Related
Hello,
I have an Evo Shift stuck in the boot loop. As soon as I put the battery in all it does is reset itself to the screen with the white background and green "HTC" logo, and will keep restarting until the battery dies.
If I hold volume down and turn it on, it does go into the bootloader, but picking ANYTHING, such as recovery or factory reset, does nothing but sending it back to the HTC screen.
I have tried flashing the RUU.exe (2.27.651.2) through Fastboot USB and it completed successfully, but it just restarts right back to the HTC screen. I have also put PG06img that I found on here on the root of my card, and it will never load it up.
Are there any other solutions anyone can think of? They would be much appreciated. I see a lot of these threads for regular Evos, but not for Shifts.
The only other thing I really know about the phone is that it is:
S-On
Hboot- 0.98.0001
Radio- 1.08.00.0506
Thank you so much for all of your help!
Seems to me you aren't rooted and that's more than likely your problem, boot into fastboot and use the ruu application for gingerbread.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Rooster85 said:
Seems to me you aren't rooted and that's more than likely your problem, boot into fastboot and use the ruu application for gingerbread.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I am pretty sure I am not rooted, if you are talking about the early RUU release; 1.17.651.1, the application starts and then ends up failing in the beginning of the process. Is this what you are talking about? The drivers should be all good, the application starts to flash and then dies though. Thanks!
samcrac said:
While I am pretty sure I am not rooted, if you are talking about the early RUU release; 1.17.651.1, the application starts and then ends up failing in the beginning of the process. Is this what you are talking about? The drivers should be all good, the application starts to flash and then dies though. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use the new RUU. But make sure your SD card is formatted to a FAT32 partition. (Stock 2gig sd card and some other store boughts are not)
You can format on your computer and then place the RUU on the root of sd card again
(Bootloader won't recognize the ruu zip if not partitioned)
Sent from my Supreme Shift
notsointeresting said:
Use the new RUU. But make sure your SD card is formatted to a FAT32 partition. (Stock 2gig sd card and some other store boughts are not)
You can format on your computer and then place the RUU on the root of sd card again
(Bootloader won't recognize the ruu zip if not partitioned)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, I just did this, everything updated fine and all completeted on the bootloader. It then said "press power to reboot." I did so, and went right back into the same boot loop. Any other ideas. I figured running this, and the RUU.exe on the computer were the sure fire ways to get this thing working again???
samcrac said:
Ok, I just did this, everything updated fine and all completeted on the bootloader. It then said "press power to reboot." I did so, and went right back into the same boot loop. Any other ideas. I figured running this, and the RUU.exe on the computer were the sure fire ways to get this thing working again???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So just a little information.
you said your not rooted?
So that means you have no ability to flash anything because you have no custom recovery and the bootloader isnt unlocked (S-on)
So what DID you do before it bootlooped? there had to have been something you were trying to do.
Not trying to blame anything on you at all just want to make sure we are helping the most accurate way possible
notsointeresting said:
So just a little information.
you said your not rooted?
So that means you have no ability to flash anything because you have no custom recovery and the bootloader isnt unlocked (S-on)
So what DID you do before it bootlooped? there had to have been something you were trying to do.
Not trying to blame anything on you at all just want to make sure we are helping the most accurate way possible
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No I hear ya. I was sold the phone fairly cheap and was told "all you need to do is to reinstall the RUU, that is all that is wrong." Obviously I was skeptical, but when I checked everything out, everything looked good, and again, for the price, I knew it was a gamble. That being said, I'm sure something was tried in order to modify the phone and this is how it got like this.
I have soft bricked my old Evo 4g a handful of times and an RUU or Rom flash would always solve the problem.
Anyway, there is no custom recovery, and I'm pretty sure theres no root because it is still "S-ON," I am just trying to see if anyone here has any more info before it goes in for repair.
The only last thing I would guess you MIGHT be able to do is to install a custom recovery, but is there ANY way to do this by just being in the bootloader and using FASTBOOT USB? Any more help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
samcrac said:
No I hear ya. I was sold the phone fairly cheap and was told "all you need to do is to reinstall the RUU, that is all that is wrong." Obviously I was skeptical, but when I checked everything out, everything looked good, and again, for the price, I knew it was a gamble. That being said, I'm sure something was tried in order to modify the phone and this is how it got like this.
I have soft bricked my old Evo 4g a handful of times and an RUU or Rom flash would always solve the problem.
Anyway, there is no custom recovery, and I'm pretty sure theres no root because it is still "S-ON," I am just trying to see if anyone here has any more info before it goes in for repair.
The only last thing I would guess you MIGHT be able to do is to install a custom recovery, but is there ANY way to do this by just being in the bootloader and using FASTBOOT USB? Any more help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It shouldn't have a custom recovery if it shows s-on.
I don't see why the RUU wouldn't work.
Honestly it doesn't sound like a softbrick- sounds like its just bricked (Which ive only heard of 1 Shift getting bricked completley)
notsointeresting said:
It shouldn't have a custom recovery if it shows s-on.
I don't see why the RUU wouldn't work.
Honestly it doesn't sound like a softbrick- sounds like its just bricked (Which ive only heard of 1 Shift getting bricked completley)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make it 2! Thanks for your help though!!!
Also Stuck In A Bootloop
samcrac said:
Hello,
I have an Evo Shift stuck in the boot loop. As soon as I put the battery in all it does is reset itself to the screen with the white background and green "HTC" logo, and will keep restarting until the battery dies.
