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Hello, I just bought my G-tablet and I have severely screwed it over. First, I rooted it and installed CWM, (It went fine). Then I flashed Cyanogen 7, following their wiki full update instructions. It was running fine till I found out that for some reason, my computer nor the tablet even knew it had an SD (Computer found nothing, File explorer on tablet had nothing) coupled with the fact Gapps refused to install, I figured this would be solved in a wipe then another flash. Nothing was different. So I wiped again (seemed to have froze during) but the flash of Vegan 5.1 seemed to have went well... for now. However, trying to install Adobe Flash via the preinstalled android market, it wouldn't install. It kept saying download unsuccessful, for every single app I tried. (no it's not an network problem). Being the noob I am I started following random googled XDA threads on how to fix this. I partioned 4gig from my sd to see if that would fix the market problem. I got stuck in a bootloop so I was forced to reflash vegan. When I did, I found out that when I tried to install anything it said something along the lines of "Not enough space" knowing I had 13 gigs of memory leftover, I figured I'd try rebooting. Got stuck in bootloop. Then followed yet ANOTHER googled guide (droidpirate brick fix) and now I can't even access CWM. It just loads as IF it were going to CWM but then shows me a /!\ caution sign then instantly turns off. When I normally start it, it goes into bootloop. when I try to get to CWM (holding volume up, power) it goes to a useless flash that I presume just fails, then brings me back into the bootloop. As far as I see, I have no way of fixing this...
I know this is so much to read, so in a brief explanation.. I'm in a bootloop, cannot get into CWM (brings me to a failed flash then back into boot loop) and am in dire need of assistance Please help me
Go read the posts on nvflash and learn how to use it. It is your friend!!
IndyLateNite said:
Go read the posts on nvflash and learn how to use it. It is your friend!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
NvFlash is currently not working for me, I don't know exactly where I messed up but my computer already has the drivers to read the tablet. when I run the .bat, it doesn't seem to do anything.
Scratch that, got it to work. I didn't extract one of the folders entirely. But my tablet is still stuck in bootloop even after this? what now?
IndyLateNite said:
Go read the posts on nvflash and learn how to use it. It is your friend!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Take this with a grain of salt, as I learned it is not 'always' your friend
Now it's just on the stock Viewsonic birds and Gtablet logo bootloop...
Even after I NvFlashed it... Still can't access CMW.
Any suggestions?
Nvm, I got it to what appears to be working. (and I just about jizzed all over my tab.) Thanks so much. Saved me a beating from my parents.
Update: Hallelujah, we have seen the birds!
Just for future reference to those of you who may be stuck in an "APX loop", where NVFlashing and even repartioning do not work for you. I tried many things, and only one thing worked.
Didn't work:
1) NVFlashing to anything
2) Repartioning or wiping
3) Wiping out all storage on the SD card
After doing many, many rinse and repeats on the above, the only thing that did work were these instructions:
imurg said:
Please check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11306979&postcount=92
Note that he is using the NVFLASH_46 and although is has been deprecated, it works like a charm:
1) NVFlash the g tab_46 (it works with 46 and doesn't with other)
2) Let it finish and boot up
3) Go to storage setting and unmount the sd card.
4) Run a format.
5) Go to security and do Restore to factory settings
6) As part of this it will reboot. When restarts you'll see the birds. Everything is back to normal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, I don't know of too many cases like mine where APX was the only thing that was working and that no amount of CWM or NVFlashing could bring back whatever was wrong with the bootloader, but this method forced a recovery image restore and got me back to the point where I can now power down and reboot. And for that, I thank this fine community!
I think we need a better guide somewhere on... Stages of recovery. If this doesn't work, here's the next deeper level. (Example: Level 1, wipe data/cache and reflash the rom. Level 2: Repartition and fix permissions. Level 3: NVFlash for 1.1 or 1.2 back to stock. Level 4: run the steps I have listed above. Level 5: fixing the bootloader. Level 6: Remove the case cover and short the back.)
