Tutorial: Un-Bricking Padfone 2 (and possibly other android devices) - Android Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Earlier today I bricked my Padfone 2 by installing 3rd part font. After a reboot to apply the changes, it got to the boot logo but never any further.
I got it up and running again, :victory: and to those out there in same or similar situation, here's a tutorial on what I did:
Before we start, there's a few things you need;
1.1 Latest ADB version (I used 1.0.31) [ATTACHED]
1.2 Latest Fastboot version [ATTACHED]
1.3 CWM Recovery [ATTACHED]
1.4 Latest ASUS USB Drivers (available from ASUS Support site) [ATTACHED]
1.5 Padfone 2 Firmware (available from ASUS Support site)
*** NOTE: For ease of use, place extract and place all of the above to the same folder.
*** NOTE: Inside the Padfone 2 Firmware ZIP file, there's another ZIP file. This is the one we need! The one I used was called "WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip"
*** NOTE: This method does not install CWM Recovery on your phone, it only boots it temporarily.
If you have all of the above, continue to step 2;
2.1 Booting your Padfone 2 into Fastboot mode
2.2 Press and hold Power + Volume up buttons
In Fastboot mode, connect your phone to your computer and launch cmd. Wait for windows to install necessary drivers if needed.
3.1 Navigate your CMD to the folder containing ADB, Fastboot and CWM Recovery (recovery.img)
3.2 In CMD type:
Code:
fastboot boot recovery.img
In the CWM Recovery on your phone, select the option titled "Install ZIP from sideload".
Use the volume keys to navigate and select by pressing the power button.
4.1 In CMD, transfer the Padfone 2 Firmware by typing
Code:
adb sideload [firmware-file-name.zip]
- Example from my case, I wrote:
Code:
adb sideload WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip
4.2 When it is done, you'll be presented with CWM Recovery's screen again, select "Reboot system now".
4.3 CWM Recovery will present you with a warning saying: "ROM may flash stock recovery on boot. Fix?" - Select "NO".
If you are experiencing problems with driver installation, you can fix it manually. If windows installed the drivers correctly, skip this step. To solve this, go to device manager by entering the Start menu, right-click Computer and select “Manage”. Select the Device Manager.
You should see a failed device named A68. Right-click it and select “Update device software”
Select “Browse my computer for driver software”
Select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”
Select “Have Disk”
Now browse and navigate to the folder you extracted your ASUS USB Drivers to and select the file named “android_winusb.inf”
Select “ASUS Android ADB Interface” and install.
All done! You should have a working Padfone 2 again!
Please note that you may need to root your phone again.
Please credit if used
/HelmerN

---

HelmerN said:
Earlier today I bricked my Padfone 2 by installing 3rd part font. After a reboot to apply the changes, it got to the boot logo but never any further.
I got it up and running again, :victory: and to those out there in same or similar situation, here's a tutorial on what I did:
Before we start, there's a few things you need;
1.1 Latest ADB version (I used 1.0.31) [ATTACHED]
1.2 Latest Fastboot version [ATTACHED]
1.3 CWM Recovery [ATTACHED]
1.4 Latest ASUS USB Drivers (available from ASUS Support site) [ATTACHED]
1.5 Padfone 2 Firmware (available from ASUS Support site)
*** NOTE: For ease of use, place extract and place all of the above to the same folder.
*** NOTE: Inside the Padfone 2 Firmware ZIP file, there's another ZIP file. This is the one we need! The one I used was called "WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip"
*** NOTE: This method does not install CWM Recovery on your phone, it only boots it temporarily.
If you have all of the above, continue to step 2;
2.1 Booting your Padfone 2 into Fastboot mode
2.2 Press and hold Power + Volume up buttons
In Fastboot mode, connect your phone to your computer and launch cmd. Wait for windows to install necessary drivers if needed.
3.1 Navigate your CMD to the folder containing ADB, Fastboot and CWM Recovery (recovery.img)
3.2 In CMD type:
Code:
fastboot boot recovery.img
In the CWM Recovery on your phone, select the option titled "Install ZIP from sideload".
Use the volume keys to navigate and select by pressing the power button.
4.1 In CMD, transfer the Padfone 2 Firmware by typing
Code:
adb sideload [firmware-file-name.zip]
- Example from my case, I wrote:
Code:
adb sideload WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip
4.2 When it is done, you'll be presented with CWM Recovery's screen again, select "Reboot system now".
4.3 CWM Recovery will present you with a warning saying: "ROM may flash stock recovery on boot. Fix?" - Select "NO".
If you are experiencing problems with driver installation, you can fix it manually. If windows installed the drivers correctly, skip this step. To solve this, go to device manager by entering the Start menu, right-click Computer and select “Manage”. Select the Device Manager.
You should see a failed device named A68. Right-click it and select “Update device software”
Select “Browse my computer for driver software”
Select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”
Select “Have Disk”
Now browse and navigate to the folder you extracted your ASUS USB Drivers to and select the file named “android_winusb.inf”
Select “ASUS Android ADB Interface” and install.
All done! You should have a working Padfone 2 again!
Please note that you may need to root your phone again.
Please credit if used
/HelmerN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The f.cking windows not found my phone when try to install drivers windows give my cannot install .....
please tell me what i do to install drivers other drivers or what please help me?
thanks!

