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I really suck at installing custom ROMs.
I hard bricked because of low battery while flashing (I think, screen won't turn on, green light only comes on when plugged into a computer with no battery in, and a couple of posts I read made it sound like I'm screwed). So I'm going to AT&T tomorrow and hopefully getting a new phone. My main question is...
Can someone point me in the direction of a very comprehensive guide to installing a custom ROM on a stock Atrix brand new from the store?
I have poured over these forums for five days obsessively trying to figure out why I am so stupid and can't make it work, and have probably tried ten different methods of everything to get it to work, hoping that one of them had whatever I was missing already taken care of.
I rooted and unlocked my bootloader just fine. Even installed the Gingerblur rom (but that's a P-ROM right?). I think my problem is the custom recovery. Yes I deleted the recovery_install file. I tried flashing tenfar's CWM (the newest one I think, I sideloaded a different one to get Gingerblur) with fastboot but it said something like "flash:recovery is not a known command." (Sorry I don't remember completely, this was very early this morning before I went to sleep) I thought at the time that once you unlocked the bootloader you didn't have to do it again, but I read a thread an hour ago that said you just have to flash the unlock image after an RSD reset. So I was going to try to re-unlock, then try and flash with fastboot. Unfortunately I never got to try.
I am sorry for my obnoxiously long post, but I figured the more info I gave the higher chance there would be that someone could point at the obvious for me.
Thanks for your time.
when you plug the phone to wall-charger...wt happens?..do you see anything on the screen..
No. Also nothing happens when I press the power button. The green light ONLY comes on when I plug it into my computer with no battery, not when I plug it into an outlet.
Not entirely the right person to give advice but I guess it's worth a shot trying.
I'm a bit confused as to what you actually did. You're rooted and unlocked (100% sure on this?) Had gingerblur installed (guessing you were unlocked on 1.8.3?) and then wanted to install CMW, correct?
From the error you got you probably didn't cd (folder fastboot is in) flash fastboot recovery (path of recovery-en-goapk.img). Deleting the stock Android recovery folder most likely left you without any recovery. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong )
Entirely sure NOTHING happens while being plugged in into a computer? Can you get into fastboot at all? When connected via USB, does RSD show your device?
xscottishx27 said:
Not entirely the right person to give advice but I guess it's worth a shot trying.
I'm a bit confused as to what you actually did. You're rooted and unlocked (100% sure on this?) Had gingerblur installed (guessing you were unlocked on 1.8.3?) and then wanted to install CMW, correct?
From the error you got you probably didn't cd (folder fastboot is in) flash fastboot recovery (path of recovery-en-goapk.img). Deleting the stock Android recovery folder most likely left you without any recovery. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong )
Entirely sure NOTHING happens while being plugged in into a computer? Can you get into fastboot at all? When connected via USB, does RSD show your device?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The screen will not turn on. Nothing, no moto symbol, nothing. I did cd, I got an interface, fastboot said it was going to install a recovery, but then it failed, and that is the message the phone gave me. I was rooted, because I had superuser. I WAS unlocked,, because it had said unlocked on boot, though not at the time of fastboot, but then I used rsd after I was stuck in boot after trying to install a custom rom. After that it didn't say unlocked, so I unlocked again, and while doing so it said I was already unlocked. I failed to install a custom rom again with the same result, so I rsd'ed again back to 1.2. I never unlocked after that because I figured I didn't need to. I tried to install a custom rom many times with pretty much the same result after trying several different things, including flashing CWM with fastboot. Then I read that I had to re unlock after RSDing, so I was in the process of that when my screen shut off in the middle of it. I assume it didn't have enough charge and died (or that is what it sounds like according to what I have read)
mediocrepiracy said:
The screen will not turn on. Nothing, no moto symbol, nothing. I did cd, I got an interface, fastboot said it was going to install a recovery, but then it failed, and that is the message the phone gave me. I was rooted, because I had superuser. I WAS unlocked,, because it had said unlocked on boot, though not at the time of fastboot, but then I used rsd after I was stuck in boot after trying to install a custom rom. After that it didn't say unlocked, so I unlocked again, and while doing so it said I was already unlocked. I failed to install a custom rom again with the same result, so I rsd'ed again back to 1.2. I never unlocked after that because I figured I didn't need to. I tried to install a custom rom many times with pretty much the same result after trying several different things, including flashing CWM with fastboot. Then I read that I had to re unlock after RSDing, so I was in the process of that when my screen shut off in the middle of it. I assume it didn't have enough charge and died (or that is what it sounds like according to what I have read)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sounds like hard brick bro...