Anyways, thanks again guys. Hopefully someone else will search with the same issue I had and get fixed as I have.
try this (not a developer here) when it boots up use your computer to delete all the files on the sd card so it looks blank- not sure if it will fix your issue but if there is a file on there messing your reboot into cwm that should will get rid of it. let me know how it goes. (standard at your own risk disclaimer) i have done this before just to see what would happen and nvflash brought it back up.
Hey, thanks for the reply. The sdcard was already blanked out through my various steps, so that doesn't appear to be the problem. Same things happen.
Now, that's just the app data and such on the sdcard, so I am guessing if I was able to see/delete all the system files instead via USB and delete it that way, I'd see something else.
just to bee clear i would delete everything on there not just the system files- so when you go to the drive from your computer it shows nothing at all.
here are the steps i would take start to finish.
1 nvflash rom
2 connect to computer, mount usb, then highlight and delete all files on gtab.
3 nv flash again (preferably with a stock rom with cmw pre loaded
4 reboot and pray that this fixed it.
OP - What size is the nvflash file you are using? I have run into a similar issue before with the larger nvflash.exe (like 152kb). It should be 140KB.
Just something else to check.
So to clarify, when you nvflash the 3588 stock image, it will automatically reboot at the end of the nvflash_gtablet.bat batch file?
pugsby said:
Hey all. Little frustrated since I've tried most of the tricks and still have a soft-bricked device. Not sure how it happened originally, but one way or another, I have a bad bootloader and no access to CWM.
APX works. I can NVFlash 1.1 or 1.2-based Stock or otherwise roms, and they boot (once, and only once...) . I can get USB mount. I've tried them with and without CWM pre-installed and see no differences.
But as soon as I reboot or power off, it just returns to APX mode. It is only a black screen, however. No birds, no logo, no nothing. The only way to make it boot again is to NVFlash it again.
All the instructions say to enter CWM to re-partition or to wipe data. That's great, but I have no access to CWM. Pressing the buttons during bootup does nothing because the device never makes it that far through bootup. And the format utility doesn't wipe enough data to return this back to a truly blank device, because when I nvflash, my apps still show to be there and I want it back to a blank slate.
I've tried pressing the buttons directly after a NVFlash to enter CWM that way, but it just goes straight into the rom.
Others have suggested popping off the back of the case and grounding out things to reset that way, but I thought that was just if APX didn't work, but APX is the only thing that DOES work, so not sure if it applies. (Let me know if I'm wrong there)
More things to try?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With the tablet in APX mode and plugged into your computer...
1) Open a command shell
2) Navigate to your nvflash directory
3) type in the following command but DO NOT hit enter
nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --download 6 part6.img --go
4) Hold down the volume UP key on the tablet and press the enter key on your computer.
5) Continue to hold the volume UP key until the tablet starts the nvflash.
6) Release the volume up key and when the nvflash finishes it should boot into CWM
After you repartition, wipe data, clear cache, etc. it might still loop into APX. If it does you'll need to force it to install a new bootloader. I'll dig up a link to the procedure if you need it.
I'm interested to know what the hell you did to get to the apx bootloop in the first place. I've gone through great lengths to try to replicate people's problems. I've even purposely done things out of order, done things wrong, drop the gtab couple times, etc. and I've never run into this problem.
goodintentions said:
I'm interested to know what the hell you did to get to the apx bootloop in the first place. I've gone through great lengths to try to replicate people's problems. I've even purposely done things out of order, done things wrong, drop the gtab couple times, etc. and I've never run into this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've worked on quite a few of these and still can't replicate it on my own either. Most of them had flashed an incompatible version of ClockworkMod (usually with ROM Manager) and a few had tried to move from Cyanogen directly to a 1.2 based ROM. A very small minority of them had issues with their internal flash memory. No one consistent thread that ties them all together that I've found. One interesting point though... In every case it was easy to recreate the problem after the tablet had been "Fixed." All I had to do was nvflash with the same image that was traditionally used for returning the devices to stock (bekit 1105).
