I have upgraded to Sony Official Android 4.0.3 and I was playing around with booting my Sony Tablet using tricks from any other android.
The power up and down and power dont work. Then I tried any other combination and was successful in getting into Android Recovery system by holding down Vol up Button and pressing power button, then soon as Sony splashes, release the power button and viola you are in system recovery. I thought it would help someone.
For the record if this is already posted, sorry, I did not see it
R2142
R2142 said:
I have upgraded to Sony Official Android 4.0.3 and I was playing around with booting my Sony Tablet using tricks from any other android.
The power up and down and power dont work. Then I tried any other combination and was successful in getting into Android Recovery system by holding down Vol up Button and pressing power button, then soon as Sony splashes, release the power button and viola you are in system recovery. I thought it would help someone.
For the record if this is already posted, sorry, I did not see it
R2142
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, this is already well known. It is the same method used by practically every Android device with a power button and volume buttons. It's vital whenever doing almost anything complex since Recovery allows you to flash custom images, such as those used by condi's well-known AllinOne tool.
...but what we don't know is how to catch the "download" mode, the one allowing fastboot and low-level partition flashing!
Many Android devices have it, and there also must be an easy way for Sony's techs to bring a bricked tablet S back to life...
I think he never read any new posts here i think getting in the recovery was one of the first things discovered, and this means if he just discovered this, that he has a unprerooted ICS version and so not rootable for now. Too bad
Nesquick95 said:
...but what we don't know is how to catch the "download" mode, the one allowing fastboot and low-level partition flashing!
Many Android devices have it, and there also must be an easy way for Sony's techs to bring a bricked tablet S back to life...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'd just love for a way to root my stock ICS firmware, or to reflash a HC rootable one. I screwed up my upgrade and now I am stuck without root
Hi guys,
I tried to unlock the bootloader of my Nexus 10 before rooting it. Unfortunately, it didn't work and I can't use it anymore (I either have the "Loading X" forever or a dead droid while trying to go to the recovery mode).
I'm used to do that kind of modifications (only on Samsung Galaxy S and S3 though) and I don't know what I did wrong (but I usually flashed with Odin).
Anyway, I used this tool (after enabling the usb debug and allowing unknown sources) : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001868
I installed the drivers on my PC (menu 1 in the tool), then I could see my device in ADB MODE (in the tool menu). I tried to unlock the bootloader (3rd option in the menu) and it was written completed. My device reboots and nothing happens. I can access the fastboot mode (is it the download mode ?).
I have Odin.
Can someone help me to get a working device ?
Thank you very much.
hiveNzin0 said:
Hi guys,
I tried to unlock the bootloader of my Nexus 10 before rooting it. Unfortunately, it didn't work and I can't use it anymore (I either have the "Loading X" forever or a dead droid while trying to go to the recovery mode).
I'm used to do that kind of modifications (only on Samsung Galaxy S and S3 though) and I don't know what I did wrong (but I usually flashed with Odin).
Anyway, I used this tool (after enabling the usb debug and allowing unknown sources) : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001868
I installed the drivers on my PC (menu 1 in the tool), then I could see my device in ADB MODE (in the tool menu). I tried to unlock the bootloader (3rd option in the menu) and it was written completed. My device reboots and nothing happens. I can access the fastboot mode (is it the download mode ?).
I have Odin.
Can someone help me to get a working device ?
Thank you very much.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Easy fix. Get to the dead droid recovery menu and then press all 3 buttons on the top. You will get into the blue recovery options. Choose factory reset.
Sometimes unlocking the bootloaders scrambles a few things on this device and it goes into boot loop. After the factory reset, you'll be fine. PM me if you still have issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Blueback22 said:
Easy fix. Get to the dead droid recovery menu and then press all 3 buttons on the top. You will get into the blue recovery options. Choose factory reset.
Sometimes unlocking the bootloaders scrambles a few things on this device and it goes into boot loop. After the factory reset, you'll be fine. PM me if you still have issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, thank you very much. I didn't know I had to press the 3 top buttons again after the dead droid screen, I thought it failed loading the Recovery Mode.
