
LinuxHippy said:
OK, thanks for the last link...that was helpful! I hadn't read that & didn't know after 12 years of Linux use that the was an expert mode for fdisk...now I can fix my computer disk that I re-partitioned years ago and has 4 heads (that's working, though and like I've always been told, "if it aint broke, don't fix it!" I now re-did the partition table with 1 head and it ALMOST looks like your table. I attached a screenshot of your table and mine side by side so u can easily compare. What's on your table and missing from mine are 2 lines:
Omitting empty partition (18)
Partition 1 does not end on cylinder boundary
Are these important or am I ready to flash this puppy with the Low Level Russian ROM u suggested?
Marty
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Click to collapse
Technically: fdisk in Entropy512's Daily Driver is the busybox version, which does not have "expert" mode but newer version of fdisk (not in busybox) do have an "expert" mode that you can select with the option "x" at the prompt. However the busybox fdisk does have the ability to change the heads which is in the "expert" mode in newer (non-busybox) versions of fdisk. But that isn't really relevant at this point. Just an FYI.
I don't know how relevant those 2 lines are...
All I can say is give it a go...:good:
All fixed
Well, I didn't have to flash another ROM after I had redone the partitions. Once I had shut down the SGP5 after doing the partitions, I left it on for a half hour or so and then shut it down. When I restarted the SGP5 it booted just fine into the last ROM I flashed. I think it's running Eryigit 3.5 but it may be another one. I'm gonna restore a backup in CWM that I made a year ago and that should be running Eryigit 3.5.
How can I find out which ROM it is running and any idea why there were 4 heads on the device? I bought it as a refurbished SGP5 so somebody else may have done it months ago or maybe the AParted app I was using to format an SD card did that.
Thanks for your help
Marty
LinuxHippy said:
Well, I didn't have to flash another ROM after I had redone the partitions. Once I had shut down the SGP5 after doing the partitions, I left it on for a half hour or so and then shut it down. When I restarted the SGP5 it booted just fine into the last ROM I flashed. I think it's running Eryigit 3.5 but it may be another one. I'm gonna restore a backup in CWM that I made a year ago and that should be running Eryigit 3.5.
How can I find out which ROM it is running and any idea why there were 4 heads on the device? I bought it as a refurbished SGP5 so somebody else may have done it months ago or maybe the AParted app I was using to format an SD card did that.
Thanks for your help
Marty
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Click to collapse
To find out what ROM your running, the best evidence is going to be in the "About Phone" area, or the build.prop. I think ( not really sure ) that there was a time that the "heads" property did represent the physical number of heads that the storage device had but with more modern forms of storage, it's just a number that part of an algorithm for organizing the space into units. I might be wrong there. It's just the impression that I get. Most likely it was a result of the way AParted partitions disks....
On a personal note, if you look @ the build.prop for Eryigit's rom, you'll probably see my name. "Meticulus". It's sort of an easter egg...:laugh:
Actually the backup I had wasn't working with google play so I wound up flashing with the LLF Russian ROM & then flashing a rooted stock gingerbread ROM and wiping data and caches. Then it was new and I had to login to google play. Now everything works.
Marty
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