K J Rad said:
I've worked on quite a few of these and still can't replicate it on my own either. Most of them had flashed an incompatible version of ClockworkMod (usually with ROM Manager) and a few had tried to move from Cyanogen directly to a 1.2 based ROM. A very small minority of them had issues with their internal flash memory. No one consistent thread that ties them all together that I've found. One interesting point though... In every case it was easy to recreate the problem after the tablet had been "Fixed." All I had to do was nvflash with the same image that was traditionally used for returning the devices to stock (bekit 1105).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'v tried rom manager, wrong cwm version, and wrong bootloader. And I still can't replicate this apx bootloop thing. And I have 2 gtabs to work with. A 3rd one should be coming soon. Weird.
Added by edit.
I'm assuming you're some kind of technician or repairman? If so, then it's good that you're telling me this. I've been considering the possibility that this apx bootloop thing is not really an apx bootloop but rather something the user is doing or a button is stuck or something silly like that. Good to know the problem is real.
Mind telling me how you fix this? Since I can't replicate this, I have no idea how to even begin fixing this.
Acidburn find out a solution for this problem
Please check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11306979&postcount=92
Note that he is using the NVFLASH_46 and although is has been deprecated, it works like a charm:
1) NVFlash the g tab_46 (it works with 46 and doesn't with other)
2) Let it finish and boot up
3) Go to storage setting and unmount the sd card.
4) Run a format.
5) Go to security and do Restore to factory settings
6) As part of this it will reboot. When restarts you'll see the birds. Everything is back to normal.
Good luck
K J Rad said:
With the tablet in APX mode and plugged into your computer...
1) Open a command shell
2) Navigate to your nvflash directory
3) type in the following command but DO NOT hit enter
nvflash --bl bootloader.bin --download 6 part6.img --go
4) Hold down the volume UP key on the tablet and press the enter key on your computer.
5) Continue to hold the volume UP key until the tablet starts the nvflash.
6) Release the volume up key and when the nvflash finishes it should boot into CWM
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This got me into CWM (Yay!). This, however, did not fix the APX looping (boo).
I repartitioned, wiped, nvflashed, wiped, repeat. Even though I have more options now with CWM, the end outcome is still the same that after the initial boot, it won't boot again.
BUT, I did find a working method. See the original post.
goodintentions said:
I'm interested to know what the hell you did to get to the apx bootloop in the first place. I've gone through great lengths to try to replicate people's problems. I've even purposely done things out of order, done things wrong, drop the gtab couple times, etc. and I've never run into this problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was hoping you'd respond, goodintentions, as I used your NVFlash files and instructions this last time around from your very handy site.
I'm not sure exactly what happened. I do know that Rom manager was involved somehow, trying to use that integration with recovery. (I know, not recommended, but at first it acted like it would work).
Also, I think a 1.2 Rom was mistakenly flashed on top of a 1.1 bootloader somehow.
The details are fuzzy. It's been so many things since then that who knows..
goodintentions said:
I'v tried rom manager, wrong cwm version, and wrong bootloader. And I still can't replicate this apx bootloop thing. And I have 2 gtabs to work with. A 3rd one should be coming soon. Weird.
Added by edit.
I'm assuming you're some kind of technician or repairman? If so, then it's good that you're telling me this. I've been considering the possibility that this apx bootloop thing is not really an apx bootloop but rather something the user is doing or a button is stuck or something silly like that. Good to know the problem is real.
Mind telling me how you fix this? Since I can't replicate this, I have no idea how to even begin fixing this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am a tech. Been working with/on/in electronics and computers for roughly 35 years. I had a hard time believing the problem was real until I had one in my hands that was doing it. I've tried doing it to my own tablet but a simple nvflash always got me going again.
imurg said:
Please check this thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=11306979&postcount=92
Note that he is using the NVFLASH_46 and although is has been deprecated, it works like a charm:
1) NVFlash the g tab_46 (it works with 46 and doesn't with other)
2) Let it finish and boot up
3) Go to storage setting and unmount the sd card.
4) Run a format.
5) Go to security and do Restore to factory settings
6) As part of this it will reboot. When restarts you'll see the birds. Everything is back to normal.
Good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is successful in some cases but not all. In some cases the bootloader has to be updated using factory stock recovery. ClockworkMod and nvflash don't update the bootloader (and I suspect some other system related partitions/information) properly. For those cases the fix is a little more complex. This process...
