[Q] Windows RT: Can't make it to (USB) Boot - General Questions and Answers

Hi guys,
I've got a bricked Windows RT, unfortunately i can't seem to make it boot via USB.
Steps i did
1. Diskpart my USB thumb drive (formatted to fat32) - i tried 2 different usbs
2. Copied Windows RT iso (normal copy and paste using windows explorer). to USB thumb drive
I have the following structure in the parent location:
-boot
-efi
-resource
-bootmgr.efi
-reagent.xml
Today size is 3.71 GB. Also, i have 2 different sets of Windows RT recovery image, one US version the other UK
3. Plugged it in the machine, held Volumn down and pressend power button.
4. I get the Surface logo, but nothing happens. My USB disk doesnt even light up so it doesnt look like RT is accessing it.
Am I missing a crucial step? Is there anything else i need to do to make my USB drive bootable?
Really appreciate your feedback, i've been going nuts for over a week.
-ta

Related

[Q] can't access sdcard from pc

When I plug in the gtablet to USB on PC I can't see sdcard only the internal memory. I notice that when I first connect gtablet to PC it tried to install some Nvidia Harmony driver but it fails. Any ideas why I can't access the sdcard? It is mounted in settings. I also tried formatting it again but no luck.
The Harmony Driver failing is more than likely just the ADB Driver, the super thread talks about setting ADB up, but that won't fix the SD card thing. Someone said something about a wireless FTP app that will access both, it's in one of the other can't access SD threads but I'm not sure which, just saw it last night.
precy76,
Usually when I use USB, I set the G-Tablet on a little stand where I can see and use (touch) the screen. Then I plug the miniUSB plug into the tablet.
Next I plug the standard USB plug into a working USB port on my PC. When that happens I get a message on the tablet to "Turn On" the USB. I touch to OK that on the tablet and it usually repeats a confirming message and I touch to OK that again.
Usually there is a delay on the PC. I keep the main screen clear because after several seconds it will pop up a message asking whether I want to open a Window in Explorer to look at the files. I click on the PC to do that and it opens up a Windows Explorer window showing the usual PC drives, network, etc. on the left and there is an entry for the G-Tablet listing the sdcard drives and folders in it.
When I want to install an .apk, I put it in the "Download" folder (an then later us the stock ES File Explorer program on the tablet to go to and open/install it).
If you can access the sdcard as above, you actually can load the "Recovery Folder" and "Update.zip" files from your PC to the tablet sdcard directory. Then if you do the Power Button/Volume + startup, it will find and load the update.
Or if you edit the "Command" file in the "Recover Folder" to change the address from the sdcard to sdcard2 (while it still is on your PC using NotePad or the like) you can put the modified files on sdcard and when you re-boot it will load the files from the microSD chip in the sdcard2 slot.
Hope this helps.
Rev
P. S. -- When you finish working on the G-Tablet, you need to go to the USB icon on the PC Taskbar (lower right hand corner of the screen) and tell it to close and eject the tablet USB drive. It will show up there as "Harmony."
When it is ejected, then you unplug everything and go back to the G-Tablet.

[Q] File transfer from PC to G Tablet?