If I hold volume down and turn it on, it does go into the bootloader, but picking ANYTHING, such as recovery or factory reset, does nothing but sending it back to the HTC screen.
I have tried flashing the RUU.exe (2.27.651.2) through Fastboot USB and it completed successfully, but it just restarts right back to the HTC screen. I have also put PG06IMG that I found on here on the root of my card, and it will load it up (I'll see the blue loading bar and then the brown loading bar in the top right hand corner of the screen), but it then checks it again, and then goes back to the original screen for the bootloader.
Are there any other solutions anyone can think of? They would be much appreciated. I see a lot of these threads for regular Evos, but not for Shifts.
The only other thing I really know about the phone is that it is:
S-On
Hboot- 0.98.0001
Radio- 1.08.00.0506
Thank you so much for all of your help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm trying to resolve a very similar problem as him, but I know of the history of my phone (since I'm the only owner), so hopefully an answer for me can assist him also.
The Story: One day, I'm playing Uno HD (downloaded from Android Market). I toss out a Draw 4, and then I see: "Google Infrastructure Failure" and a Triangle with an exclamation mark. I reset the phone, and it starts up fine. Then a few hours later, my phone randomly restarts itself into the bootloader screen after trying to reload the home screen (because the memory manager is overly aggressive).
I see no HTC Screen. It goes straight to the bootloader without any input. If I plug it to the charger from an off state, the amber light comes on, and 10 seconds later, bootloader screen. With a battery, it appears automatically after 45 seconds.
Fastboot can read my memory card just fine. It's already been re-formatted as FAT32 in my pitiful attempt to try to repair it. It's checked and read a PG06IMG file I placed on the SD Card's root, went through the entire process of reading it, but it doesn't ask me if I want to upgrade. It takes me back to the original screen. (Maybe I'm loading the wrong file).
Recovery and Factory Reset immediately restarts the bootloader after showing me the skateboarding android splash screen.
I've also tried to flash the newest stock RUU for it. (2.76.651.4), but after the RUU sends the command to start up in bootloader mode, the phone shuts off. Thus giving me the connection error.
(Maybe if someone could rewrite the .exe file to not send out the command to begin loading as if it was in the bootloader screen, it could work. I'd pay for that.)
Other Stuff:
ROM: Stock Sprint Gingerbread OTA ROM. I've been living the vanilla life. No root access. No funny stuff. Just a stock phone with apps (Third Blade, Uno HD, ASTRO File Manager, ect...)
Directly from bootloader screen:
SPEEDY XA SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.98.0001
RADIO-1.08.00.0506
eMMC-boot
April 11 2011, 22:32:34
Is there a way we can flash a file from the SD Card which will turn off the security and/or temp/perm root it? (forgive my noobness for such a question)
EDIT: I'm referring to a way that's outside of the adb push method. My device can't be found, and the device won't get past the bootloader screen, so that method doesn't help me too much. However, I do have the ADK Installed and the ADB Command Line works fine.
Ok .. HERE'S THE SOLUTION:
First off all if your S- ON it means you are NOT rooted
If you get stuck in a bootloop .. don't worry it can be fixed.
What you need to do is download PG06IMG.ZIP and place it on your sd card, you can access your sd card by going into recovery then mount section, then usb. This will allow you to move the file from your computer to the root of your sd card.
Once you do this be sure you back up any info you don't want to lose. Once you have the file in place, go back to fastboot ( hold vol down and power) it will read file and when it asks you to update press vol up. It will take a few minutes to update this will revert your phone back to stock but if you have an old recovery it will not do a full restore, it will only update the rom.
Once you get your phone back to working, I recommend updating your recovery by downloading Rom Manager and flashing the latest clockwork recovery. This problem happens usually due to an old recovery.
One other thing you can try if you do NOT want to reset your phone, you can try flashing a new kernal.
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
RUU won't work if your stuck in bootloop ..
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
If you want to root your phone use visionary to temp root then use shift rr .. you can then flash a custom recovery which is essential to avoid this from happening again
flylike2kites said:
I'm trying to resolve a very similar problem as him, but I know of the history of my phone (since I'm the only owner), so hopefully an answer for me can assist him also.
The Story: One day, I'm playing Uno HD (downloaded from Android Market). I toss out a Draw 4, and then I see: "Google Infrastructure Failure" and a Triangle with an exclamation mark. I reset the phone, and it starts up fine. Then a few hours later, my phone randomly restarts itself into the bootloader screen after trying to reload the home screen (because the memory manager is overly aggressive).
I see no HTC Screen. It goes straight to the bootloader without any input. If I plug it to the charger from an off state, the amber light comes on, and 10 seconds later, bootloader screen. With a battery, it appears automatically after 45 seconds.
Fastboot can read my memory card just fine. It's already been re-formatted as FAT32 in my pitiful attempt to try to repair it. It's checked and read a PG06IMG file I placed on the SD Card's root, went through the entire process of reading it, but it doesn't ask me if I want to upgrade. It takes me back to the original screen. (Maybe I'm loading the wrong file).
Recovery and Factory Reset immediately restarts the bootloader after showing me the skateboarding android splash screen.
I've also tried to flash the newest stock RUU for it. (2.76.651.4), but after the RUU sends the command to start up in bootloader mode, the phone shuts off. Thus giving me the connection error.
(Maybe if someone could rewrite the .exe file to not send out the command to begin loading as if it was in the bootloader screen, it could work. I'd pay for that.)