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=13474033&postcount=114
has worked on all but one of the tablets I've recovered. The odd one out required an extra reboot (though I was doing the steps from memory and on an unfamiliar computer so I could be mistaken). However... as noted above... a subsequent nvflash of even the same image resulted in another APX loop. The end result was I had to craft a custom nvflash for each of those machines to avoid the problem in the future. That may or may not be necessary for all cases but since it's relatively easy I just do it out of habit now.
Keep in mind that serious APX looping issues are very rare in the grand scheme of things. Many times folks get confused and fail to follow directions properly and think they have a bigger problem than they really do. The overwhelming majority of times a simple nvflash and repartitioning will fix these things right up.
Added: BTW, the best way I've found to avoid the APX loop issue entirely... do a data wipe before you flash a new ROM and then again immediately after and before you boot it for the first time. I know... one should be enough... but if you make it a habit to do two... then you'll probably remember to do at least one of them ;-)
Great info. I shall try not to enter another painful APX loop. I was shocked how many things I had to try and places I had to go before I found a working method. I guess I really did a number on this thing somehow. But I'm happy that it's back.
I didn't have to do the more painful one you mentioned, but honestly I was ready to try about anything short of slaying a dragon.
I received a G Tablet which had been used for development work for a few months. The person giving it to me (not the dev who has left) said the tablet was working fine, but had just become frozen at a reboot after he had tried to erase personal data from the tablet. I asked him if he had erased the sd card and he said "maybe" but that he couldn't remember. I powered the tablet on and sure enough it displayed two lines on a black background, one of which said something like loading kernel.
Now, these tablets were all rooted, and had Android 2.3 on them, via one of the ROMs discussed here. I don't know which one however.
So, I tried using NVflash to flash the tablet back to a stock ROM. Tablet then got stuck in a boot loop; I would see the Viewsonic logo, then the G Tablet logo, and then this would go on forever.
So I shut it down and tried again. This time Nvflash failed almost at the last step after having written most of the image.
And so here I am now, with a totally dead tablet. I cannot power it on. No combination of power or volume up/down buttons work. The only sign of life is when I plug it into its charger, and see the charging light come on.
I confirmed again with the person who gave me the tablet that the device was working just fine before it froze at a reboot after his erasing attempts.
Is there a way out of this? I hope so. Please help!
Thanks very much
Paul
texnote said:
I received a G Tablet which had been used for development work for a few months. The person giving it to me (not the dev who has left) said the tablet was working fine, but had just become frozen at a reboot after he had tried to erase personal data from the tablet. I asked him if he had erased the sd card and he said "maybe" but that he couldn't remember. I powered the tablet on and sure enough it displayed two lines on a black background, one of which said something like loading kernel.
Now, these tablets were all rooted, and had Android 2.3 on them, via one of the ROMs discussed here. I don't know which one however.
So, I tried using NVflash to flash the tablet back to a stock ROM. Tablet then got stuck in a boot loop; I would see the Viewsonic logo, then the G Tablet logo, and then this would go on forever.
So I shut it down and tried again. This time Nvflash failed almost at the last step after having written most of the image.
And so here I am now, with a totally dead tablet. I cannot power it on. No combination of power or volume up/down buttons work. The only sign of life is when I plug it into its charger, and see the charging light come on.
I confirmed again with the person who gave me the tablet that the device was working just fine before it froze at a reboot after his erasing attempts.
Is there a way out of this? I hope so. Please help!
Thanks very much
Paul
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would try popping it open and unplugging the internal battery then plugging it back in. Also hit the internal reset button while you're in there. It's pretty hard to actually kill one of these tablets. PM me if you need any other help.
help
Started my own thread, didnt mean to hijack. =)
Thanks, I will try removing the battery and let you know.
As for NVflash, I believe the latest version is here:
http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/171...-using-either-11-or-12-based-images-g-tablet/
However in my case I have no idea whether I have 1.1 or 1.2 and there is no way to determine this. Which one should I choose?