I'm trying to transfer files from my PC to my tablet, but the PC doesn't recognize the tablet - it wants me to format it. Same thing when I try to transfer the files from my mp3 player, the content of the player should be listed in the usbdisk folder, correct?
This is driving me NUTS, I'd appreciate some help. Oh, and tablet is rooted - VEGAn.
Thanks!
NeedleNerd said:
I'm trying to transfer files from my PC to my tablet, but the PC doesn't recognize the tablet - it wants me to format it. Same thing when I try to transfer the files from my mp3 player, the content of the player should be listed in the usbdisk folder, correct?
This is driving me NUTS, I'd appreciate some help. Oh, and tablet is rooted - VEGAn.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have ADB working
OK, please bear with me, I'm noobish - but what is ADB?
NeedleNerd said:
OK, please bear with me, I'm noobish - but what is ADB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://developer.android.com/guide/developing/tools/adb.html
Rooting this Gtab is somewhat of a different process fyi
You could always use dropbox, Google it
It works fine for me, with no ADB installed (Vegan 5). Plugging the Gtab straight into the PC and turning on USB storage should recognize it as a USB storage device, like any other USB key.
OP, what operating system are you using? Have you tried a different USB cable? A different USB port on the PC? Perhaps a different PC (if one is available)?
BigJohn
NeedleNerd said:
I'm trying to transfer files from my PC to my tablet, but the PC doesn't recognize the tablet - it wants me to format it. Same thing when I try to transfer the files from my mp3 player, the content of the player should be listed in the usbdisk folder, correct?
This is driving me NUTS, I'd appreciate some help. Oh, and tablet is rooted - VEGAn.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
For the PC, are you connecting from your regular size USB connector on the PC to the *mini-USB* port on the side of the Gtab (not the full-size USB under the cover on the side of the Gtab)?
The mini-USB connector is the one you need to use to connect to your PC.
The full-size USB under the cover is a "host" USB, i.e., you can connect a flash USB drive or USB hard drive to that, and then assuming it's formatted FAT32 with only ONE partition, you should be able to see it on the Gtab under /usbdisk.
Jim
- My PC OS is Windows XP
- I am using the small port on the tablet, not the USB port under the cover, to connect to the PC
- I don't have a different cable/PC to try it with
- FYI - it WAS initially working when I tried to transfer files from my mp3 player to the tablet, the transfer was interrupted when the cord came loose from the tablet, and now it's no-go for both the PC or mp3 player file transfer process
- I do have a permanent folder usbdisk on the tablet, even when there's nothing plugged into the usb ports
Thanks for all the questions and suggestions, I'm glad there's people more savvy than I am with this, willing to help!
NeedleNerd
The small port (like a camera cord) should work. The cable has a USB end on the PC side. It should be recognized on the PC as an external drive. No need to install ADB unless you want to try that too.
One idea is try plugging the USB cable into different ports on the PC end.
If you have wireless and can share network drives on your PC, try File Expert. Its free and can be found in the market. With it I can connect to my PCs drives and copy to SD or USB in my GTab right on it. Granted, it took quite some time to copy a 1GB movie to SD2 (10 min), but it worked. I had to prevent my device from sleeping though or the transfer failed. Worked well though. I'm on TnT lite.
NeedleNerd said:
- My PC OS is Windows XP
- I am using the small port on the tablet, not the USB port under the cover, to connect to the PC
- I don't have a different cable/PC to try it with
- FYI - it WAS initially working when I tried to transfer files from my mp3 player to the tablet, the transfer was interrupted when the cord came loose from the tablet, and now it's no-go for both the PC or mp3 player file transfer process
- I do have a permanent folder usbdisk on the tablet, even when there's nothing plugged into the usb ports
Thanks for all the questions and suggestions, I'm glad there's people more savvy than I am with this, willing to help!
NeedleNerd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
I seem to recall that roebert (I think) had a problem w the miniusb connector being loose or broken. Have you looked at the connector in detail? Maybe the solder connection broke and it 'jiggles'? If so, probably need to get it repaired.
Jim
Well, I know it's not the cable, because I used it to transfer files from PC to mp3 player without any problems.
My PC shows the tablet (drive letter E assigned to it when plugged in), but I can't access the tablet - it's like the PC recognizes something is plugged in, but it doesn't recognize it as having content or something.
On top of that, I kept getting the android.process.acore error, so I did a datawipe and had to re-download all my apps again, to add to the aggrevation.
I will look at the different solutions suggested and if they're not requiring too much advanced knowledge, I will attempt them.
Thanks again for the help & suggestions so far, hopefully I will somehow stumble onto a fix that works!
So, I figured it out. Really simple - if you know how.
The VEGAn root is what did me in - when you plug in the cable, it doesn't give you the option to turn on the USB Mass Storage, which you need when you want to transfer files from PC to tablet. The unrooted device was a bit more user friendly by walking you through it when the cable was plugged in.
I figured out that if you tap and drag down on the USB icon on the top of the screen you can actually access the options - it's not just a status icon!
Hopefully this'll help out someone else who's rooting their tablet following instructions blindly without really knowing what's what!
Thank you again for all the suggestions, I really appreciate all the responses!
Astro SMB Module
If you are working on a home/private network and the file is on a shared network drive, you can map it in using Astro and the SMB Module for Astro ("Astro SMB" returns both in the market provided you have the market fix) and browse shared network drives just like you would on your laptop or PC.
Once installed, a network icon appears in Astro (looks like an upside down "T" or an old school windows network icon) and you can map in your network drives pretty easily. I use this with NAS and work files pretty regularly. You may have to enter alternate or domain specific credentials to make it work.
EDIT: Also I believe there are file format limitations, OS limitations, but haven't fully explored that.