You need to find a way to charge your battery. It sounds like your battery is dead. Try to find a someone with the same phone as you.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA Premium App
To charge your battery,
Take ANY USB cable and cut one end of it off.
Strip the outer layer and strip the Black and red wires exposing the wire itself.
Starting with the black wire, tape that end to the NEGATIVE sign on the battery
Then take the red wire and tape it to the POSITIVE side of the battery.
Make sure you check it every few minutes so it does not over heat because it WILL get hot due to no regulations
I would charge it for approximately 30 min or so then put the battery back into your phone and boot it up
AND NO YOU DID NOT HARDBRICK BECAUSE YOU DID NOT HAVE HAVE THE RIGHT CWM IN ORDER TO FLASH THE OTA THAT WOULD CAUSE YOU TO HARDBRICK IF GOING BACKWARDS
ClearFire said:
To charge your battery,
Take ANY USB cable and cut one end of it off.
Strip the outer layer and strip the Black and red wires exposing the wire itself.
Starting with the black wire, tape that end to the NEGATIVE sign on the battery
Then take the red wire and tape it to the POSITIVE side of the battery.
Make sure you check it every few minutes so it does not over heat because it WILL get hot due to no regulations
I would charge it for approximately 30 min or so then put the battery back into your phone and boot it up
AND NO YOU DID NOT HARDBRICK BECAUSE YOU DID NOT HAVE HAVE THE RIGHT CWM IN ORDER TO FLASH THE OTA THAT WOULD CAUSE YOU TO HARDBRICK IF GOING BACKWARDS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If this works I will give you many thanks, and my firstborn child.
It didn't work. Walked into an AT&T store and said "It broke, I don't know what to do" and they gave me a new one under manufacturers warranty. I am going to try again, but if someone could point me towards a comprehensive guide that may be able to solve my problems, I would be appreciative.
I figured out my issue with not being able to install custom recovery, it was the fact that I hadn't unlocked again after flashing an sbf. I am now running Aura ROM, and so far I've been geeking out nonstop. Thanks everyone who tried to help me.
Hi XDA, been lurking for a while and today decided to start posting, beginning with a relatively urgent question.
My brother's been marveling at the ability to flash custom ROMs onto my Galaxy S2, and decided he wanted to root his Atrix today. Rooting process went well (he used Pete's Motorola Root Tools) and then flashed CWM through ROM Manager, but did NOT unlock his bootloader. After CWM was purportedly done, he put a ROM onto his HDD, turned the phone off, and attempted to boot into CWM. He was greeted with an error message, "Failure to Boot 2, Starting RSD Mode", which pops up whether he tries to turn on the phone normally or by holding the volume button down. Taking out the battery doesn't help.
Now, my assumption is that because he didn't unlock his bootloader, he's getting this error, but my experience with Android dev is limited. So, how would I go about fixing this? My only concern is getting the phone back to a working state, we don't care about the data on it.
Thank you for the time taken to read and answer this question, any and all help is appreciated.
Warm Regards,
Leo
EDIT: Just want to make sure, I did a fair amount of searching before I made this thread and found a bunch of answers, just not sure which one I should do. One thread champions just unlocking the bootloader, others suggest flashing an OEM ROM, which I'm not sure how to do without CWM. Essentially I'm just looking for some guidance and would deeply appreciate any help I can get.
EDIT 2: Forgot to add - he was running 2.2.1 stock. Root was successful. Feel free to ask any questions if necessary.
UPDATE: I've been trying to use these instructions to unlock the bootloader, but I'm stuck on the step that asks you to reboot your phone into RSD mode. The phone doesn't boot without being plugged in, and gives me the following error when I do:
Failed to Boot 2, Starting RSD Mode
"Battery is too low to Flash". Right now the phone's plugged into the wall with this message displaying,
It also goes without saying that RSD Mode, in fact, is never started .
Added some more information (apparently new members aren't allowed to post links, so added the information as UPDATE in the original post).
Again, thanks for your help and suggestions.
Bump, somebody please weigh in.
- Leo
Sent from my i777 using Tapatalk, on ICScrweD 2.1
FatalFlaw said:
Hi XDA, been lurking for a while and today decided to start posting, beginning with a relatively urgent question.
My brother's been marveling at the ability to flash custom ROMs onto my Galaxy S2, and decided he wanted to root his Atrix today. Rooting process went well (he used Pete's Motorola Root Tools) and then flashed CWM through ROM Manager, but did NOT unlock his bootloader. After CWM was purportedly done, he put a ROM onto his HDD, turned the phone off, and attempted to boot into CWM. He was greeted with an error message, "Failure to Boot 2, Starting RSD Mode", which pops up whether he tries to turn on the phone normally or by holding the volume button down. Taking out the battery doesn't help.