I have to setup my account etc again so I guess it is safe to say it worked.
Additionally, I tried this method after the recovery : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2015467
and it worked fine. My device has an unlocked bootloader and is rooted.
hey if someone could help me im stuck myself, after i had the dead android in recovery mode i tried to flash software with the toolkit in fastboot and now when i go to recovery its just a blank screen till i hold the bottom combo again and it takes me back to fastboot
Blueback22 said:
Easy fix. Get to the dead droid recovery menu and then press all 3 buttons on the top. You will get into the blue recovery options. Choose factory reset.
Sometimes unlocking the bootloaders scrambles a few things on this device and it goes into boot loop. After the factory reset, you'll be fine. PM me if you still have issues.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey,
I'm having the same problem. I get to the dead droid instead of recovery and tried hitting all three buttons again but it's just looping again.
Any ideas?
maximepull said:
Hey,
I'm having the same problem. I get to the dead droid instead of recovery and tried hitting all three buttons again but it's just looping again.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It sounds like you didn't actually perform a factory reset. The key combination to get into stock recovery from the dead android screen is Power + Vol-Up. That will bring up the option to factory reset.
So if your powered off or bootlooping, hold the Power + Vol-Up + Vol-Down until you're back in the Bootloader. Use Vol buttons to select Recovery Mode and tap Power. When the droid w/ the Red "!" appears, hold the Power button and quick press the Vol-Up button. This should take you into stock recovery. Select Factory reset. Reboot. After a few minutes, the device should boot normally.
Good luck.
sharksfan7 said:
It sounds like you didn't actually perform a factory reset. The key combination to get into stock recovery from the dead android screen is Power + Vol-Up. That will bring up the option to factory reset.
So if your powered off or bootlooping, hold the Power + Vol-Up + Vol-Down until you're back in the Bootloader. Use Vol buttons to select Recovery Mode and tap Power. When the droid w/ the Red "!" appears, hold the Power button and quick press the Vol-Up button. This should take you into stock recovery. Select Factory reset. Reboot. After a few minutes, the device should boot normally.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok found a video showing that when you get to that part where there's the dead droid (the red !), you don't press hold hold all three buttons but tap them until the recovery screen shows up.
So finally did that but I still have the same problem.
My initial problem was, I received my N10, open the box, turned it on and it started freezing and rebooting. Can't get past the wifi step.
Tried hard and many times to finally get to enter my gmail account, etc
Updated to 4.3, problem persisted so I figured, maybe the factory flashed a bad rom?
So I unlocked it, rooted it and tried flashing older stock versions, same problem.
Tried flashing CM, same; PA, same...
Tried deactivating location service as suggested elsewhere: same; uninstall chrome: same
Even CM withouf GAPPS wouldnt work
So basically, I have a $500 brick. Completely useless as it freezes every 30 seconds.
Decided not to return the device because although I am Canadian, I live in SE Asia and had a visiting friend bring it to me. Way past the return period and the overall experience would be a real pain in the butt... Don't know what to do. Really hoping Kit Kat will solve it but I have doubts.
What do you think?
Sorry. I don't know enough about these things to give more in depth troubleshooting advice. I just recently got my N10 & unlocked it and based on your original post, I thought that's where you needed help. But it sounds like you got past that and got it unlocked.
Have you tried downloading a factory image directly from Google and installing that? If it's locking up on a fresh install of any ROM, it very well may be a hardware issue. You may have to file a warranty claim if possible.
maximepull said:
Ok found a video showing that when you get to that part where there's the dead droid (the red !), you don't press hold hold all three buttons but tap them until the recovery screen shows up.
So finally did that but I still have the same problem.
My initial problem was, I received my N10, open the box, turned it on and it started freezing and rebooting. Can't get past the wifi step.
Tried hard and many times to finally get to enter my gmail account, etc
Updated to 4.3, problem persisted so I figured, maybe the factory flashed a bad rom?
So I unlocked it, rooted it and tried flashing older stock versions, same problem.