---

I wish I could enter into Fastboot mode.
I have two Padfone 2 bricked (by unknow reason) with QHSUSB_DLOAD error (Qualcomm High Speed USB Download).
the whole case: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2220775
Do you have any ideas?

---

Hi,
I have the same problem like you rafael_mfr .
Is there any solution to unbrick my padfone 2 ?

---

Bricked?
I have now joined the club
Not sure if it's bricked or not but the phone is stuck on loading (silver Asus with circulating loading) unstopping for more than an hour.
Tried your technique and all other possible ways but no luck any ideas?

---

charlykayo said:
The f.cking windows not found my phone when try to install drivers windows give my cannot install .....
please tell me what i do to install drivers other drivers or what please help me?
thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried the last step? I mention issues with windows drivers and how to manually install them.

---

rafael_mfr said:
I wish I could enter into Fastboot mode.
I have two Padfone 2 bricked (by unknow reason) with QHSUSB_DLOAD error (Qualcomm High Speed USB Download).
the whole case: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2220775
Do you have any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tamsabodi said:
Hi,
I have the same problem like you rafael_mfr .
Is there any solution to unbrick my padfone 2 ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know, the QHSUSB_DLOAD error is hardware related and cannot be fixed by normal means. I believe it requires some special hardware or flash tool or something.
You could try manually installing the Asus USB drivers by following the last step and see if that works?
In any case, the tutorial only fixes software based issues.
Mine got totally bricked some time ago. Somehow the mainboard was fried and needed replacement.
It didn't react in any way when trying to power it on. If i plugged in the charger, it would get pancake-making hot!
Asus dispatched a UPS guy to pick it up and send it for repair. When the mainboard is fried like mine was, they can't tell if it were rooted or not, so they had to repair it.
All in all, I had a great experience with ASUS warranty

---

droidace said:
I have now joined the club
Not sure if it's bricked or not but the phone is stuck on loading (silver Asus with circulating loading) unstopping for more than an hour.
Tried your technique and all other possible ways but no luck any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your issue should be fixable!
I'm assuming your bootloader is unlocked?
Was the
Code:
adb sideload WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip
successfull?

---

HelmerN said:
Your issue should be fixable!
I'm assuming your bootloader is unlocked?
Was the
Code:
adb sideload WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip
successfull?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, bootloader is unlocked
Yes, adb sideload is working via CWM but tried it with the latest firmware update (WWE_A68-10.4.17.7-0-ota-user.zip) from asus.com after renaming the file to "WWE.zip" for shorter cmd lines
Anything else needs to be checked?

---

droidace said:
Yes, bootloader is unlocked
Yes, adb sideload is working via CWM but tried it with the latest firmware update (WWE_A68-10.4.17.7-0-ota-user.zip) from asus.com after renaming the file to "WWE.zip" for shorter cmd lines
Anything else needs to be checked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you extract the zip file?
Within the zip file, theres another zip. That's the one you need.
Yo dawg! We heard you like zip's, so we put a zip within your zip, so you can zip while zipping
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

---

HelmerN said:
Did you extract the zip file?
Within the zip file, theres another zip. That's the one you need.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I had that covered. it's the final zip level ..

---

droidace said:
Yeah, I had that covered. it's the final zip level ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very surprised it didn't work.
Have you tried factory restore through the recovery boot?

---

HelmerN said:
Very surprised it didn't work.
Have you tried factory restore through the recovery boot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that at the very beginning.
That issue has started after I installed GPS Status - Test and Fix https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cochibo.gpsstatus&hl=en as part of getting a better GPS performance I have reset GPS and then Get Xtra data but after restarting, it never loaded the system. I hope this helps identifying the issue
I might try this way as a final try

---

droidace said:
Tried that at the very beginning.
That issue has started after I installed GPS Status - Test and Fix https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.cochibo.gpsstatus&hl=en as part of getting a better GPS performance I have reset GPS and then Get Xtra data but after restarting, it never loaded the system. I hope this helps identifying the issue
I might try this way as a final try
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't recommend doing an SKU conversion. There might be (not sure) a slight difference in hardware in the different areas. I know products sold in China sometimes aren't up to spec with the rest of the world in order to keep prices down and sales up, for an example.
So if the voltage settings are a little off in comparison to your hardware, it might get fried.
That being said, your issue is a weird one. It sounds like software malfunction, easily solvable with a reset or sideloading firmware, forcing me to wonder if your device have been flashed with a different SKU or, perhaps, have a hardware malfunction.
For now all I can come up with is; repeat the process. Give it reasonable time to boot up, 10 mins. should be more than enough. If there's still no progress, enter recovery and clear the cache and try booting up again.
Otherwise I'm stumped.
Might be time to consider the RMA option?
A lot of Padfone 2's are born with a eMMC fault - so it could be related?