Now, my assumption is that because he didn't unlock his bootloader, he's getting this error, but my experience with Android dev is limited. So, how would I go about fixing this? My only concern is getting the phone back to a working state, we don't care about the data on it.
Thank you for the time taken to read and answer this question, any and all help is appreciated.
Warm Regards,
Leo
EDIT: Just want to make sure, I did a fair amount of searching before I made this thread and found a bunch of answers, just not sure which one I should do. One thread champions just unlocking the bootloader, others suggest flashing an OEM ROM, which I'm not sure how to do without CWM. Essentially I'm just looking for some guidance and would deeply appreciate any help I can get.
EDIT 2: Forgot to add - he was running 2.2.1 stock. Root was successful. Feel free to ask any questions if necessary.
UPDATE: I've been trying to use these instructions to unlock the bootloader, but I'm stuck on the step that asks you to reboot your phone into RSD mode. The phone doesn't boot without being plugged in, and gives me the following error when I do:
Failed to Boot 2, Starting RSD Mode
"Battery is too low to Flash". Right now the phone's plugged into the wall with this message displaying,
It also goes without saying that RSD Mode, in fact, is never started .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are correct in just trying to unlock the BL. Unfortunately, you will need a charged battery to do so. If you don't have access to a different battery, you can go to an AT&T store and they should charge it for you.
The OEM you're referring to is a full .sbf, instead of just the smaller "unlock" .sbf. That is an option, but in all honesty, unlocking the BL should be the quickest way to fix your situation.
If you run into any problems, let us know.
Thanks for the advice, it's immensely reassuring. He went to an AT&T store and they were unhelpful, refused to charge it for him I'm going to order a battery charger off Amazon and charge it that way, and will post here when I have results.
In the meantime if anyone else has something to add it would be quite appreciated.
Thanks,
Leo
Sent from my i777 using Tapatalk, on ICScrweD 2.1
Alright, we've run into a problem.
The screen never gets past the error message "Failure to Boot 2, Starting RSD Mode". We turn it off, hold power and up at the same time, and it still boots to that message. I press the power button and hold the volume up button, nothing changes.
The battery is charged.
Is there something I'm missing here?
FatalFlaw said:
Alright, we've run into a problem.
The screen never gets past the error message "Failure to Boot 2, Starting RSD Mode". We turn it off, hold power and up at the same time, and it still boots to that message. I press the power button and hold the volume up button, nothing changes.
The battery is charged.
Is there something I'm missing here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The .sbf's are flashed while your phone is in RSD Mode
in order to charge your battery (to fix the "Battery is too low" message) you will need to sacrifice any USB cable, cut it open and tape the red and black wires to the battery. (Red goes on +, Black goes on -)
ghost_og said:
The .sbf's are flashed while your phone is in RSD Mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, I realized that. I thought "Starting RSD Mode" would at some point subside, and it would say something along the lines of "In RSD Mode" or something. But he flashed an unlock SBF and got it unlocked. He now has a beautiful Atrix running ICS MIUI.
Thank you all for the help.
Same problem but the solution does not work for me
I am in the same boat. I downloaded RSD 5.9 and used the file in pudding.rar. After I loaded the file, RSD said it passed with 100% load but the phone is still stuck in the same place. Can anyone help?
Tried to unroot, now I have this. Been trying to flash through Odin (PDA md5 file only), gets to 'system', goes about 10 minutes then fails. Nothing on sd card. Im hoping I can save this. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
This is a retail Wifi.
I have the correct USB drivers and can see it in device manager but not in explorer. I do not have the correct ADB SDK, cant seem to find it.
Been reading several threads and watching vids on youtube, nothing seems to do the trick. Im stuck but hopefully not bumming.
This may or may not work for most but this worked heavily for my 2 units that had the same issue. One with a broken nvflash, the other that faced a bootloop and never booted up again. Took almost a week and I felt almost all hope was gone because the bloody service centre's refused to accept the unit's as they were not purchased from the region, rather online. Scumbag Samsung .
[!] This is usually a 90% fix for both broken nvflashes/deep sleep of death, considering you haven't drowned your Tab by now with no hope . I ask that you kindly attempt this once if you haven't before you QQ to the nearest Samsung center like I did.
- Drain your tablet
And by all mean's do so, The quickest way to get this done in less than 2 days or so (Depending on the battery percent charged) is to get a clear tape and tape around the power button pressed.
- Testing if you have drained it completely/Taped it right.