Other Stuff:
ROM: Stock Sprint Gingerbread OTA ROM. I've been living the vanilla life. No root access. No funny stuff. Just a stock phone with apps (Third Blade, Uno HD, ASTRO File Manager, ect...)
Directly from bootloader screen:
SPEEDY XA SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.98.0001
RADIO-1.08.00.0506
eMMC-boot
April 11 2011, 22:32:34
Is there a way we can flash a file from the SD Card which will turn off the security and/or temp/perm root it? (forgive my noobness for such a question)
EDIT: I'm referring to a way that's outside of the adb push method. My device can't be found, and the device won't get past the bootloader screen, so that method doesn't help me too much. However, I do have the ADK Installed and the ADB Command Line works fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Also if your phone can't be found its b/c you need to put it into diag mode .. ##DATA .. if you need more help google
tech-9 said:
If you want to root your phone use visionary to temp root then use shift rr .. you can then flash a custom recovery which is essential to avoid this from happening again
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
For the thread starter, the person that sold you the phone probably tried writing to the system partition with s-on. Since you can get to the bootloader, see if you can get into recovery. If you can, recovery can be seen in adb, even the stock recovery. From there, gingerbread root, plenty of guides out there, make sure you flash the misc.img, download the froyo downgrade zip (that pgimg09.zip or something like that, just search for it, but not with the numbers I just gave, those are made up.)
From there either flash the gingerbread zip or ruu, and goon with a unrooted life. Or follow one of the many guides to froyo root, and live the life of the rooted. Your choice.
For the second person with a similar issue, the same method will work for you (assuming you can get to recovery), gingerroot, froyo downgrade, and since you like being unrooted, just ruu or zip back to gingerbread.
Solution found enjoy, and just think, if root hadn't been discovered for gingerbread, you would be screwed right now, make sure to thank otaking.
I have the same boot loop problem. I tried using the PG06IMG.zip file and fastboot/bootloader screen says I have the wrong image. It's most likely because it's for 2.2 and I have 2.3. I also don't have any recovery. Is there a PG06IMG.zip for 2.3 or the like?
similar problem here
i'm fairly certain i tried recovery with the wrong or corrupt or incomplete PG06IMG.zip on my first attempt. i got the right one from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1255474
i ran it, says update installed, but when i reboot i still get the loop
from bootloader
SPEEDY XE SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
RADIO-1.07.00.1129
eMMC-boot
Nov 15 2010, 13:19:54
zdavidzz said:
i'm fairly certain i tried recovery with the wrong or corrupt or incomplete PG06IMG.zip on my first attempt. i got the right one from here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1255474
i ran it, says update installed, but when i reboot i still get the loop
from bootloader
SPEEDY XE SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.0001
RADIO-1.07.00.1129
eMMC-boot
Nov 15 2010, 13:19:54
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try downloading the zip again and re run it. Possibly a bad download?
Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
also adb is telling me device not found. i think i might have to factory reset. is that crazy?
---------- Post added at 01:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:27 PM ----------
and... that didn't help
i'm downloading the zip again right now.
since i have s-on, will i be able to install it though?
i can get the file on the root of the sdcard with an adapter since i can't push from adb. and i can't temp root the phone because if i try a normal reboot i get this stupid boot loop. is there a way to get s-off through hboot on the phone?
i don't know why i didn't notice that first file was messed up, it was only 6MB.
I have a rooted, stock rom captivate. I was installing a new piece of software and it got hung up, wouldn't finish installing. I pulled the battery and restarted it, now it won't go past the GalaxyS screen. I tried pulling the battery, sim and sd card. Didn't help. I can boot into Recovery Mode, but when I try Download mode, it just goes to the GalaxyS screen and stays there. Obviously my first choice is to return it to where it was an hour ago - I have a lot of apps on here. My second choice is to return it to stock - I'm guessing I would have to unroot it anyway when they finally send out the Gingerbread update. I am NOT interested in any custom roms. Can someone help me?
Try getting into download mode.
1) pull out battery
2) reinsert after 10 seconds
3) hold vol + and vol -
4) plug in usb.
flash stock.
low99 said:
Try getting into download mode.
1) pull out battery
2) reinsert after 10 seconds
3) hold vol + and vol -
4) plug in usb.
flash stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
OK, that worked! Thanks!! The phone now says "Downloading... Do not turn off Target!!!" Soooooo... how the hell do I "flash stock"?
And when I do flash to stock, do I first remove the SIM? How about the SD card? Will I lose my apps? My contacts? Will I be "stock" and able to download the Gingerbread update when it comes out?
Thanks again for the help - I've never done any of this before, so a step-by-step help is appreciated. I read through a lot of the threads here for suggestions, but so many of them are in jargon that assumes you've done this a million times before.
Flash a ROM will wipe out everything on your phone. You will need to learn to use one of those 3rd party ROM flash tools and download ROMs for yourself.
Given that you can still boot into recovery mode, maybe you should try factory reset first (clear cache menu in recovery mode). It will also wipe out everything on your phone but you don't need to risk brick your phone when flashing ROMs.
What exactly is the app that caused your problem? And if you have applied any type of lag fix, you may have more troubles than you thought.
OK, I did the clear cache option in Recovery, my phone still just boots to the GalaxyS screen. I searched flashing to stock and found a million different posts, all with different instructions. Is there a quick, safe and simple (for someone who's never done it) way to get my phone up and running?
