Database Info

[Q] Can't boot on custom roms

Hey,
I recently unlocked my phone using HTCDev.com and rooted it.
At first I couldn't get CWM Recovery on it using ROMManager (even though Rommanager said it was installed it loaded to the default recovery) but I got it on there using adb.
Now when I try to flash any Rom it'll just get stuck on the white screen with green HTC text.
When I restore to my backup of the default rom it'll just boot as normal.
I have HBoot 2.00.0002 (Sense 3.0 update) S-ON (unlocked).
I tried flashing it using Rommanager, CWMRecovery, manually wiping the Cache, Data and Dalvik using CWM, I tried flashing in CWM and I tried both MIUI and Cyanogenmod.
Anyone knows what I'm doing wrong?

RichieHeijmans said:
Hey,
I recently unlocked my phone using HTCDev.com and rooted it.
At first I couldn't get CWM Recovery on it using ROMManager (even though Rommanager said it was installed it loaded to the default recovery) but I got it on there using adb.
Now when I try to flash any Rom it'll just get stuck on the white screen with green HTC text.
When I restore to my backup of the default rom it'll just boot as normal.
I have HBoot 2.00.0002 (Sense 3.0 update) S-ON (unlocked).
I tried flashing it using Rommanager, CWMRecovery, manually wiping the Cache, Data and Dalvik using CWM, I tried flashing in CWM and I tried both MIUI and Cyanogenmod.
Anyone knows what I'm doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes. Unlocking with htcdev leaves your device S-ON, and stops the rom installers from flashing boot.img. So you're left with custom rom, and stock 3.0 kernel. Might work with sense 3.0, but flash any 3.5 rom and you're stuck at boot.
You need to:
- open the custom rom and extract boot.img
- flash the custom rom by the usual way
- flash boot.img manually using fastboot (look for instructions here in xda)
- and....
- ...
- wait for it...
- ...
- search first before you start a new thread. This has been answered many times here in this sub-forum.
Cheers

Or at least look in the index (see the last link at end of my Sig) this is covered by one of the guides
Swyped from my Desire S using XDA Premium

Hi!
I just flashed CyanogenMod 7.1 ROM, and then flashed it's boot.img with "fastboot flash boot" and that worked well! But i did'n like that rom, so i restored Hyperion ROM in cwm recorvery and it did stuck on the htc -logo. I thought that may be the CyanogenMod boot images fault, and i flashed Hyperions boot image and then it booted normally!
So, until I get my phone S-Off(now unlocked via htcdev) do I need always flash a new boot image if I dont come from ROM wich have same kernel that the ROM what I'm flashing?
Sorry for my english!

TooByAas said:
Hi!
I just flashed CyanogenMod 7.1 ROM, and then flashed it's boot.img with "fastboot flash boot" and that worked well! But i did'n like that rom, so i restored Hyperion ROM in cwm recorvery and it did stuck on the htc -logo. I thought that may be the CyanogenMod boot images fault, and i flashed Hyperions boot image and then it booted normally!
So, until I get my phone S-Off(now unlocked via htcdev) do I need always flash a new boot image if I dont come from ROM wich have same kernel that the ROM what I'm flashing?
Sorry for my english!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have summed it up well. The answer is Yes till you get s-off.
Sent from my HTC Desire S using XDA App

{HELP} device is keep booting into recovey -- SOLVED --

To the Guru of this forum. After my last rom flashing my device is keeping booting into recovery :crying:. Is it briked ? If so my only hope is the unbricking project ? Thanks in advance.

What recovery are you running?
Can you use the power menu within recovery to boot into bootloader?
Also, please provide as much pertinent info as possible, ie: rom you flashed, firmware, s-off or s-on, locked or unlocked. With your description it's basically like saying, "my car makes a noise all the time. what is causing it?".