Connect the tablet via USB to your PC, make sure you have the NV Driver files [http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...php?t=1130574]
Just install the driver and proceed to the step where it asks about holding down the [Power button] +[ Volume+] and wait for the constant USB connect/disconnect sounds. It also helps to look at Device Manager to see if it still pops up.
When the battery is completely drained it will stop popping up in the device manager, and your ready to go.
MOST IMPORTANT STEP
You have only 1 and only 1 chance per drain to get this done right. Plug it into the socket charger and see if the charging icon should come up, after being fully drained you should see the charge icon should pop up [100% tested and works, this step is annoying but it's the tablet version of taking out the battery and popping it back in] and what ever you do, DON'T BOOT IT UP NORMALLY, instead press [Power Button] + [Volume -] keys and let go when you see the logo to get into fastboot mode.
Select the android buddy with the [Volume +] key and it will boot into Download Mode.
From here on out everything is easy sailing. Get the right firmware and Odin and flash the firmware you require. It doesn't matter what region you are from, the tablet is made to accept any regional firmware BUT the model number should be the same. Which mean's 7500 for 7500 ONLY.
Edit: Since you have only one chance per drain, I suggest you flash a stock firmware rather than flashing CWM to save it, Because CWM would only fix the recovery, It wouldn't fix the damaged bln. The fastest way to get a stock firmware is grabbing the stock firmware from the Overcome thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Source:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1478361
Ok, killed it that long....actually, just havent had time to get into this or deal with the frustration.
Anyway, it did what it was supposed to, meaning the battery icon came on. then I booted to download mode, plugged it in to the PC and it hooked up to Odin. It ported and I started to load the md5 file. I get stuck at the bootloader.bin. Been sitting there for 40 minutes. Has not failed yet. What now??
Never mind, I am an idiot who needs to read more. Please ignore me.
Sent from my GT-P7510 using XDA Premium HD app
Any and all help is appreciated, nobody is an idiot, except me for bricking this thing.
By the way, about 20 minutes after I posted the screenshot, it failed.
i was trying to root a phone for someone and after odin completed it said it had failed.
the phone is a telus samsung t959d running froyo.
I followed the instructions from (I would post the url for the link but i am not allowed to.)cyanogenmod's wiki, after it failed I rebooted the phone and it got stuck on the screen in the attached pic. I have tried to boot back into download mode to no avail. From the screen it's stuck on I cannot get any tool to register the device as being present, adb, heimdall, zdiag, etc... I even tried fastboot out of desperation.Before I used odin I tried to get the phone to boot into the bootloader but it only ever went to either recovery or a normal boot and I tried every button press combo I could think of and found and nada.
Even running adb reboot bootloader just made the device boot normally. I think that if I could get it to boot to fastboot usb i could then try fastboot. I am new to rooting devices and have successfully rooted my HTC EVO3D and got s-off and simlock removed for any carrier. So I do know how to follow instructions properly, why flashing the recovery.bin failed I don't know and every fix I seem to find says BOOT TO DOWNLOAD MODE. if I could do that I wouldn't be having this problem lol. Anyway can someone please help me figure this out. Thanks. ANd if you need any further info please let me know. I don't want to have to give my friend my phone due to a software issue.
And YES I did pick PDA not anything else.
machv5 said:
i was trying to root a phone for someone and after odin completed it said it had failed.
the phone is a telus samsung t959d running froyo.
I followed the instructions from (I would post the url for the link but i am not allowed to.)cyanogenmod's wiki, after it failed I rebooted the phone and it got stuck on the screen in the attached pic. I have tried to boot back into download mode to no avail. From the screen it's stuck on I cannot get any tool to register the device as being present, adb, heimdall, zdiag, etc... I even tried fastboot out of desperation.Before I used odin I tried to get the phone to boot into the bootloader but it only ever went to either recovery or a normal boot and I tried every button press combo I could think of and found and nada.
Even running adb reboot bootloader just made the device boot normally. I think that if I could get it to boot to fastboot usb i could then try fastboot. I am new to rooting devices and have successfully rooted my HTC EVO3D and got s-off and simlock removed for any carrier. So I do know how to follow instructions properly, why flashing the recovery.bin failed I don't know and every fix I seem to find says BOOT TO DOWNLOAD MODE. if I could do that I wouldn't be having this problem lol. Anyway can someone please help me figure this out. Thanks. ANd if you need any further info please let me know. I don't want to have to give my friend my phone due to a software issue.
And YES I did pick PDA not anything else.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I kept reading other threads and sadly I din't pully the battery first before disconnecting the usb and repartition may have been checked as I see that it does the as default for my version. Also i turned off ODIN as I was hoping a reboot of my computer might help. I will keep trying to find an answer till someone gets back to me. this post may not even show up if I can't do a second post if no one has replied first.