---

Fixed, wipe data partition (from stock recovery ONLY) what an intermittent issue

---

Thanks..... it was wery usefull

---

There's another way to un-brick.
The first day I received my Padfone 2, after only 6 hours I got it really badly bricked. No button combination would work, all I got was "invalid kernel"
On Modaco there's a thread http://www.modaco.com/topic/365818-padfone-2-invalid-kernel/?p=2191432 that worked very well, even a self-proclaimed noob as myself could finally get it together. It was amazing as I thought I had to send the Phone back to Germany (from Portugal)
For those who prefer the German language: http://www.android-hilfe.de/asus-padfone-2-forum/531509-bricked-invalid-kernel-2.html
credits go to Paul O'brien and manu7irl who posted this solution on MoDaCo and Vakilando on Android-Hilfe who inspired me to give it a second try.

---

HelmerN said:
Earlier today I bricked my Padfone 2 by installing 3rd part font. After a reboot to apply the changes, it got to the boot logo but never any further.
I got it up and running again, :victory: and to those out there in same or similar situation, here's a tutorial on what I did:
Before we start, there's a few things you need;
1.1 Latest ADB version (I used 1.0.31) [ATTACHED]
1.2 Latest Fastboot version [ATTACHED]
1.3 CWM Recovery [ATTACHED]
1.4 Latest ASUS USB Drivers (available from ASUS Support site) [ATTACHED]
1.5 Padfone 2 Firmware (available from ASUS Support site)
*** NOTE: For ease of use, place extract and place all of the above to the same folder.
*** NOTE: Inside the Padfone 2 Firmware ZIP file, there's another ZIP file. This is the one we need! The one I used was called "WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip"
*** NOTE: This method does not install CWM Recovery on your phone, it only boots it temporarily.
If you have all of the above, continue to step 2;
2.1 Booting your Padfone 2 into Fastboot mode
2.2 Press and hold Power + Volume up buttons
In Fastboot mode, connect your phone to your computer and launch cmd. Wait for windows to install necessary drivers if needed.
3.1 Navigate your CMD to the folder containing ADB, Fastboot and CWM Recovery (recovery.img)
3.2 In CMD type:
Code:
fastboot boot recovery.img
In the CWM Recovery on your phone, select the option titled "Install ZIP from sideload".
Use the volume keys to navigate and select by pressing the power button.
4.1 In CMD, transfer the Padfone 2 Firmware by typing
Code:
adb sideload [firmware-file-name.zip]
- Example from my case, I wrote:
Code:
adb sideload WWE_A68-10.4.15.1-0-ota-user.zip
4.2 When it is done, you'll be presented with CWM Recovery's screen again, select "Reboot system now".
4.3 CWM Recovery will present you with a warning saying: "ROM may flash stock recovery on boot. Fix?" - Select "NO".
If you are experiencing problems with driver installation, you can fix it manually. If windows installed the drivers correctly, skip this step. To solve this, go to device manager by entering the Start menu, right-click Computer and select “Manage”. Select the Device Manager.
You should see a failed device named A68. Right-click it and select “Update device software”
Select “Browse my computer for driver software”
Select “Let me pick from a list of device drivers on my computer”
Select “Have Disk”
Now browse and navigate to the folder you extracted your ASUS USB Drivers to and select the file named “android_winusb.inf”
Select “ASUS Android ADB Interface” and install.
All done! You should have a working Padfone 2 again!
Please note that you may need to root your phone again.
Please credit if used
/HelmerN
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please helmern , help me!
MY PADFONE 2 is bloked after istalling a rom.
after, I have istalled from sideload (with cwm v.6) the ufficial rom but it ,after rebooting is always bloked on the screen of logo ''asus'' and not rebooting. why ?
this is the log report :
{
"lightbox_close": "Close",
"lightbox_next": "Next",
"lightbox_previous": "Previous",
"lightbox_error": "The requested content cannot be loaded. Please try again later.",
"lightbox_start_slideshow": "Start slideshow",
"lightbox_stop_slideshow": "Stop slideshow",
"lightbox_full_screen": "Full screen",
"lightbox_thumbnails": "Thumbnails",
"lightbox_download": "Download",
"lightbox_share": "Share",
"lightbox_zoom": "Zoom",
"lightbox_new_window": "New window",
"lightbox_toggle_sidebar": "Toggle sidebar"
}
help me , please!

---

agent-06 said:
please helmern , help me!
MY PADFONE 2 is bloked after istalling a rom.
after, I have istalled from sideload (with cwm v.6) the ufficial rom but it ,after rebooting is always bloked on the screen of logo ''asus'' and not rebooting. why ?
this is the log report :
View attachment 2575590
help me , please!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi i have the same problem , only asus logo no rebooting.........helpppppppppppppppppp
i tried your solution all ok but bloked on asus logo

---

famonaco said:
hi i have the same problem , only asus logo no rebooting.........helpppppppppppppppppp
i tried your solution all ok but bloked on asus logo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
before installing a firmware you have to do all three wipes For three times.
Inviato dal mio PadFone 2 utilizzando Tapatalk