Tried flashing CM, same; PA, same...
Tried deactivating location service as suggested elsewhere: same; uninstall chrome: same
Even CM withouf GAPPS wouldnt work
So basically, I have a $500 brick. Completely useless as it freezes every 30 seconds.
Decided not to return the device because although I am Canadian, I live in SE Asia and had a visiting friend bring it to me. Way past the return period and the overall experience would be a real pain in the butt... Don't know what to do. Really hoping Kit Kat will solve it but I have doubts.
What do you think?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sharksfan7 said:
Have you tried downloading a factory image directly from Google and installing that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ that's your solution. If you dont know how to just pm me
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA Premium HD app
Ok I have looked around quite a bit, and most of the information I've read is quite dated...
All of the stories are different from mine, but some match up in certain areas, and they all look not very bright
Here is my situation:
I had the latest stock rom (As of Jan. 2013) on my TF201
"Cool im gonna root this mother"
Get the unlock tool for JB devices or whatever, it doesnt do anything but unlock. no brick, no root, nothing tried.
I forget to root it for awhile, so it went through heavy use, many reboots, etc. it is acting normal
"Oh yes, rooting" i recall my want to root
So... i hit up fastboot with this: www . clockworkmod . com / rommanager (the 5.8.3.4)
fastboot devices
(whatever in god's holy name the serial number was came up
fastboot flash (some hex here) blah blah blah then i pointed to the recovery
it went through fine on the Asus side, showing up all good and such
i reboot it with the fastboot (with the hex) reboot command
i boot while holding power, vol-down and this is when it gets creepy...
IT COMES UP AND I PRESS RCK with the volume up... and it FREEZES
so im like... ****
i reboot normally, and it goes to android all fine and dandy so im happy! yay!
i try again with the RCK thing and it freezes again.. so im just like **** it, and i go back to just using the tablet normally.
well i ended up wanting to factory reset it, so i went into settings and found the factory reset thing and pressed yes, its cool, seriously do it, etc.
it freezes again at the beginning... i left it there for like 2 hours on the charger... still frozen with the RCK statically highlighted.
i reboot... and BAM nothing..
i cant press vol-down and power to even get to the bootloader menu anymore.
damn it
so... my question is, with this crappy information ive given you... is this fixable? i did not NVFlash before, so none of those files are here.
I CAN get into APX mode (i think)... Black screen from the vol-up/power combo?
I have mac os x on MBP... boot camp installed, win 7 on that.
please help me :crying:
jhlax95 said:
Ok I have looked around quite a bit, and most of the information I've read is quite dated...
All of the stories are different from mine, but some match up in certain areas, and they all look not very bright
Here is my situation:
I had the latest stock rom (As of Jan. 2013) on my TF201
"Cool im gonna root this mother"
Get the unlock tool for JB devices or whatever, it doesnt do anything but unlock. no brick, no root, nothing tried.
I forget to root it for awhile, so it went through heavy use, many reboots, etc. it is acting normal
"Oh yes, rooting" i recall my want to root
So... i hit up fastboot with this: www . clockworkmod . com / rommanager (the 5.8.3.4)
fastboot devices
(whatever in god's holy name the serial number was came up
fastboot flash (some hex here) blah blah blah then i pointed to the recovery
it went through fine on the Asus side, showing up all good and such
i reboot it with the fastboot (with the hex) reboot command
i boot while holding power, vol-down and this is when it gets creepy...
IT COMES UP AND I PRESS RCK with the volume up... and it FREEZES
so im like... ****
i reboot normally, and it goes to android all fine and dandy so im happy! yay!
i try again with the RCK thing and it freezes again.. so im just like **** it, and i go back to just using the tablet normally.
well i ended up wanting to factory reset it, so i went into settings and found the factory reset thing and pressed yes, its cool, seriously do it, etc.
it freezes again at the beginning... i left it there for like 2 hours on the charger... still frozen with the RCK statically highlighted.
i reboot... and BAM nothing..
i cant press vol-down and power to even get to the bootloader menu anymore.
damn it
so... my question is, with this crappy information ive given you... is this fixable? i did not NVFlash before, so none of those files are here.