Everyone was a nub at one time wasn't it FUN hahahahahaha sob cry
machv5 said:
I kept reading other threads and sadly I din't pully the battery first before disconnecting the usb and repartition may have been checked as I see that it does the as default for my version. Also i turned off ODIN as I was hoping a reboot of my computer might help. I will keep trying to find an answer till someone gets back to me. this post may not even show up if I can't do a second post if no one has replied first.
Everyone was a nub at one time wasn't it FUN hahahahahaha sob cry
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried a jig and that didn't work. There must be some way of getting the device to give up on completing a task i no longer can give it due to ODIN being shut off.
Why is it that the "how to root/unlocks" never have the "if x fails then do these steps etc..." Had the how to had "pull the battery before disconnecting USB and don't reset or shut off ODIN" I wouldn't be in this mess. I realize that it's user beware but a few important steps like that in case of a fail would go a long way to you guys not shaking your heads. Instead of "silly nub hahahahahaha". No offence but I get that a lot and try to remember that when I teach someone how to use a computer. I am new at phones not at everything.
Further Developments Please can someone help?
I was giving someone a new memory card and they had a Samsung SGH-I896 it has an EB575152VA battery and the one I have the T959D has an EB575152VU battery. I exchanged my battery for hers by accident somehow and when I plugged my phone in it didn't go to the phone triangle computer logo screen it booted to recovery and said it couldn't charge the battery and kept rebooting to recovery. I got my battery back and it booted back to the phone triangle computer logo again. Grrrr....
The other thing I saw while the recovery screen was an error message that said
Code:
E:/data/fota not accessible
(may not be 100% accurate I don't have the battery to check right now but can get it again if need be) anyway I now see that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel. i have the correct stock firmware for the device I tried flashing it while in recovery but the phone kept rebooting before anything got done. My question is how can I get the dang phone to stop asking for Odin and go to recovery so I can flash stock firmware and ROM back to it? As I cannot as far as I know give it what it wants because I reset Odin and nothing seems to see that the phone is connected to the computer. I am going to try the other battery on a full charge to see what that does.
I am new at all this and want to get it fixed. I cannot afford to send it off to a service center and besides that I want to do it myself as I want to become a developer and droid technician. I would gladly donate to anyone but am still trying to get Google to accept my pay-as-you-go credit card and I don't have PayPal either. Which is really frustrating when it comes to giving back. I posted a Q&A on how to without PayPal or CC but as of the last time I checked no one has gotten back to me about it.
The CyanogenMod guide is flat out WRONG. I've tried to change it, but anything I do is reverted in an instant. I also tried to use it to install the ROM only, ended up bricking my phone and it took me hours to unbrick. That's how I became acquainted with XDA.
So, to get this straight:
1. you're using the stock USB cable
2. you remove the battery
3. you hold volume down
4. you plug in the usb cable
5. after a few seconds, you release volume down
6. the screen does not display a yellow triangle with an android
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10
MultipleMonomials said:
The CyanogenMod guide is flat out WRONG. I've tried to change it, but anything I do is reverted in an instant. I also tried to use it to install the ROM only, ended up bricking my phone and it took me hours to unbrick. That's how I became acquainted with XDA.
So, to get this straight:
1. you're using the stock USB cable
2. you remove the battery
3. you hold volume down
4. you plug in the usb cable
5. after a few seconds, you release volume down
6. the screen does not display a yellow triangle with an android
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is correct. If you think that my idea below is a bad one or if I downloaded the wrong firmware package please let me know and /or you have a fix that will work? ty
I have though come up with an idea that may work. I am going to charge the "wrong" battery in erm the right phone lol and then use it to trick the device into booting into recovery instead of the cellphone triangle computer (CTC, for want of a better acronym) The I896 battery ends in a V not an ? (sorry can't rem don't have it on me) from the I896 model I think it is, plugging it into USB with the power off sends it to recovery with the "battery cannot be charged " message instead of the CTC screen.
I tried it but the charge in the battery was too low and rebooted. I am hoping that with a full charge (as long as I don't power on the phone first as this will make it go to CTC logo again.
I am hoping that I can install the update.zip that I made by first unzipping the T959UVJFD_firmware.tar I downloaded then unpacked and then repacked into an update.zip as I don't think that it will read the package as a tar file and if it's not called update.zip The recovery is still stock. If I get the phone working I am not going to try unlocking and rooting it again. I will just post two separate adverts one as a carrier locked device and the other one (higher of course to cover buying the unlock from Telus) as carrier unlocked and then I will buy the unlock code if the blah blah you get the drift. sorry for rambling on.
oh and I can't rem if I said this or not, In recovery it "E:/data/fota not accessible" I don't know what that means yet I have been busy with other things and haven't looked it up yet.