Paul
Doesn't matter for NVFlash, just download all of the flash files again because it might be that you have a bad download. Also make sure you have the right drivers installed since the drivers that automatically install when you plug it in sometimes don't work.
I'm pretty sure that if it boots past the birds, the hardware is working okay, so you should run the FORMAT version for NVFlash and then I'd run just a CWM flash setup and see if you can get into CWM and delete the partitions from within that.
The best thing to flash as far as ROMs would be Bekit's 1105 which is stock OTB with a few key changes. If you can't get the 1105 to play nice, you might really have some hardware problems.
I would go with the 1.2 BL, it will give you access to the newer roms as it appears that dev for the 1.1 BL seems to be dwindeling. I upgraded mine to 1.2 the other day and it worked great.
I have gotten a g tab from my father in law after he tried to fix it and ended up buying a new one saying "if u can fix it you can have it" I have tried for hours and days to fix it on my own and have now tried to reach out for help
Basic problem:
-When I got the device it would boot to birds and go to g-tablet screen and no further
-Found viewsonic gtablet for dummies tried nearly everything (i believe correctly)
-Called G Tablet Support and got the "send it in to us and we can add the correct software for $60 if there is no problems otherwise the $$ may go up"
-went back to trying to fix on my own
-failed
Basic info:
-able to NVFlash with 0 errors on any packet
-can boot to g-tablet screen but no further
-can boot power & Vol+/vol- no issue
-cannot partition
-cannot wipe data/ factory reset
-can install zip from SD
Help! any ideas are worth a shot when it means (possibly) a free tablet. Eager to fix and try most ideas to get this thing fixed!
Also, This seemed to me a repost but i have looked at, tried, and failed to fix with several different posts/ideas from this site
I've seen a number of posts suggesting that you power off, open the back, pull the battery, wait a few minutes, plug the battery back in and turn it back on. It seemed to work for a number of people.
There is also a reset switch under the back cover.
I honestly don't know if one of these will work, but it's worth a try.
Can't suggest which rom you might try, since there's no way to tell which bootloader you have (v1.1 or 1.2).
I'll have to try pulling the battery plug tomorrow I don't have small enough tools. But I do know that im running 1.2 got that much outta tech support before they went grabbing for mytwallet lol
Here's a thread that explains how to open the GTab. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=994881
If you are on 1.2 (and are absolutely sure) you might want to start with http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1525424 to get the latest recovery ClockWork. Do this after you "pull the plug".
If it doesn't work after that, come back and let me know and I'll try to do some more troubleshooting with you. Since you said you actually had NVFlash working before, this might actually get you up and running on the latest stock rom. From there, you can move up to just about anything you want, upto and including Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS). Just remember to check the forum information about what does not work. For example, if you move up to Gingerbread (3.x) or greater, there is a pretty good chance that you won't have camera or mic support at this time. Some roms don't support hardware acceleration at this point, but many do.
Anyway, come back and let me know how it went.
Awesome thanks. I'll be getting into that soon (after I finish cleaning) just wanted to thank you for your interest in helping me
Hey! finally got around to it but pulled the plug and grabbed that cwm recovery u had linked but i'm still hangin on the g-tablet screen. any other ideas?
I'm guessing that the tech support for GTab was wrong and you actually have a 1.1 boot loader.
Try following the thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=974422 on formatting the gtablet and starting over from scratch.
Gregwa
what 1.1 should i use?
Cmdrbubbles said:
what 1.1 should i use?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is no reason to go out of the way to figure out what Bootloader you have. the NVflash files that you found on the ViewSonic Gtablet for Dummies guide will be your best bet. If you can get grab the NVflash files that include CWM recovery those are the ones you need. After NVflash is complete and you see the Gtablet splash screen press and hold the power button till the tablet shuts down. Once shut down you need to reboot into recovery by pressing down the volume + and press the power button to boot up. That should get you into CWM where you need to do a wipe data fatory reset, wipe cache and also wipe dalvic cache under the advance menu. Once that is complete then you need to back out to the main menu in CWM and reboot. Make sure that you do not select Reboot Recovery. Give the device some time and it should boot into the Stock TapUI where you can mess around with it from there.