I CAN get into APX mode (i think)... Black screen from the vol-up/power combo?
I have mac os x on MBP... boot camp installed, win 7 on that.
please help me :crying:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is written all over this forum that installing CWM onto the jellybean bootloader will hard brick your device.
I reported it to the creator of CWM and Rom Manager months ago but unfortunately he never replied or did anything about it.
If you cannot access fastboot then I'm sorry but you are hard bricked and will have to have the motherboard replaced by Asus at a cost of about 200 dollars.
flumpster said:
It is written all over this forum that installing CWM onto the jellybean bootloader will hard brick your device.
I reported it to the creator of CWM and Rom Manager months ago but unfortunately he never replied or did anything about it.
If you cannot access fastboot then I'm sorry but you are hard bricked and will have to have the motherboard replaced by Asus at a cost of about 200 dollars.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you... yea i was just hoping someone would have some voodoo or witchcraft to fix it.
Hi there,
I juste got a cheapo Azpen A729 tablet. I succesfully rooted it with Kingo Root and it was also recognized by ADB. I then tried to boot into bootloader through ADB, but it never when past the Azpen logo screen and since then the tablet is stuck at the that screen whenever I try to restart it. So I'm afraid that I bricked it... On the Azpen website there are firmwares for several of their devices, but not for the A729. Does anyone have experience with this device and maybe some advice? Thanks!
maksmtl said:
Hi there,
I juste got a cheapo Azpen A729 tablet. I succesfully rooted it with Kingo Root and it was also recognized by ADB. I then tried to boot into bootloader through ADB, but it never when past the Azpen logo screen and since then the tablet is stuck at the that screen whenever I try to restart it. So I'm afraid that I bricked it... On the Azpen website there are firmwares for several of their devices, but not for the A729. Does anyone have experience with this device and maybe some advice? Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes you bricked your device.
you rooted that device, but not unlock dootloader.
Hi,
I just tried to boot into bootloader, not to unlock it or anything else. I simply rooted the device, I didn't try to install any custom recovery (not that there would be one anyway, AFAIK) or anything like that. If I'm missing something here, would you mind to explain? Thanks.
Paget96 said:
yes you bricked your device.
you rooted that device, but not unlock dootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maksmtl said:
Hi,
I just tried to boot into bootloader, not to unlock it or anything else. I simply rooted the device, I didn't try to install any custom recovery (not that there would be one anyway, AFAIK) or anything like that. If I'm missing something here, would you mind to explain? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I understand
This device have stock recovery???
Yes, everything is stock, the only thing I did was rooting it with Kingo Root, like so: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/root-azpen-a729-t3003908
Unfortunately there isn't much information out there yet for the A729, it seems to be fairly recent. Treecheetahdolo here managed to unbrick his A727, but unfortunately there is no firmware (yet?) available for the A729 on azpens site to try this...
Paget96 said:
Ok, I understand
This device have stock recovery???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maksmtl said:
Yes, everything is stock, the only thing I did was rooting it with Kingo Root, like so: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/root-azpen-a729-t3003908
Unfortunately there isn't much information out there yet for the A729, it seems to be fairly recent. Treecheetahdolo here managed to unbrick his A727, but unfortunately there is no firmware (yet?) available for the A729 on azpens site to try this...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go to recovery and wipe data and cache.
I'd like to, but I'm not able to go into recovery unfortunately... It's supposed to be vol-down + power button (http://www.azpenpc.com/service/detail.php/id-9.html), at least for the earlier devices, but this doesn't seem to work here, it always gets to the Azpen logo screen and gets stuck there... I tried every other key combination I could think of, but to no avail. Either the device is seriously bricked, or there's a secret key combination here to go into recovery that azpen didn't communicate...