Its not bricked.If u can enter recovery
Sent from my HTC sensation

Sorry you are right:
What recovery are you running? 4Ext
Can you use the power menu within recovery to boot into bootloader? yes
The device is HTC unlocked with S-On.
Rom JBMIUI v4.1 2.8.31 R2.
HBOOT 1.27.0000
firmware 3.33.401.6
I've format everything but SD. Restored the most recent back up done today before flashing. Once it reboots HTC logo comes up once, black screen, HTC logo, 4Ext is coming up saying that smartflash it is set to update the boot partition on next system start asking if this should be removed.
I've downloaded and installed again PG58IMG *different files using bootloader
I've founded a 3.33.401.6-Unsecured-Boot.img,+Root+Busybox zip file that can be installed via recovery but it did not help.
At this point I need a bit of help to look into the right direction and I'm not sure that Unbrick_Pyramid is the right way.
Thanks again.

Try turning off smartflash and flash a 3.33 stock rom to see if it will boot.
What was your last working setup, and what were you trying to install?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2

Hi. Manage to flash a stock 3.33.
It stopped to reboot straight into recovery.
Sits now on HTC logo now for about 10 mins. I plan to let him run for 1 hr and see what happens.
Was thinking to install CWM on the basis that could be a 4ext recovery issue, toughs?
GROGG88 said:
Try turning off smartflash and flash a 3.33 stock rom to see if it will boot.
What was your last working setup, and what were you trying to install?
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you can install clockworkmod that may help.
Tge device isnt getting the message that it has already booted into recovery once. So something may be jacked up with 4ext.
Clockwork may bypass all that when it doesnt know what to do with that signal to run smartflash.
Worst case scenario...put a full pm58img containing a rom and recovery on the sf card and flash that through bootloader.
You should still be able to get to bootloader as the device looks for that option first.
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda app-developers app

Hallo. Ok installed CWM. Can please direct me to a full pm58img as you mentioned ? Thx.
Skipjacks said:
If you can install clockworkmod that may help.
Tge device isnt getting the message that it has already booted into recovery once. So something may be jacked up with 4ext.
Clockwork may bypass all that when it doesnt know what to do with that signal to run smartflash.
Worst case scenario...put a full pm58img containing a rom and recovery on the sf card and flash that through bootloader.
You should still be able to get to bootloader as the device looks for that option first.
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

DiscreteTask said:
Hallo. Ok installed CWM. Can please direct me to a full pm58img as you mentioned ? Thx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And did that help? Are you able to get into recovery without errors now? If so you should be able to flash a fresh version of any ROM.
Try that first. Get any ROM. Flash it. See if it boots.
If you have successfully replaced 4EXT I will bet a fresh flash of a ROM will now boot.
Also worth a shot is replacing or upgrading the firmware, as that could be what's sending the phone into recovery on each boot (though this is less likely that 4EXT just being broken)
Flash a firmware PM58IMG like 3.32 or 3.33 and see if that helps.
But for starters, put a fresh ROM on the SD card and flash it with CWM. (BE SURE IT'S A ROM THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE 4EXT!!)
Once you've got it all fixed you can switch back to 4EXT. I have a feeling it was just the copy you were running that got botched. The software itself is solid and stable. A new copy shoudl work fine now.

CWM v5.0.2.0 was installed fine.
3.33 firmware installed once again.
Using this I've installed ROM that I already did in the past w/o luck, they all sit on the HTC logo. Is like the initial boot sequence is broken. Is boot.img part of the firmware or ROM ?
Trying to download some additional ones.
Thanks,
Skipjacks said:
And did that help? Are you able to get into recovery without errors now? If so you should be able to flash a fresh
version of any ROM.
Try that first. Get any ROM. Flash it. See if it boots.
If you have successfully replaced 4EXT I will bet a fresh flash of a ROM will now boot.
Also worth a shot is replacing or upgrading the firmware, as that could be what's sending the phone into recovery on each boot (though this is less likely that 4EXT just being broken)
Flash a firmware PM58IMG like 3.32 or 3.33 and see if that helps.
But for starters, put a fresh ROM on the SD card and flash it with CWM. (BE SURE IT'S A ROM THAT DOESN'T REQUIRE 4EXT!!)
Once you've got it all fixed you can switch back to 4EXT. I have a feeling it was just the copy you were running that got botched. The software itself is solid and stable. A new copy shoudl work fine now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