Another option -- my phone is less than a year old. Can I just return it to AT&T and get a replacement? Will the fact that it was rooted make them refuse?
foxbat121 said:
Flash a ROM will wipe out everything on your phone.
What exactly is the app that caused your problem? And if you have applied any type of lag fix, you may have more troubles than you thought.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was trying to install the Pure Grid Calendar widget that I downloaded from APKTOP. No lag fix.
miscrap said:
OK, I did the clear cache option in Recovery, my phone still just boots to the GalaxyS screen. I searched flashing to stock and found a million different posts, all with different instructions. Is there a quick, safe and simple (for someone who's never done it) way to get my phone up and running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Since yours is on stick ROM (either 2.1 or 2.2), search for OneClick stock ROM thread which will bring you back to 2.1 or 2.2 easily.
Another option -- my phone is less than a year old. Can I just return it to AT&T and get a replacement? Will the fact that it was rooted make them refuse?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Given the state of your phone, they have no easy way to tell if you're rooted or not
But you will get a refurbished phone as replacement. If you can handle that, it's the easiest way out.
Thanks for the help. Took the phone to the AT&T repair center in town, they shut it off and turned it on, got the same screen, handed me a "new" phone.
Hello All
I flashed my Nexus S i9023 with 9020 by accident. I was not watching. Phone is completly dead. I presume there are no ways to restore it? Wrong bootloader was flashed.
What's more important is the data on the phone, including pictures. I had done a backup but forgot the Nexus S SDCard is only a partition...%$%$#$#
Do I have any hope? Anyway to rip the phone apart and extract the data from the memory chip?
funkyblue04 said:
Do I have any hope? Anyway to rip the phone apart and extract the data from the memory chip?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you know how to do board level chip removal without applying too much heat and then you have the equipment to read the memory the answer is a conservative yes. Otherwise for the normal person, the answer is no. The data is gone.
I have yet to see a hard bricked nexus s. Pull the battery and put it back in. Hold power....do you feel the vibration like it does when you first turn it on? If so you are not seeing anything on the screen because you have SAMOLED drivers when you have an slcd. If you are at this point, you should be able to again pull the battery, put it back in and boot into the bootloader by pressing and holding volume up and power. You should now have access to fastboot and can flash the individual partitions with the correct 9023 software.
If you can't get fastboot working the next option would be to try to restore via Odin by putting your phone in download mode. Lastly you could send in your phone for jtag recovery. Unfortunately there will probably be no way to recovery data off the SD unless option 1 works.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
I tried everything. It was dead. No download mode at all. No active USB and a USB JIG did not put the phone in download mode. (Some suggested the screen won't work due to SAMOLED vs SLCD, but that was not the case either!)
Lesson learnt! I returned the phone and it was EOA'd and got a new one.
Rem3Dy said:
I have yet to see a hard bricked nexus s. Pull the battery and put it back in. Hold power....do you feel the vibration like it does when you first turn it on? If so you are not seeing anything on the screen because you have SAMOLED drivers when you have an slcd. If you are at this point, you should be able to again pull the battery, put it back in and boot into the bootloader by pressing and holding volume up and power. You should now have access to fastboot and can flash the individual partitions with the correct 9023 software.
If you can't get fastboot working the next option would be to try to restore via Odin by putting your phone in download mode. Lastly you could send in your phone for jtag recovery. Unfortunately there will probably be no way to recovery data off the SD unless option 1 works.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There might not be bricked ones but there are unusable ones. I was trying to help a guy who's Nexus S got borked by the 2.3.6 OTA. The bootloader won't unlock and Odin won't flash any files due to the bootloader being locked. Download mode is a screen that says to unlock the bootloader. If he had unlocked the bootloader before this happened it would have been an easy fix. But because the bootloader cannot be unlocked now, although the phone is not a technical brick, it is effectively one.
jboxer said:
There might not be bricked ones but there are unusable ones. I was trying to help a guy who's Nexus S got borked by the 2.3.6 OTA. The bootloader won't unlock and Odin won't flash any files due to the bootloader being locked. Download mode is a screen that says to unlock the bootloader. If he had unlocked the bootloader before this happened it would have been an easy fix. But because the bootloader cannot be unlocked now, although the phone is not a technical brick, it is effectively one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Download mode should just be a blank screen. Odin is samsungs factory tool to recover phones to a stock setting. It could care less about the bootloader state. Since you can get to the bootloader you need to flash the rom through fastboot. That would recover the phone you described.
glockman63 said:
Hi all
I got this sorted out and am really happy to have my phone going again.
For those interested or in the same predicament I was in please read on as this is how I managed to make this phone go again.
Please rmemeber this phone was really bricked no screen at all jus the menu light like in the picture in my first post.
As I stated I could get fast boot to see the phone. And also Odin. (Still no screen at all)
I had another phone the same with the original rom on board.
I rooted this phone and installed ClockworkMod recovery ad used this to backup the standard ROM.
I then rebooted this phone an copied these files from the backup into my fastboot directory (boot.img, recovery.img, system.img)
I then connected my dead phone up to my PC and ran the following commands.
1. fastboot flash boot boot.img
2. fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
3. fastboot flash system system.img
4. fastboot erase cache
5. fastboot erase userdata
I then removed the battery and to my astonisment the phone booted normally into the standard ROM.
WOW I was over the moon I have since installed my MIUI Rom and using my phone happily...