Paget96 said:
Go to recovery and wipe data and cache.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maksmtl said:
I'd like to, but I'm not able to go into recovery unfortunately... It's supposed to be vol-down + power button (http://www.azpenpc.com/service/detail.php/id-9.html), at least for the earlier devices, but this doesn't seem to work here, it always gets to the Azpen logo screen and gets stuck there... I tried every other key combination I could think of, but to no avail. Either the device is seriously bricked, or there's a secret key combination here to go into recovery that azpen didn't communicate...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The [Vol- ] [POWER] combo works, but you have to hold them until the unit powers on, (like forever). If it won't go past the Azpen LOGO, I would recommend contacting your local supplier.
Ok, so if, when you boot into recovery, it still passes through the Azpen logo, then there might definitely be a problem... :-/ Mrdownboy, you have a A729, right? Did you already boot into the bootloader at some point? This thing does have a bootloader, right? I contacted Azpen to see if they have a firmware image that I could try to flash, before trying to going through a RMA procedure with my rooted tablet... We'll see. Anyway, thanks!
mrdownboy said:
The [Vol- ] [POWER] combo works, but you have to hold them until the unit powers on, (like forever). If it won't go past the Azpen LOGO, I would recommend contacting your local supplier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maksmtl said:
Ok, so if, when you boot into recovery, it still passes through the Azpen logo, then there might definitely be a problem... :-/ Mrdownboy, you have a A729, right? Did you already boot into the bootloader at some point? This thing does have a bootloader, right? I contacted Azpen to see if they have a firmware image that I could try to flash, before trying to going through a RMA procedure with my rooted tablet... We'll see. Anyway, thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey maksmtl,
I haven't tried accesing the bootloader yet, I'm still on the process of acquiring another brand new A729 for dumping the ROM and then start from there. I'll call Azpen tomorrow and ask them about a stock fw, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Once I have a stock ROM, I'll start looking into a custom recovery. Baby steps...
---------- Post added at 01:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:22 PM ----------
maksmtl said:
Ok, so if, when you boot into recovery, it still passes through the Azpen logo, then there might definitely be a problem... :-/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't quite understand what you are saying here... You have to hold [Vol-] [POWER] until the unit powers on, (forever...). Then just sit back and relax. If after 15 mins you're not on recovery, and it's boot-looping, it might need a STOCK ROM re-flash.
Hi mrdownboy,
what I meant is that, I thought that, as with e.g. a Nexus device, when you boot into recovery it directly goes there, without going through the google logo screen first as it would in a normal boot. So I thought/was hoping, that on the Azpen it would do the same thing, not going through the logo screen when booting into recovery. That's why I thought that I didn't have the right key combination, because it would always boot into the azpen logo screen, where it then gets stuck. From what you said, I understood that the azpen still goes through the logo screen first, before going into the recovery menu, or did I misunderstand you here? When I press and hold [Vol-] + [POWER], the device boots directly into the azpen logo screen after 8 seconds or so, after that nothing happens anymore. I also tried to keep holding the buttons after the logo appears, but that doesn't seem to change anything neither, unless you really have to do that for an insanely long time...?
mrdownboy said:
I don't quite understand what you are saying here... You have to hold [Vol-] [POWER] until the unit powers on, (forever...). Then just sit back and relax. If after 15 mins you're not on recovery, and it's boot-looping, it might need a STOCK ROM re-flash.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get into recovery?
mrdownboy said:
Did you get into recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope... But again, just to be sure, since I'm still a bit confused here: when you go into recovery it DOES go through the Azpen logo screen first, right?
I wrote to Azpen as well about a firmware for the A729, since they have firmwares for other models, but I didn't get a response yet. But then again, if if I had a firmware, I'm not even sure if I could flash it with PhoenixUSBPro tool, if the device can't go into recovery, I doubt it can go into download mode... Btw, be careful in your development if you don't want the same thing happening to you when booting into the bootloader... It would be definitely cool to have a custom recovery and eventually cutom ROMS however!
If I can't recover my device I don't even know if I'll try going through a RMA though, since it might be too expensive sending the tablet in, considering its initial cost...
maksmtl said:
Nope... But again, just to be sure, since I'm still a bit confused here: when you go into recovery it DOES go through the Azpen logo screen first, right?