DiscreteTask said:
CWM v5.0.2.0 was installed fine.
3.33 firmware installed once again.
Using this I've installed ROM that I already did in the past w/o luck, they all sit on the HTC logo. Is like the initial boot sequence is broken. Is boot.img part of the firmware or ROM ?
Trying to download some additional ones.
Thanks,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more details you give, the better the answers will be. Don't consider any detail too small.
What do you mean you installed ROM's that you had done in the past? Do you mean you are trying to restore a backup made with 4EXT?
That won't work. You need to flash a fresh version of the ROM after wiping.
Also, CWM won't install some ROM's that you may have used in the past. What ROM are you trying to install?
The HTC logo that first pops up when you hit the power button is part of the firmware.
Make sure you do a full wipe of everything but the SD card from within CWM. Get whatever's causing the problem off that way. Then flash a fresh install of a ROM from scratch.

Hi.
I did not use any backup only fresh ROMs: ARHD, Elegantia, but also stock ROMs I could find.
I've tried also some PG58IMG with ROM included.
Cheers.
Skipjacks said:
The more details you give, the better the answers will be. Don't consider any detail too small.
What do you mean you installed ROM's that you had done in the past? Do you mean you are trying to restore a backup made with 4EXT?
That won't work. You need to flash a fresh version of the ROM after wiping.
Also, CWM won't install some ROM's that you may have used in the past. What ROM are you trying to install?
The HTC logo that first pops up when you hit the power button is part of the firmware.
Make sure you do a full wipe of everything but the SD card from within CWM. Get whatever's causing the problem off that way. Then flash a fresh install of a ROM from scratch.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Arhd and elegencia wont work with cwm. So there is your isdue. Try cm9 or 10 to see if you can boot one of those.
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda app-developers app

Hallo, after trying all option the following did work for me:
- re-lock bootloader via fastboot oem lock
- apply stock ROM founded in this list http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1074559
- rebooted fine
I guess that HTC RUU had some superpower and erase and installed whatever file(s) were corrupted.
Now I'm on stock 3.6 - fw 3.33.401.106 - radio 11.76A.3504.00UU_11.24A.3504.31_M
HBOOT 1.29 - S-ON - Relocked.
Standard Recovery.
Now I'm reading how to return my device to S-OFF w/o damaging it again.
Many thanks to skipjacks & groog88 :good:
Skipjacks said:
Arhd and elegencia wont work with cwm. So there is your isdue. Try cm9 or 10 to see if you can boot one of those.
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

[Q] upgarde snaufu...

was running viperXL 3.2.5 and wiped and went to cm10.1 now i used goo manager to download xhata (sorry i butchered it) now i can only boot into spash screen and bootloader. i used fastboot to reflash twrp and still only boots to the custom spash... hboot 1.09 s-off..... im kinda lost here. should have syuck with viper, why screw with perfection.

What is xhata? Is it a rom?
I'm not sure we can install roms with Goo Manager on this phone.
If you installed a rom for the quad-core Tegra One X, your phone will not boot and you're lucky you didn't get a brick. You need to do a full wipe and reflash.

first off not a noob. it was the evita rom. i still have bootloader access and can get half way into recovery( spash screen then twrp spash...) then reboot into custom splash. it was the rom... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2075783 so if anyone has any ideas please help, just dont start with the usual u screwed up flashing roms i know better. and the odd part is after reflashing the recovery via fastboot i get Twrp spash before going back to the phone main splash and boot looping.... and yes im s-off

No need to be so defensive. If we don't know exactly what you flashed, all we can do is ask. Its not meant as an insult. But its always better to ask the seemingly "obvious" questions first, get them out of the way.
If there is a "usual thing" that gets mentioned, its because the mistake of flashing ROMs for the ENDEAVORU in fact happens so often. Downloading from GooManager is not a great idea either, and often a red flag that someone installed a ROM for the wrong version of the phone.
Did the phone operate properly when you were on CM10.1?
What version of TWRP, and what fastboot command did you use to flash it?