Thanks everyone for your input..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium
Hey yall. I had the phone for 6 days before I bricked it. I am wondering if there is any stock recovery mode or anything or what I shsould do? I think something went wrong due to using the root toolbox pro app. I have done some backups within the ap as well as Titanium Backup but now the phone will not boot up and I dont know if/how to put it in factory recovery mode. Soft reset does nothing. The Motorola logo will show on startup but then the screen just blacks out forever, not off, just colored black.
A few details, the phone was rooted with Motofail2go, with no recovery and bootloader still locked as far as I know.
Should I take it to Sprint for a factory reset? Is this even an option? What are my other options?
Next time I will probably use the Moto unlock key so I can open the bootloader all legit like and have a recovery mode...
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Once unlocked flash the custom recovery of your choice (I like twrp). You can boot into custom recovery by holding volume up and the power button from a powered down state. Here is the link for instructions on how to flash twrp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887070
Then you can download one of the stock backups for the Q posted in the development section and restore them using the custom recovery. Most of the ones I have seen have been compatible with twrp.
The only way to download the stock rom backups is to remove the sd card from your phone, plug your sd card into a PC or other device with a card reader, download the stock backups, and place the stock backup rom files on your sd card. Finally place the sd card with the stock backup downloads into your phone.
These backups and information on how to go through this process can be found in this thread on page 2: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001226
The key is to make a backup of your existing rom with twrp and then move the stock backups from your sd card to the twrp/backups/yourdeiceserial/ directory. That creates a backup directory which twrp knows to look for backups in.
Don't feel bad, I've been in that state several times since getting the Q, live and learn.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
UnicronAlpha99 said:
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Once unlocked flash the custom recovery of your choice (I like twrp). You can boot into custom recovery by holding volume up and the power button from a powered down state. Here is the link for instructions on how to flash twrp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887070
Then you can download one of the stock backups for the Q posted in the development section and restore them using the custom recovery. Most of the ones I have seen have been compatible with twrp.
Don't feel bad, I've been in that state several times since getting the Q, live and learn.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that does not work you could drop it in water or something. You have not officially unlocked boot loader so you still have warranty. Or you could just tell sprint it quit working and act completely clueless. At least its bricked with warranty still intact.
matt2k12 said:
Hey yall. I had the phone for 6 days before I bricked it. I am wondering if there is any stock recovery mode or anything or what I shsould do? I think something went wrong due to using the root toolbox pro app. I have done some backups within the ap as well as Titanium Backup but now the phone will not boot up and I dont know if/how to put it in factory recovery mode. Soft reset does nothing. The Motorola logo will show on startup but then the screen just blacks out forever, not off, just colored black.
A few details, the phone was rooted with Motofail2go, with no recovery and bootloader still locked as far as I know.
Should I take it to Sprint for a factory reset? Is this even an option? What are my other options?
Next time I will probably use the Moto unlock key so I can open the bootloader all legit like and have a recovery mode...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both of the methods above are very effective. When I had the first photon I bricked it and just dropped it in water and did a claim. Depending on the insurance you have that way may cost you $100. The other method should work. When I first got this phone I did the exact same thing and to go back and unlock then flash twrp and in stall a stock backup someone had posted.
Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2
UnicronAlpha99 said:
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. Is there anything extra extra special about getting into factory fastboot mode? I can't seem to get it done. Is there an official set of instructions anywhere? Does the phone need to be plugged into the PC? It was always my understanding (for the last week) that Power and Vol Down was the soft reset mode which reboots the phone. Therefore it always tries to reboot in normal mode. This is what keeps happening. It never powers completely down using this method.
Anyhow, once I follow your instructions, the Moto logo appears, no Sprint logo appears, the phone "powers on" but the screen is blacked out (not off). After waiting for a while at the blank/black screen, or holding down several buttons like vol or camera I get the first attachment: "Process system is not responding. Would you like to close it?" When I wait nothing happens. When I push OK nothing happens. By chance, I held down power during the notification and the power menu came up behind the ANR notice (second/third attachments). So obviously there are some things working but the main system isn't booting up. And either factory fastboot is nuked or I can't figure it out. When I power down from this accessible power menu and try to do the fastboot (Power / Vol Down) I still havent gotten it to work.
Any other ideas before I take drastic measures?
Since I bought it from Amazon would that be my best route for return or should I go thru a Sprint store?
Thanks in advance.
Hi again yall. You know once I got to thinking about it, I decided to check out the return policy on Amazon Wireless. They will accept any device under warranty for the first 30 days and it is up to Moto for the next 11 months of warranty coverage. They email me a packing label and it ships out 1 day and they ship out the new phone 1 day shipping. Hard to beat, just takes 2 days of shipping and some more fun times with my Epic, 10.1CM style, in the meantime.
Who's to say it wasnt some sort of hardware or software glitch that bricked the phone rather than my screwing around? Nobody knows and it isn't up to the consumer to prove his innocence. I bought everything legally, all the apps at the app store, and only ran the motofail2go root method. Wasn't running any custom Roms, Mods, or anything. I don't feel bad after they got me for another 2 grand for 24 months, and since I have been with Sprint for 10 years;l I have spent well over 10k or 15k with them lifetime.
If any other method pops up between now and when I ship it out I may give it a shot but if not, ah well, capitalism.
matt2k12 said:
Thanks for the response. Is there anything extra extra special about getting into factory fastboot mode? I can't seem to get it done. Is there an official set of instructions anywhere? Does the phone need to be plugged into the PC? It was always my understanding (for the last week) that Power and Vol Down was the soft reset mode which reboots the phone. Therefore it always tries to reboot in normal mode. This is what keeps happening. It never powers completely down using this method.