I wrote to Azpen as well about a firmware for the A729, since they have firmwares for other models, but I didn't get a response yet. But then again, if if I had a firmware, I'm not even sure if I could flash it with PhoenixUSBPro tool, if the device can't go into recovery, I doubt it can go into download mode... Btw, be careful in your development if you don't want the same thing happening to you when booting into the bootloader... It would be definitely cool to have a custom recovery and eventually cutom ROMS however!
If I can't recover my device I don't even know if I'll try going through a RMA though, since it might be too expensive sending the tablet in, considering its initial cost...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you call them right now, you'll be surprised how good they are at personal customer service. They WILL offer options, but they don't have the firmware available for public release yet. Is your model the A729BT or the A729 Non-BT? I really want to do a ROM dump, but it's proven way more difficult than I initially thought. If there is a way to dump a ROM w/o rooting it would be excellent.
Also, I don't think they have a bootloader installed.
mrdownboy said:
The [Vol- ] [POWER] combo works, but you have to hold them until the unit powers on, (like forever). If it won't go past the Azpen LOGO, I would recommend contacting your local supplier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what they show on their website, but it has not worked for me at all. I've tried repeatedly with vol+ & power, vol- & power, vol+ & vol- & power... nothing has worked, it always boots fully up.
Is yours the A729 with bluetooth from TigerDirect? (their website lists that only the TigerDirect version has Bluetooth)
Were you actually able to get into the stock recovery menu?
---------- Post added at 09:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:42 PM ----------
mrdownboy said:
If you call them right now, you'll be surprised how good they are at personal customer service. They WILL offer options, but they don't have the firmware available for public release yet. Is your model the A729BT or the A729 Non-BT? I really want to do a ROM dump, but it's proven way more difficult than I initially thought. If there is a way to dump a ROM w/o rooting it would be excellent.
Also, I don't think they have a bootloader installed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I called them and I definitely did not find them customer-friendly.
I politely pointed out that the Users menu was missing and as I understand it, it's only an entry in a config file to enable it and asked if it would be possible to get a patch as I bought this for my son and didn't want to have to root it and the guy on the phone cut me off mid-sentence and scolded me for even mentioning rooting the device and told me it'd void my warranty. I asked about the firmware image and he was very dismissive about it. I asked if I could submit a bug report about the fact that a valuable feature of JB 4.2+ was missing (and the fact that this was a tablet that appeared to have a phone build of Android, more below). I'm not even sure how to describe his response "you want to submit a BUG REPORT?!"... yes, I do. He gruffly agreed to take down my request and proceeded to ask me for full contact info (full name, address, email, phone number, etc.). When I asked for the case number, he was confused... they apparently have no bug or complaint tracking system whatsoever. He explained to me that there was no way the developers were going to provide a patch, that Android is open source and it's up to the developers to decide how to configure the builds, etc. After some back and forth, I finally asked him how big the company was. He was obviously taken aback, so I explained that he seemed to know an awful lot about what the developers would be willing to do... he took this as a compliment and explained that I had "called corporate" (I called the support number on their website).
This screams "tiny operation" to me... either this guy was one of the developers (answering the customer support line), one of the main people in the company, or they're simply an importer and order the devices in bulk and resell them with nothing more than a custom logo.
Alibaba lists this unit for "US $1 - 45"... minimum qty 100 units.
More on the build: This device appears to have a default config for a phone, as not only is the Users menu missing, but it has a "Mobile network settings" menu which is entirely non-applicable to a device like this (menu items include "Data roaming", "Preferred network type" (2G/3G), "Network operators", etc.).
I sure hope I caught him on a bad day, and others have better luck.
Oh - and the reason I was reluctant to root it right away was I'm a bit gunshy and wanted to make sure I could return it if I needed to. I recently had a horrid experience with a d2 tablet that bricked itself (black-screen before splash-screen) after a few hours of use on Christmas morning (nearly every review on newegg for the device, all posted after I bought it, had the exact same problem). I'm lucky I was able to send that one back for a refund. Thankfully, this one appears to be a *lot* more reliable a unit (my son has played many, many hours of games on it for the past month).