Since you can get into at least some version of recovery, your bootloader is intact and you should be able to unbrick it. You ought to be able to get into download mode using a download jig. You can get one on ebay for a few bucks or you can make one yourself. There's a guide floating around here somewhere that lets you make one from a microusb cable.
Posted from my Galaxy Tab with CM10
Hi, I unfortunately don't know a lot about what I am doing here (the root of all my trouble), I'll try to get the info straight:
Motorola Droid Razr (XT910), bought in Dubai, using it in UK, so I didn't receive OTA updates. I decided to try update to ICS using RSD Lite, but the flashing got stuck at system_signed. I gave it a lot of time (hours) before I switched off the phone and tried again, which is when things started going haywire:
During my following attempts, the battery ran low, so I couldn't go on trying (soft brick). I made a patched "factory cable" as per instructions in this forum somewhere, the cable works and powers the phone for flashing.
Now all it does is coming up with the fastboot screen, which reads:
AP Fastboot Flash Mode (S) (Flash Failure)
0A.6C
[...]
Device is LOCKED. Status code: 0
Battery OK
OK to Program
Transfer Mode:
USB Connected
...which suggests to me it would be ok to be flashed, if only I could get it to accept the files. Being a big numpty, I am unfortunately not quite sure what was the exact version that was on there before (big mistake, I know that now), it was 2.3.6 and I suspect it must have been a MEA version, since it was bought there(? - also, when I first switched it on, all was in arabic).
What I have tried so far was:
* using several different fastboot firmware files with RSD Lite 5.7, all of which do not get over the step '1/xx flash cdt.bin "cdt.bin_signed"' - it just hangs supposedly "In process..." forever. I noticed all of these have an "ota" folder (although they vary considerably in size between <1 and 2.5 GB) - maybe all the ones I downloaded are only updates? Is there an actual, base operating system image somewhere?
After many failed attempts, I got desperate and tried files for different regions at random. The ones I tried so far:
SPDREM_U_01.6.5.1-73_SPU-11-M1-2_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRRTGB_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot.xml
SPDREM_U_01.6.5.1-73_SPU-11-M1-2-ULB_1C.85P_0A.6B_DATDE_CFC_HWp2b_SIGNED.xml
SPDREM_U_01.6.5.1-167_SPU-15-M2-3_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRRTGB_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot
SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.6_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTCEE_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot.xml
SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.6_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTGB_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot.xml
SPYDERIRD_U.01.26.0_SPD-IRD-21_SIGN_ASIA_RETAIL_HKTW.xml
SPYDERIRD_U.01.26.0_SPD-IRD-21_SIGN_MEA_RETAIL.xml
The only thing I am quite sure about is that it is not LATAM.
* I tried manually flashing the various image files with moto-fastboot, fastboot, and eprj-mfastboot, both the Windows and the Linux versions, with pretty much always the same result: it would flash some files (e.g. ebr, mbr, devtree), but not what I think are the crucial ones: boot, system, also logo.bin. As there are so many possible combinations, I have not tried every file from every firmware I downloaded with every possible program, but as far as I can tell, the results were the same. I did get some error messages about signing (indicating wrong region) sometimes, but most of the time it just hangs forever while supposedly transferring the files.
* I also tried the DroidRAZRUtility, both 1.51 and 1.6, which both invariably fail at the first step of flashing the "allow-mbmloader-flashing-mbm.bin" file on there.
So, I am out of ideas now. Please, someone tell me I have overlooked something obvious. Also, please tell me I haven't bricked the thing for good.
Is there not a way to write something new into it's memory on an even more basic level (I am thinking Linux' dd here), or to read out which region it is currently locked to? I repeat, all I get is the Fastboot screen, I can get into the Fastboot menu, but none of the options gets me anywhere else, (stock) recovery does not work... My last idea is that it might still be a power issue despite the "factory cable", and to try and crack it open and power it at the battery contacts for flashing - but the fact that some flashing works, and the other files don't fail because it goes dead, but because it rejects them, suggests to me it is not a power problem.
Any suggestions appreciated, thanks!
Try flashing SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.2_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTGB_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot
with rsd lite.
Those failures are because of two things:
1. You are trying wrong sbf for another region
2 and/or you are trying to flash an older firmware.
Please note that now your only bet is to flash ICS firmware, and try various regions untill you find your right one.
Also if you manually flash use eprj-mfastboot , others fail to flash corectly.