Anyhow, once I follow your instructions, the Moto logo appears, no Sprint logo appears, the phone "powers on" but the screen is blacked out (not off). After waiting for a while at the blank/black screen, or holding down several buttons like vol or camera I get the first attachment: "Process system is not responding. Would you like to close it?" When I wait nothing happens. When I push OK nothing happens. By chance, I held down power during the notification and the power menu came up behind the ANR notice (second/third attachments). So obviously there are some things working but the main system isn't booting up. And either factory fastboot is nuked or I can't figure it out. When I power down from this accessible power menu and try to do the fastboot (Power / Vol Down) I still havent gotten it to work.
Any other ideas before I take drastic measures?
Since I bought it from Amazon would that be my best route for return or should I go thru a Sprint store?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using adb. If your computer has drivers on it for phone you might able to get into fast boot. If that does not work I would try Sprint store first. Have locked my phone up several times while hacking wife off in progress and have used adb every time. Only time i have been truely scared is when i soft bricked my nexus 7. had to stay at work for two hours after i got off to get it to recover because i was scared of her lol.
---------- Post added at 02:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------
If you get adb to recognize device you could take chance and officially unlock boot loader. Then flash twrp. There is a thread in general section about having trouble getting official update. It has a stock recovery in it. Trick would be moving files to recovery section of twrp
I have gotten the phone to soft power down and get into fast boot and custom recovery. It's a bit tricky with timing, I usually wait for the screen to go black after soft reset, let go, and immediately hold power and volume down. If you can not boot into fastboot I honestly don't know what you can do either than return the phone.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
UnicronAlpha99 said:
I have gotten the phone to soft power down and get into fast boot and custom recovery. It's a bit tricky with timing, I usually wait for the screen to go black after soft reset, let go, and immediately hold power and volume down. If you can not boot into fastboot I honestly don't know what you can do either than return the phone.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help Unicron. I think Brandons method might be my only alternative... but you know what? I already have the box packed up to ship back to Amazon! I am still a noob; I dunno if I could go the distance on this one. I have been updating my Android SDK files since I got the phone but I never got it to recognize boot up thru ADB fastboot. disclaimer* I havent tried it in a couple days since all teh SDK updates completed.
I dunno though I am a big time DIYer when possible. If it werent for the massive amount of tape I put on the box and packing label I would already be trying this method. I can't convince myself just yet. Amazon makes it too easy. I could have the *new* phone by Friday. Then I wouldn't be wasting my remaining work week trying to hack into my personal Christmas present in order to make it function...........................................
Edit - Yes I'm impatient. My job is too demanding and I am trying to set a good precedent for 2013. Wasting the first 3 work days on a phone is not how I intend to start off the year. There is probably a valuable lesson to be learned from this as far as hacking experience and to be honest with the responses here I think I could get it to boot up from PC in SDK/ADB mode and go from there. I just didnt know if that was possible until after I made the claim with Amazon. I still have an entire day today and tomorrow if I want to indulge myself. It doesnt matter if I mail the package today or Wednesday, I can still get it by Friday. I believe this thread is still valuable because we have patterns of repeating past failures and I may find use of it when I recieve my new phone and, darn it, it mysteriously bricks as well. in the same fashion.... the only thing I was really trying to do was get all my apps on my SD card... sad huh?
Edit 2 - Opened up the box, tried fastboot and adb, nothing. Off she goes.
I don't blame you, it sounds easier to exchange in your case any way. The main suggestion I have is if you are getting into any type of build.prop or operating system tweaks that have potential to lead to boot loops or cause the phone not to boot, then unlock the bootloader and install custom recovery.
The Moto-fail method seems limited to only be able to run apps that require root. For me this has no use as I want to be able to have complete control over all aspects of the Android OS. There is not a huge mod community for the Q as yet but I believe Cyanogen will be a reality as Interloper continues working on it. I came from an Epic with Cyanogen and soft-bricked it a minimum of 50 times. CWM was very forgiving on that phone, the Q is a lot more finicky and frustrating.
If you have insurance through the carrier then you are going to pay $150 for a refurb if something goes wrong and you hard brick the phone. If you unlock bootloader and install custom recovery then you have a fail-safe in the form of nandroid backups and restores. Then you can mod away with little fear.
Good luck on the new phone and I hope you don't give up after six days of modding with the Q!
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
matt2k12 said:
Thanks for the help Unicron. I think Brandons method might be my only alternative... but you know what? I already have the box packed up to ship back to Amazon! I am still a noob; I dunno if I could go the distance on this one. I have been updating my Android SDK files since I got the phone but I never got it to recognize boot up thru ADB fastboot. disclaimer* I havent tried it in a couple days since all teh SDK updates completed.
I dunno though I am a big time DIYer when possible. If it werent for the massive amount of tape I put on the box and packing label I would already be trying this method. I can't convince myself just yet. Amazon makes it too easy. I could have the *new* phone by Friday. Then I wouldn't be wasting my remaining work week trying to hack into my personal Christmas present in order to make it function...........................................