I talked to the Azpen support, and they told me to push the volume button in the middle (I guess that comes down to the same as pressing vol- and vol+) and the power button. In my case that didn't work, but my tablet seems to be definitely bricked... I have the BT model from TigerDirect.
glabifrons said:
That's what they show on their website, but it has not worked for me at all. I've tried repeatedly with vol+ & power, vol- & power, vol+ & vol- & power... nothing has worked, it always boots fully up.
Is yours the A729 with bluetooth from TigerDirect? (their website lists that only the TigerDirect version has Bluetooth)
Were you actually able to get into the stock recovery menu?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
maksmtl said:
I talked to the Azpen support, and they told me to push the volume button in the middle (I guess that comes down to the same as pressing vol- and vol+) and the power button. In my case that didn't work, but my tablet seems to be definitely bricked... I have the BT model from TigerDirect.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just tried it again by pressing in the middle (in case there was a 3rd switch) and could feel both the up and down button click, and it booted all the way up (the logo came and went 3 times as it was booting up). I held all three (incl power) buttons down until it had the full Android display up (with the lock slider).
So... sounds like the guy was wrong - even on a fully functional unit, that won't bring up the menu.
It does have a recessed reset button (you can only hit it with a paper-clip or similar). I've seen some devices where you have to hold that down for ridiculous periods of time. I'm surprised the guy didn't mention that.
maksmtl said:
Hi mrdownboy,
what I meant is that, I thought that, as with e.g. a Nexus device, when you boot into recovery it directly goes there, without going through the google logo screen first as it would in a normal boot. So I thought/was hoping, that on the Azpen it would do the same thing, not going through the logo screen when booting into recovery. That's why I thought that I didn't have the right key combination, because it would always boot into the azpen logo screen, where it then gets stuck. From what you said, I understood that the azpen still goes through the logo screen first, before going into the recovery menu, or did I misunderstand you here? When I press and hold [Vol-] + [POWER], the device boots directly into the azpen logo screen after 8 seconds or so, after that nothing happens anymore. I also tried to keep holding the buttons after the logo appears, but that doesn't seem to change anything neither, unless you really have to do that for an insanely long time...?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please don't panic. I've found myself in the same situation with my A729 where key press sequences and back panel reset were to no avail. As a matter of fact, just last night I found myself where you are now. After booting into the bootloader through ADB, my Azpen had that same zomie stare that your's is experiencing.
Here's what I did. I turned it over screen down and walked away. Simply let the battery deplete over night. When you attempt to turn it on tomorrow it will complain of insufficient power. Plug it into your charger for about a half-hour, press and hold down the Volume "UP" button and then press the power button (You've heard this drill before, but THIS time you've given the instrument time to "forget" the last instruction given to it.) Let me know if this time (finally) your Azpen A729 boots into the recovery screen.
Most importantly, don't panic. Let the battery deplete firstly and then attempt the recovery mode.
- PoFolk
Hi PoFolk,
that sounds very promising! My Azpen is draining its battery right now. I actually had a suspicion that the tablet wasn't completely shut off, since every time I plugged in the charger, it would boot into the Azpen screen right away... But I didn't think about letting the battery die to give it a fresh start. Crossing fingers right now...
Oh, and I'm not panicking actually, I was almost expecting some problems with such a cheap tablet. I would probably be panicking more if this was my Nexus 7, which I just gave a new youth through F2FS.
Anyway, I'll let you know how it went tomorrow, thanks! Btw, are you sure about Volume "UP"? That would be new.
PoFolk said:
Please don't panic. I've found myself in the same situation with my A729 where key press sequences and back panel reset were to no avail. As a matter of fact, just last night I found myself where you are now. After booting into the bootloader through ADB, my Azpen had that same zomie stare that your's is experiencing.