Again for the power issue, when RSD throws an error , look at the phone, if it says "Low battery, cannot program" then the factory cable is bad, if not there is no power problem.
Don't worry your phone is not dead, you only need to find the correct sbf file, try more variants with rsd lite, it must work.
Mine had problems flashing correct sbf's, it was my system. Even with correct drivers and lastest RSD it would not work, nor with my other laptop, but working fine on my old xp install on a macbook. I could however install stuff individually using fastboot flash command. Sorry that I dont have a solution but I just wanted to let you know that sometimes it can be your computer/os install.
still trying
@Killer2k8: Thanks for the encouragement, I will try with the file you suggested with eprj-mfastboot.
As per power: I seem to have tried so many times that the battery is way deeply uncharged (I hope it isn't permanently damaged once I get the phone to charge at all again), so anyway, I crack'd'er open and tried powering directly at the battery contacts (battery disconnected, of course). As you would guess from what you wrote, that did not make any difference to my problems... But also, it proves my factory cable is good, as I can even flash the few files that work if no power is connected at the battery contacts, powering through the cable only. Some files will transfer correctly, and when it says "writing", the phone will just reboot, causing an error - that's why I thought of power issue, e.g. the actual flashing process requiring more power than just the transfer... Anyway, that issue did not go away even with direct power. - Will see what happens once I find the right files for me...
I'm good with flashing ICS, that's what I wanted to do in the first place. And thanks for the encouragement!
@drolgnir: Thanks, I had the same idea, as initially I had tried everything from Win7 running in VirtualBox (at first, I only found all the tools for Win, should've really researched better before starting this), I thought maybe it doesn't have the proper low-level access to the USB ports. Anyway, since trouble hit me, I tried also on three different Linux machines (2 different dirtros), and also again on the virtual Win, and on many, many different USB ports on these (just in case it was a USB power issue), all to no avail. I guess Killer2k8's suggestion sounds most promising at the moment... Cheers anyway.
no luck - situation deteriorating..?
Sorry for the many posts, I hope someone is still reading this...
So, I tried the file you suggested. I flashed manually, not RSD, with "fastboot" from eternity project, which is the Linux equivalent to "eprj-mfastboot.exe", as far as I can tell (download from the same post as the Win version).
I could flash cdt.bin, ebr, mbr. Note that these are all just 16kB.
When trying logo.bin, it sent it ok, but during 'writing logo.bin...', the phone just switched off. After restart, same again. Same also with boot_signed.
Since then, things got worse: whenever I try to switch on now, it flashes ~1/4 of the red "M" logo, then flashes the AP fastboot screen, and repeats that a few times before staying off (sometimes not, just switches off right away). I can still get into the Boot Mode Selection menu by holding all three buttons, but selecting AP fastboot there has the same effect. Starting with power&Vol- button shows the fastboot screen immediately, but again only for a flash...
The only thing that will stay on is the SBF Flash screen, but I don't know what to do with that..?
So, I still smell a power problem, but neither applying external power, nor using the factory cable alone made a difference. The cable is ok, I re-checked. The fact that the SBF Flash screen stays on suggests that it is not a stuck power button (someone had that problem, apparently), am I right?
So, any suggestions from here? Thanks..
Although this doesn't help, I have pretty much the exact same issue. However, I do know what/where my phone is from, it requires the central Europe update. But apart from that the issues are identical; it only boots into the flash failed fastboot menu, and any RSD attempts have failed at cdt.bin, while using the fastboot tool does not work either as I get preinfovalidation flash errors. The utilities don't work either.
Now, as you did, I also tried quite a few different versions of the firmware, and none of them worked. So what I was wondering is, is there a way for us to find out exactly what version the phone 'thinks' it is on, so we can find the same/a newer version of the firmware to update it to? Because I am quite certain I am using the files from the right region, so it must be the version that is too old.
update: still struggling, but giant leap further! Please read my tale...
...just in case anyone might find this useful, I'd like to give an update on my "patient":
I actually managed to flash ICS on there! Kind of.. What I did, was:
With the battery unplugged, I supplied external power to the phone, additional to the factory cable. The issue was that it would often flash small files, but for larger files would successfully "send" them, but in the "writing" phase the phone would just switch off. So, I supplied carefully monitored 3.7V to the contacts, which seemed to make a difference, but in the "writing" phase, Voltage dropped to below 3V where it would again switch off. Ok, you can charge a LiIon battery with max. 4.2V, and you should normally charge the battery before flashing, so I tried again while providing 4.2V. And - Success!! Voltage would drop to ~4V during "writing", but it stayed on, and allowed me to further test which Firmware the device would actually accept.