I would choose 1.2 build 4349 w/CWM preinstalled (Old) NVflash file found here http://viewsonic-gtablet-for-dummie...65610&fw_sig_premium=0&fb_sig_network=fw#2310
Many times in the past the wipe data/ factory reset and wipe dalvik and most anybody those options lock up the tablet. It will just hang on the screen (depending on the option chosen) and not move from there for hours on end... Thoughts on why? Hoping not a hard drive problem
Cmdrbubbles said:
Basic info:
-cannot partition
-cannot wipe data/ factory reset
-can install zip from SD
Help! any ideas are worth a shot when it means (possibly) a free tablet. Eager to fix and try most ideas to get this thing fixed!
Also, This seemed to me a repost but i have looked at, tried, and failed to fix with several different posts/ideas from this site
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will need to get your partitioning working. You can boot into recovery? And what happens when you attempt to partition.
If you are able to go past the 3 birds splash screen and see the gtablet screen, then you're on the stock ROM and the problem is most likely with the partitions on the internal SD card (or the card itself). In which case, nvflash will not help you.
Set up ADB and then run these 2 commands and post the output after you've tried one of those operations you mentioned in your 1st post:
Code:
C:\SOME\PATH> [B]adb shell dmesg > dmesg.txt[/B]
C:\SOME|PATH> [B]adb pull /tmp/recovery.log[/B]
I just got the Gtab (UPC300-2.2) but it fails to load anything.
It does not boot and gets stuck. I do not know the boot version of it or any versions of anything because I can't access it.
When I try to put it in recovery I only get the following 2 messages:
Recovery Key Detected
Booting recovery kernel image
Thats it. i took the SD out of it and same bit when I tried to access it I seen Update and recovery files and roms folder so looks like someone tried to mod it but failed.
Is there a way I can recover it to working state to ether restore it to factory or any recommended rom...
I kind of need instructions because I never messes with this type of issue yet, as in I haven't bricked a device to this state before.
I also need to find a charger for it. looks like connecting the USB does not charge the Gtab
Id prefer recovering it to FACTORY SOFTWARE.
Im just not sure where to get the Factory software and how to go about recovering it...
So far I found out that this unit possibly has Bootloader v1.2 but recovery that was loaded onto the device was for bootloader v1.1
I do know know what the previous owner tried to do to it but failed and screwed up the device. Im just trying to fix it back to working condition.
It does not matter if its factory rom or a modded rom, as long as its stable.
Also I read up I need NVflash or something like that to recover the units bootloader ignorer to get it to work.
Any help is welcome, and I thank you all in advance.
Well I did the stuff from one of the posts here using nvflash.
Nvflash —bl bootloader.bin —getpartitiontable p.txt
Returned the SOS partition to be 11
Then tried the:
Nvflash —bl bootloader.bin —download 11 recovery.img
Finished successfully but I still have the message while trying to enter recovery:
Recovery key detected
Booting recovery kernel image
Then just sits there with the birds background.
When I try to normally boot it it does boot but I can’t open settings or anything and I constantly get this error message:
The process Android.process.acore has stopped unexpectedly. Please try again with force close button.
It constantly pops up, like once every 3-5 sec.
when i got mine it was messed up too, sounds very similar. When I got to the Viewsonic birds logo I let it sit forever and i thought it was done for, but after sitting for literally hours it actually booted up and i've been using ever since. that was about 6 months ago. just find a charger for it, i cut the end off one with the wrong voltage and attached it to an adapter with the correct voltage and amperage. It says on the back of my device "dc 12V 2A" then get it to the birds logo and set it down. Go have a day at the park or let it sit overnight, go to work for a day, out for dinner. do something so you're not sitting there looking at it every five minutes. Good luck!
Would it be possible for anyone to provide me with either the files or operational links to the files needed to recover this device?
I've scoured this forum and found nothing but dead links to NVFlash and the like. Thanks in advance!
Seems like there are a few of us still rocking this piece of hardware, me included. I"m stuck in the same dilema and the links to all the restore files haven't been preserved. Is it best to just concede that the tablet is ancient history and go purchase a new one or are the nvflash files available somewhere on the web?