I asked the "usual" questions because:
-You have less than 100 posts. That's often a sign of someone who is new to this.
-You used a rom name I've never heard of, and suggested you weren't sure of the name yourself. That's usually a big red flag for someone who flashed some random rom they found via Google.
-You mentioned using Goo Manager. That's a non-standard method for this phone, and an awful lot of people have bricked their phones trying to flash roms through apps that aren't well-supported. CWM Touch was notorious for this when the One X first came out.
If you don't want people to assume things, you need to state them up front.
On topic: There appears to be a bug in the latest TWRP that causes issues for some people. Try rolling back to an earlier version.

iElvis said:
On topic: There appears to be a bug in the latest TWRP that causes issues for some people. Try rolling back to an earlier version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I saw that too, and why I asked the OP what version of TWRP.

i had problems with that rom on version 4.0.1 and 4.1.0 had alot of errors and trouble. i haven't tried 4.2.0 though, i have been having better luck with rom after clearing out recovery cache running "fastboot erase cache" and running only twrp 2.3.3.1.

i flashed the second to last release of twrp (latest gave mount issues), viper was running great, cm 10.1 avatar was running fine just didnt like how plain it was so i used goo manager to download hatkaXL and when the download finished i picked select and flash.. then the usual warning about flashing and it rebooted, hit spash screen where it still is hours later. i then tried manually boot into recovery, it hit the bootloader i selected recovery and it seemed to try and load. next step was back to fast boot and to reflash twrp (fastboot flash recovery recovery.img ) flashed 100% success and still wont boot into recovery just the bootloader, and i wasnt trying to get all defensive, i sent first post using the wifes phone and posted quick, had a guy hooking up my satellite at same time as phone crashed. has anyone tried the new version of cwm for the evita? maybe flashing that may get me back, i have roms and backups on the pc that i can seem to side load but never boot as well.

well after repeated flashing of recovery and (fastboot erase cache) it finally booted to recovery, now to see if my backup will load.

[Q] Custom Roms not working

Hello, long time reader, first time poster. I know about rooting, and installing roms and all that good stuff (had a galaxy s2 but odin bricked it). So I'm new to the sensation, and it's quite different from my previous device. My problem is that when I install a custom rom, the phone will boot and all about after about 30 seconds will freeze and restart.
Okay so these are the steps that I followed:
-Used the KGS Utility and chose "s-off"
-Followed all the prompts everything worked out fine.
-Following that I used it to install a custom recovery.
-Followed the prompts everything worked fine.
-Then I used Revolutionary CWM to flash SuperUser.
-App was there on reboot.
-Then I downloaded the AOKP "Initiate Your Swagger"[4.1.2] Rom
-Put it on my SD card and flashed it (after wiping and backing up)
-When the phone boots the setup wizard starts.
-I follow the prompt and when it gets to "Just a sec" the phone freezes then restarts.
Don't know what the problem is here.
I get the same problem when trying to flash CM10. The phone will boot, but then after 20-30 seconds will reboot.

kojimin said:
Hello, long time reader, first time poster. I know about rooting, and installing roms and all that good stuff (had a galaxy s2 but odin bricked it). So I'm new to the sensation, and it's quite different from my previous device. My problem is that when I install a custom rom, the phone will boot and all about after about 30 seconds will freeze and restart. I also noticed that there is no signal in custom roms either. Don't know what I'm doing wrong here. I used an all in one tool to do s-off, and install a custom recovery. Then I rooted it. Then I started trying to install custom roms but they don't seem to work. What am I doing wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be VERY specific and give a step by step detail of what you are doing to install. Give WAY more detail than you have. And put the detail in a list, not a giant paragraph.
Then we'll look at it and see what's missing.