I do not believe that applying 5V from an USB cable directly to the (plugged-in) battery contacts, as mentioned in the forums somewhere, is very healthy for the battery. I reconnected the battery and tried charging it directly from the contacts, but I made sure the Voltage would always stay below 4.2V. Occasionally in my exploits, the charging circuitry would actually spring into action (confirmed by a drop and fluctuations in Voltage, and the faintest of noises from the phone itself), and I used that of course to squeeze some life back in, but most of the time it would not charge at all. I can not say what combination of flashing attempts, rebooting, un- and replugging the cable, switching and changing the charging current,... actually triggered the charging process occasionally, sorry. I could not reliably reproduce it.
In the process, I also tried the DroidRazrUtility 1.8, which interestingly flashed the AP fastboot to v 0A.74, but of course failed further on...
With the new AP fastboot, I thought maybe something more might now work, and at last I found it would now miraculously accept:
SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.6_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTGB_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot.xml and
SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.6_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTCEE_HWp2b_Service1FF_fastboot.xml
Fantastic!
First thing, before any actual booting, was to try if I could finally charge my battery again, and at last - yes!
At about 70%, I got adventurous, and unplugged the charger to put it in another power outlet. This made the phone actually boot up, but I thought that's not too bad now... But:
Now I have the following issue: After being freshly flashed (I tried several times now), it will charge as long as I don't actually switch it on, ONCE, but when it boots, after asking the setup questions and a little while on, it will switch off on its own, and then it's stuck in some variation of the bootloop (M dual core logo, pulsing M forever, OR rebooting ever and ever again at the pulsing M, OR just stuck at the M dual core). At least I now have a recovery menu. Erasing cache and data DON'T solve the issue (as proposed many times in the forums). I read a hint that it might be a kernel issue, or that it might be caused by a wrong radio.img (CDMA on a GSM phone). I checked and tested the latter by deactivating the radio in the extended settings, but it would still switch off after a short while (and it had defaulted to GSM, as it should).
So...am I stuck to wait for some new Firmware to come out, that might fix the issue? Or what should I try? Thanks in advance...
Resolved!
Long read, but I finally managed to do it. Basically, I am not 100% sure what happened, but I have a hunch:
After I thought I had solved the power issues by at least being able to charge the battery once after each re-flashing, I tried to fix the issue about the phone randomly switching off (and on - it wouldn't stay off!). I read that it might have to do with flashing failures (no error message??), or incorrect kernel or radio images...
Not long, and I ran into familiar problems again: It would flash the smaller files, but not system and cdrom; it would successfully "send" the files, but never stop "writing" them (I waited for somewhere between 10 min and an hour at each attempt), only way to stop the process was to switch off the phone, which certainly is not healthy during flashing...
...so battery started to go down again and I started to more and more clearly face a power issue again (I had disconnected the external power and didn't want to risk that McGyver approach again). As it happened, I also 'got some new USB 3.0 external hard drives at this time. I found that one would readily power up on all my USB ports, the other one could not get enough power even from some supposed 3.0 ports..
...which made me try flashing the very same firmware I was just trying (with the factory cable, of course), all the smaller files of which worked on the one computer but not the large ones (indicating I had the right firmware, at least):
SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.6_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTGB_HWp2b_ Service1FF_fastboot.xml
, on another computer, on the one USB 3.0 port that had proven to supply the most power - and taa-daa! It wrote it, very quickly, without complaining!
And it booted alright (after charging it first, just in case). And it stayed on (and off, when I eventually rebooted it). I am running that ever since, and it seems ok...
Originally, I had aimed for:
SPDREM_U_01.6.7.2-180_SPU-19-TA-11.6_SIGNEuropeAustraliaEMEA_USASPDRICSRTCEE_HWp2b _Service1FF_fastboot.xml
, but I think the differences are minimal and I don't want to risk anything going wrong again, right now.
In conclusion, to me the main issues were
- finding the right firmware, stupidly not having paid attention to the original version number, and
- all sorts of different power issues!
The factory cable did not solve all of my problems.
Recharging the battery (eventually) did not solve my problems.
ADDITIONALLY, it needs to be flashed from a USB port supplying sufficient power!
This might point into the direction drolgnir suggested, but for me, it was not an OS/driver problem, but definitely power (same, fresh install of Fedora Linux on the two machines that did, and didn't work, one of them alternatively running Win 8; the Linux Mint computer I also tried doesn't have USB 3.0, the USB 2.0 ports - including an externally powered USB hub - did not work). @drolgnir: maybe it was power for you too, but you didn't notice because it was a different OS too?
...I hope this overly detailed report might help someone else too...