Here's what I did. I turned it over screen down and walked away. Simply let the battery deplete over night. When you attempt to turn it on tomorrow it will complain of insufficient power. Plug it into your charger for about a half-hour, press and hold down the Volume "UP" button and then press the power button (You've heard this drill before, but THIS time you've given the instrument time to "forget" the last instruction given to it.) Let me know if this time (finally) your Azpen A729 boots into the recovery screen.
Most importantly, don't panic. Let the battery deplete firstly and then attempt the recovery mode.
- PoFolk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works for me:
1) Depress "UP" volume button throughout this procedure.
2) Depress power button and release when Azpen bootloader logo appears.
3) Sing or hum a tune whilst the Azpen logo stares at you, all whilst you're depressing the volume "UP" button. (yes, it seems like an eternity)
4) Android system recovery screen pops up.
5) Don't try anything fancy just yet. Select "reboot system now".
6) Light up a cigar or draw a beer. Your Azpen should be restored.
How the problem occurred
So a year or two ago I bought a Jiayu G4A/T/Whatever they're calling it and safely got it here. I've used the stock ROM for a bit but I wanted to get rid of the bloatware that was still on it, so I eventually ended up with a properly rooted phone with a ROM from Jiayu.es (Everything worked, have ClockworkMod as recovery, accessible via Mobileuncle Tools), which was essentially a stock Kitkat rom made to work for the phone. Now I got sick of the ROM and recently saw the new EMUI version on Huawei's P8 Lite, so I figured I'd look around for a tailored ROM running that, and ended up at "jiayu-emui-3-0-stable" from Needrom.
What I did
1. I downloaded a ROM from Needrom with identifier "jiayu-emui-3-0-stable" (I can't post external links)
2. Backed up my important files following a guide from androidcentral titled "[Guide] How to Backup and Restore Apps and Data when installing new ROMs" that I can't link,and did a full backup using CWM
3. Placed the ZIP on my internal SD card, went into recovery, wiped data/cache (not dalvik, since it wasn't described in the instructions, I think this might be a probable cause) and installed the new ROM from ZIP
4. Rebooted the phone and now it's stuck in the boot loop I mentioned.
What the problem is
Bootloops aren't that much of a problem usually, except this one is... I can't get into recovery mode. From there on it'd be cake, since I made the right preparations, but I can't get into it. While connected to my PC it keeps powering on, showing a splash screen from Jiayu.es briefly (which shouldn't be present anymore) and powering off after 10 seconds, only to come back to the splash screen.
What I've tried
I've unplugged it, removed the battery, waited to get a full power cycle and tried to hold my buttons in these combinations: [power button + volume up], [power button + volume down] - but neither work. It just keeps going with the boot loop. I can succesfully power it down, and when I plug it in from there it shows the low battery image. At the moment of seeing that I thought I could connect to it using ADB / Fastboot, but no luck there either. It keeps saying no devices found, and with fastboot it keeps on <waiting for device>.
My questions
What exactly can I do if there is no way for me to get into recovery mode? Are there any alternatives? How can I get my device to be recognized by ADB? Is that even possible? Why is this bootloop any different from others?
Update from the massive Q&A thread:
ZipAddict said:
Is it booting up on its own too after being off? This happened to wifes phone and it turned out the power button was stuck. I took a pencil and hit the power button with the eraser a few times and it worked then. Her case mustve dislogded it. I will keep my fingers crossed for u. If not send me a private message and i will look for an answer tomorrow and get back with u
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for the reply!
Yes, it does. I took the battery out and let it lay disassembled for a night, after which I cleaned it a little and re-inserted the battery. With the case back on, nothing happened, so the power button wasn't stuck for sure. When I powered it back on with the power button (no USB attached) it showed the emblem for ~8 seconds and powered off. It then buzzes to show it's powered on again and up comes the splash screen again. Could it be that the ROM was just a rebooting falsehood? Why would it disallow me getting into recovery mode? I really hope there is something that can still force the device into recovery mode / interact with it somehow while in this state.
Oh, I also tried to see if the volume down button was broken but all the contacts seem intact, plus, they worked an hour before I started switching roms.