Edit - Yes I'm impatient. My job is too demanding and I am trying to set a good precedent for 2013. Wasting the first 3 work days on a phone is not how I intend to start off the year. There is probably a valuable lesson to be learned from this as far as hacking experience and to be honest with the responses here I think I could get it to boot up from PC in SDK/ADB mode and go from there. I just didnt know if that was possible until after I made the claim with Amazon. I still have an entire day today and tomorrow if I want to indulge myself. It doesnt matter if I mail the package today or Wednesday, I can still get it by Friday. I believe this thread is still valuable because we have patterns of repeating past failures and I may find use of it when I recieve my new phone and, darn it, it mysteriously bricks as well. in the same fashion.... the only thing I was really trying to do was get all my apps on my SD card... sad huh?
Edit 2 - Opened up the box, tried fastboot and adb, nothing. Off she goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
befrosty8612 said:
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure wish I would have known that ahead of time. Does this work without any recovery mode and with the bootloader still locked?
matt2k12 said:
Sure wish I would have known that ahead of time. Does this work without any recovery mode and with the bootloader still locked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does work without any recovery mode and I believe it still works without the bootloader being unlocked, I didn't know about this myself until after I had already unlocked it. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner.
befrosty8612 said:
It does work without any recovery mode and I believe it still works without the bootloader being unlocked, I didn't know about this myself until after I had already unlocked it. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, I am wanting to do the backdoor root method again but, of course, may brick it. I dont think Amazon will keep sending me new ones.... but maybe!
befrosty8612 said:
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone concerned, I knew it would only be a matter of time until bricking my new device. This damn Root Toolbox Pro did it to me again, and on a simple, menial task. I am going to be working thru the motions on getting this to work.
Using the instructions quoted I did get stock recovery to work or at least flash on the screen for a split second. Seems like there is a timer on the recovery screen. I am having trouble with the fastboot prompt though on the PC. Do I do it in the "platform-tools" folder which contains fastboot or in the "tools" folder of the main SDK directory? I am really a noob, can you give me the cliff notes of how to get into ADB, fastboot, etc on the Photon Q in order to do a factory reset? I already have Android SDK installed and completely up to date so that is done. And Fastboot is installed. I'm just having trouble crossing the finish line here... I can get the fastboot page opened in the stock recovery but from there I'm lost. I dont know what to type into the command prompt, in what directory, or what.... Also when I open the command prompt in the SDK folder on the PC with fastboot in the directory and type "adb reboot bootloader" it says "device not found". Maybe (surely) that is the wrong prompt?
FWIW my phone is showing the dead android guy. I didnt do anything besides try and clear up my Play Store download list which required a reboot. The phone never started back up. I dont know how much damage was done or info was lost or whatever, but seeing as how I was rooted but still locked, I had no custom recovery. So no back ups. Is there anything to restore or am I looking at a full wipe and restore?
matt2k12 said:
For anyone concerned, I knew it would only be a matter of time until bricking my new device. This damn Root Toolbox Pro did it to me again, and on a simple, menial task. I am going to be working thru the motions on getting this to work.
Using the instructions quoted I did get stock recovery to work or at least flash on the screen for a split second. Seems like there is a timer on the recovery screen. I am having trouble with the fastboot prompt though on the PC. Do I do it in the "platform-tools" folder which contains fastboot or in the "tools" folder of the main SDK directory? I am really a noob, can you give me the cliff notes of how to get into ADB, fastboot, etc on the Photon Q in order to do a factory reset? I already have Android SDK installed and completely up to date so that is done. And Fastboot is installed. I'm just having trouble crossing the finish line here... I can get the fastboot page opened in the stock recovery but from there I'm lost. I dont know what to type into the command prompt, in what directory, or what.... Also when I open the command prompt in the SDK folder on the PC with fastboot in the directory and type "adb reboot bootloader" it says "device not found". Maybe (surely) that is the wrong prompt?
FWIW my phone is showing the dead android guy. I didnt do anything besides try and clear up my Play Store download list which required a reboot. The phone never started back up. I dont know how much damage was done or info was lost or whatever, but seeing as how I was rooted but still locked, I had no custom recovery. So no back ups. Is there anything to restore or am I looking at a full wipe and restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As abnormal as it seems, your situation seems pretty normal... at least from my shoes. I went through the same scenario... I didn't know what adb was, or fastboot, etc. So, here's what I know
the fastboot commands work even if adb doesnt see it in the list of devices attached. Somehow it just works (as long as the phone is in fastboot mode).
If you're able to get to the fastboot mode, things should be okay. Just open a windows explorer window to the Platform-Tools, hold the shift key and right click on a blank space within the window, then click open command window here.
you should be able to pass any adb (if the phone is on and recognized) or fastboot (if phone is in fastboot mode) commands from that command prompt.
Also, if you have a stock recovery, CMW, or TWRP image, this is the folder to copy those .img files to. Once you get your phone into fastboot mode and its plugged into the computer, just type into the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
If you're just looking to reboot the phone into recovery
If you have a CWM or TWRP recovery just replace the recovery.img with whatever the .img file that you have. Also, as a tip instead of writing the entire file name, just press the first couple letters then press the tab key within the command prompt, it should fill in the rest. keep pressing tab until you get to the .img file name you want.
To avoid doing this again, maybe I can help... what were you trying to do to begin with? From the sound of it, you were trying to root the phone with the Root Toolbox Pro but it bricked, and then you tried to reboot into recovery and then got the red android... ?
befrosty8612 said:
As abnormal as it seems, your situation seems pretty normal... at least from my shoes. I went through the same scenario... I didn't know what adb was, or fastboot, etc. So, here's what I know
the fastboot commands work even if adb doesnt see it in the list of devices attached. Somehow it just works (as long as the phone is in fastboot mode).