Skipjacks said:
Be VERY specific and give a step by step detail of what you are doing to install. Give WAY more detail than you have. And put the detail in a list, not a giant paragraph.
Then we'll look at it and see what's missing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry about that. Edited my first post. I hope that is enough.

When you say it boots for 20 seconds, what exaclty for you mean.
Does it just replay the boot animation over and over? Or does it actually bring you to a home screen with the status bar and everything for 20 seconds before the reboot? That's a very important difference in diagnosing this one.
Also try installing 4EXT recovery. CWM has been known to cause weirdness with AOSP roms. Plus you may have an older version of CWM thatcan't properly install the newer roms. If you used a .zip in bootloader to flash CWM yuou probably had an older version. I have a special place in my heart for CWM too, but 4EXT is just so much better for the Sensation. (Different recoveries ar ebetter or worse on different devices.)
If you properly installed superuser on your stock rom that you have a nandroid backup for, installing 4EXT is super easy. Just restore the nandroid, which should boot up without problems, download the 4EXT app from the play store, and use the app to install teh latest version of the recovery. No need for ADB or flashing in bootloader. Then try a full wipe and fresh install of AOKP from 4EXT.

Skipjacks said:
When you say it boots for 20 seconds, what exaclty for you mean.
Does it just replay the boot animation over and over? Or does it actually bring you to a home screen with the status bar and everything for 20 seconds before the reboot? That's a very important difference in diagnosing this one.
Also try installing 4EXT recovery. CWM has been known to cause weirdness with AOSP roms. Plus you may have an older version of CWM thatcan't properly install the newer roms. If you used a .zip in bootloader to flash CWM yuou probably had an older version. I have a special place in my heart for CWM too, but 4EXT is just so much better for the Sensation. (Different recoveries ar ebetter or worse on different devices.)
If you properly installed superuser on your stock rom that you have a nandroid backup for, installing 4EXT is super easy. Just restore the nandroid, which should boot up without problems, download the 4EXT app from the play store, and use the app to install teh latest version of the recovery. No need for ADB or flashing in bootloader. Then try a full wipe and fresh install of AOKP from 4EXT.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It boots up to the homescreen (with no signal) then it reboots.
I will try 4EXT and post my results. Thanks for your help thus far!
EDIT: Tryed installing 4EXT now when I try to boot into recovery it shows the HTC spash screen, then it reboots back the homescreen. So I think my recovery is gone.
EDIT 2: So I got the 4EXT recovery installed. But the ROMs are giving me the same issues (no change). I also noticed as before, when the custom roms boot there isn't any cellular signal.

kojimin said:
It boots up to the homescreen (with no signal) then it reboots.
I will try 4EXT and post my results. Thanks for your help thus far!
EDIT: Tryed installing 4EXT now when I try to boot into recovery it shows the HTC spash screen, then it reboots back the homescreen. So I think my recovery is gone.
EDIT 2: So I got the 4EXT recovery installed. But the ROMs are giving me the same issues (no change). I also noticed as before, when the custom roms boot there isn't any cellular signal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update the firmware.. You are on gingerbread firmware (revolutionary soff worked for you means you are on GB) and it won't work on ics/jb roms
Check the firmware thread by kohr-ah in sensation development section and flash universal 3.33 firmware
It will solve your rom problems
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium

ganeshp said:
Update the firmware.. You are on gingerbread firmware (revolutionary soff worked for you means you are on GB) and it won't work on ics/jb roms
Check the firmware thread by kohr-ah in sensation development section and flash universal 3.33 firmware
It will solve your rom problems
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it was the firmware! I just updated to 3.33, and 4.1.2 "Initiate your swagger" booted up completely. Thanks for your help :good:

Awesome reply mate :
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using xda premium

Useless HTC Sensation

HI! Today I got an HTC Sensation from a friend and it was laggy due to it's stock rom with preinstalled apps and stuff, so I decided to move to a custom ROM, the first one which caught my eye was 5.0 CM12 from the development section, so I copied it to sdcard.
I have managed to unlock the bootloader through the htcdev site and then flashed the lasted CWM Recovery available, 5.8.0 and then formatted cache, data, system, dalvik, because that's what I've always been doing on my Galaxy S2, it was very straight forward.
But now, I can't install a custom rom, tried that one and the slim pyramid one, even a cyanogenmod rom but still no luck. It would abort the installation and output an error about filesystems which can't be found or it woudn't say nothing but will restart the phone straight to recovery mode.
Also, tried 4ext recovery and still no luck. At this point I started panicking and tried to resolve this by installing the stock rom, RUU.
Downloaded RUU_PYRAMID_ICS_HTC_Europe_3.33.401.53_Radio_11.76A.3504.00U_11.24A.3504.31_M_release_280871_signed , which is the perfect match for my phone but also fails to finish installation, telling me something about failed/unknown mounts/filesystem... If it will help, I will tell you exactly what the error is.
At this moment I have S-On in bootloader, and can't see any radio serial metioned at the top. Tried some instructions flashing PG58IMG.zip , but it doesn't seem to do anything.
Please, help me out because at this point my phone won't go anywhere but bootloader and recovery.

AKAndrew41 said:
HI! Today I got an HTC Sensation from a friend and it was laggy due to it's stock rom with preinstalled apps and stuff, so I decided to move to a custom ROM, the first one which caught my eye was 5.0 CM12 from the development section, so I copied it to sdcard.
I have managed to unlock the bootloader through the htcdev site and then flashed the lasted CWM Recovery available, 5.8.0 and then formatted cache, data, system, dalvik, because that's what I've always been doing on my Galaxy S2, it was very straight forward.
But now, I can't install a custom rom, tried that one and the slim pyramid one, even a cyanogenmod rom but still no luck. It would abort the installation and output an error about filesystems which can't be found or it woudn't say nothing but will restart the phone straight to recovery mode.
Also, tried 4ext recovery and still no luck. At this point I started panicking and tried to resolve this by installing the stock rom, RUU.
Downloaded RUU_PYRAMID_ICS_HTC_Europe_3.33.401.53_Radio_11.76A.3504.00U_11.24A.3504.31_M_release_280871_signed , which is the perfect match for my phone but also fails to finish installation, telling me something about failed/unknown mounts/filesystem... If it will help, I will tell you exactly what the error is.
At this moment I have S-On in bootloader, and can't see any radio serial metioned at the top. Tried some instructions flashing PG58IMG.zip , but it doesn't seem to do anything.
Please, help me out because at this point my phone won't go anywhere but bootloader and recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
install latest 4ext from here
http://d-h.st/rG7
extract the recovery.img and flash it via fastboot command
the command is fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
then from 4ext format all partitions except sdcard
enable smartflash( because you are on S-ON)
flash the custom rom
note: enable smartflash exactly before flashing the rom

Thank you very much! I've managed to install SKimKAT now. But how can I get S-Off permanent? Also, I can't install the stock RUU firmware.
RUU_PYRAMID_ICS_HTC_Europe_3.33.401.53_Radio_11.76A.3504.00U_11.24A.3504.31_M_release_280871_signed
It freezes on the "sending" stage for hours.

AKAndrew41 said:
Thank you very much! I've managed to install SKimKAT now. But how can I get S-Off permanent? Also, I can't install the stock RUU firmware.
RUU_PYRAMID_ICS_HTC_Europe_3.33.401.53_Radio_11.76A.3504.00U_11.24A.3504.31_M_release_280871_signed
It freezes on the "sending" stage for hours.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
see this guide
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2751187