If you're able to get to the fastboot mode, things should be okay. Just open a windows explorer window to the Platform-Tools, hold the shift key and right click on a blank space within the window, then click open command window here.
you should be able to pass any adb (if the phone is on and recognized) or fastboot (if phone is in fastboot mode) commands from that command prompt.
Also, if you have a stock recovery, CMW, or TWRP image, this is the folder to copy those .img files to. Once you get your phone into fastboot mode and its plugged into the computer, just type into the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
If you're just looking to reboot the phone into recovery
If you have a CWM or TWRP recovery just replace the recovery.img with whatever the .img file that you have. Also, as a tip instead of writing the entire file name, just press the first couple letters then press the tab key within the command prompt, it should fill in the rest. keep pressing tab until you get to the .img file name you want.
To avoid doing this again, maybe I can help... what were you trying to do to begin with? From the sound of it, you were trying to root the phone with the Root Toolbox Pro but it bricked, and then you tried to reboot into recovery and then got the red android... ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. So, all I have to do is: go to fastboot and flash a stock recovery image file and it will automatically wipe the phone, cache, everything, and restore the operating system? Sounds awfully easy! I found some stock files in this post : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001226&page=2 Are these the ones you used before?
Last question: I can flash CWM or TWRP but wont be able to access them if my bootloader is locked, correct? So flashing a stock recovery will allow me to have my stock phone back again, locked and un-rooted? I guess if I cant get it to work with the stock recovery then I can unlock the bootloader and do a CWM or TWRP recovery and then flash the stock .img files?
Thanks again for your help. I already had root with the motofail2go method which I like using but seems like when I try and use some generic root feature from apps from the app store that it will crash/brick the phone cuz obviously those apps are generalized and likely to brick certain percentage of devices....
Ok what does this mean? Something with the bootlaoder obviously. Does it need to be unlocked?
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash recover
y qrecovery1.img
(bootloader) Variable not supported!
target reported max download size of 31457280 bytes
sending 'recovery' (5962 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.479s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 0.755s
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>
And on the phone screen it says "invalid image size for partition recovery" twice for both times I tried this method.
You will need to flash the system image as well if you want those, as the recovery image will only flash the recovery. The files in that link are for twrp only... so you'll have to be able to get there first.
With the custom recoveries, I'm not 100% sure whether or not you will be able to use them without being unlocked. I would wait to see if anyone else can answer that question for you, but if you did try it without an unlocked bootloader, you at least have the stock recovery to fall back on if needed.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 PM ----------
I'm thinking it could either be that your phone is full and the image you're flashing is too large to fit on the space available...
Or you're trying to flash custom software on a locked phone.
Hopefully someone is able to answer that a little better...
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
You can't alter the stock recovery (flash a custom recovery like twrp or cwm) in fastboot without having the bootloader unlocked. Your options are to unlock your bootloader, flash custom recovery, create a backup of your current setup, download one of the stock working backups, place it in the backups folder for twrp on your external sd card, and restore one of the known working backups in the development section (befrosty linked to one). Or you could use RSD lite to return to stock using a stock factory firmware flash. That involves connecting your phone to your PC and flashing the phone back to factory stock. Information on RSD Lite and links to the FXZ's can be found here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2095536
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Hello, friends at XDA!
My dad has a MyTouch 4G Slide. I didn't want to root it because, ironically, I wanted him to have better support and not end up with a bunch of questions from T-Mobile, should he ever need support. I'm now regretting that decision; his future devices will be rooted out of the box...
The phone, in its current state, will get as far as the splash screen. It will sit there for about 20 seconds, and then turn the screen off. After another ten seconds or so, the phone goes back to the splash screen again.
I can get myself into the bootloader, which is still S-ON. That works reliably, but it's still a bit of a dead end. It checks for a baseband update on the phone, and upon not finding an applicable file on the SD card, spits me back into the fastboot menu. Naturally, I went for the recovery environment. I was able to get to it last night, but even that was a bit shallow in that I got to the red triangle screen, but no menu options were presented. Still, I figured that the recovery environment would allow me to run Unrevoked or similar, but when I came home the phone was camping out on the "waiting for device..." screen, to no avail.
My goal was to root in order to install a recovery environment; I know that ClockWorkMod and TWRP both allow for data to be backed up from within the recovery environment. There are call logs and contacts (no, they're not synced with Exchange or Google) that would be greatly appreciated if I could recover before I perform a factory reset as T-Mobile has instructed me to do.
Is there a way I can flash a recovery environment onto this phone using only the access provided by the phone's search for a baseband update from the bootloader?
Thank you for your time and assistance in this matter.
Joey
Unfortunately no, if you can't boot to os and have stock recovery then you have no adb access which means chances of recovering any data is nil
The red triangle is stock recovery, some combo of buttons (like volume up and down) will bring you options but I forget which ones
Hopefully a factory reset will bring your phone a live as you need to get to the os just to unlock your bootloader so you can flash a custom recovery and root the phone
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
I always root my phone so I'm not sure but,
You can try to start the device by pressing the power and volume - key at the same time.
Then connect to the pc and try the toolkit.
Maybe others can comment if this wil work.
Sent from my HTC One X using xda app-developers app
No Solution
Hey guys,
by some miracle I managed to get the phone working JUST long enough to run a MyBackup Pro task on it; T-Mobile performed a warranty swap on the phone. There was no consistent solution to it though, but thanks for the input everyone.
Joey