[Q] Android Phone as USB Stick

Hi!
I know it is possible to connect my Samsung Galaxy SII to a PC and mount the file system of the SD card (either in debug mode as two removable Windows volumes or, without debug mode, as a phone device). However, I would like to have the phone more as a USB stick, i.e. having only one partition (so that Windows can see it properly) and, more important: being a USB stick even when not yet plugged into the host, i.e. the host never seeing anything else than a USB stick.
Why do I want that?
Because I tried to connect the phone to a DVD player that has a USB port, so that I can watch photos directly on TV (via DVD player). The player would offer to display media from USB stick.
However, nothing I tried worked. When I plug in the phone, the player sees the USB device plugged in but does not see a file system, saying that the media is not formatted or supported. When the phone itself offers to go into USB connection mode, it is too late and the player refuses to see it still. The phone simply offers USB connection mode too late.
So the question is: is there an app capable of doing this? That would be an app that I start and which puts the phone into USB connection mode *before* I plug it into the host. If I could define a directory that will be seen as the root file system of the stick from outside, this would be great. If I could put that file system into read-only mode, it would be perfect.
I found many posts about the phone being a portable drive, connecting USB sticks to the phone and so on. But nothing fits that use case I described.
Any hints?
Hm, today I thought about it
But my DVD Player as yours, say USB Device Unsupported.
I'd really like the possibility to connect to DVD Player as normal pendrive, and play movies.
And still no reply. That's... sad
skr68 said:
Hi!
I know it is possible to connect my Samsung Galaxy SII to a PC and mount the file system of the SD card (either in debug mode as two removable Windows volumes or, without debug mode, as a phone device). However, I would like to have the phone more as a USB stick, i.e. having only one partition (so that Windows can see it properly) and, more important: being a USB stick even when not yet plugged into the host, i.e. the host never seeing anything else than a USB stick.
Why do I want that?
Because I tried to connect the phone to a DVD player that has a USB port, so that I can watch photos directly on TV (via DVD player). The player would offer to display media from USB stick.
However, nothing I tried worked. When I plug in the phone, the player sees the USB device plugged in but does not see a file system, saying that the media is not formatted or supported. When the phone itself offers to go into USB connection mode, it is too late and the player refuses to see it still. The phone simply offers USB connection mode too late.
So the question is: is there an app capable of doing this? That would be an app that I start and which puts the phone into USB connection mode *before* I plug it into the host. If I could define a directory that will be seen as the root file system of the stick from outside, this would be great. If I could put that file system into read-only mode, it would be perfect.
I found many posts about the phone being a portable drive, connecting USB sticks to the phone and so on. But nothing fits that use case I described.
Any hints?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this app it seems that work with many devices...
Yeah, might work... If I somehow can install Windows Phone 7 on my Galaxy
On that thread i've read about people that doesn't have win7 phone but that program working on their phone , you could try it doesn't cost anything...
And Elvis lives in Las Vegas
You can try the following:
Open ‘Menu’ on your Android and tap on settings. You can find ‘Wireless and Network’ option in settings, just open it and it will now show you various options. Select ‘USB Utilities’ and you will get the option ‘Connect storage to PC’ as shown below.
Now it will ask you to connect your phone to PC using USB Cable. When you done with that you will get an Android symbol and message ‘USB connected’.
Everything is done now and your Android has turned into USB storage device. Transfer and manage files as you want.
Not fully sure, try putting the videos in root(in no folder) of sd card.
Reboot to recovery and under mounts and storage try mount usb mass storage
Sent from my HTC EVO 3d
Root: revolutionary
Recovery: Twrp cwm 4
ROM: Synergy 2.3.4 ( I want aosp)
The dual core shooter. Double the bad ass.
Hi!
The hints from mikedavis120 and pcbilski actually look like they could work. Unfortunately it is not my DVD player but my father's and he is on vacation now. Will take two weeks until I can try
I have tried both methods on two DVD players, and both failed
pcbilski's - 1st player when in standby, gives power to USB so when I connected a phone it popup a message to mount sdcard. Mounted SD, and started up a player and... nothing, it doesn't load, doesn't say anything.
2nd player doesn't give power to USB so when I turned it on, my phone found a connection. So before phone mounted SD, there was error - Unsupported USB. When it was mounted, choose other source, and back to USB and nothing, like on 1st player
mikedavis120's method - both players didn't saw any USB Device
Sorry for my english, but I think it's readable
Yeah, figured as much today. Problem is that before the phone accepts to becomes a USB drive, you have to plug in the cable, wait a second, and confirm the popup. But until then the DVD player already sees the phone and thinks it is not a USB stick, refusing to accept it later. A hen and egg problem.
Any news on this? My USB-stick just broke and I need to update my TVs firmware...
Hopefully this will work for future readers.
It is actually for installing OSes(I think, atleast that was my use.), but I think it will work. Create a blank image, and copy the files to the blank new drive from a computer.

Infuse Drives Not Showing Up In Windows, Device Is.

So the problem I'm having with my infuse is that the disk drives (E:/F are not showing up in Windows Explorer. I've done some trial and error to diagnose the problem but I'm currently at a loss. Here's what I know:
The cable is fine, I just purchased to new cable to make sure that it wasn't the problem after I thought that the original cable was the issue.
The phone works perfectly fine on linux, I'm able to mount the two devices (/dev/sdb, /dev/sdc) without problems and transfer files without any delay or trouble.
In windows the computer recognizes when the phone is plugged in and if you go into "Printers and Devices" you can see the "Samsung_Android" device. If you right click on it before you turn on USB storage on the device the context menu pops up and you can go into properties and see that all the functions are recognized for the phone, (two disk drives (it recognizes them as E and F), modem, two mtp devices, etc.)
Once you enable USB mass storage on the phone you can no longer right click on the device and see properties, if you do it takes a minute or two for the menu to pop up and clicking anything in the menu makes the lag unuseable.
Sometimes drive E: will show up in Explorer but not F: and when I click on it it still just stalls in loading the drive.
If I go into command line and type "e:" on windows to cd to that drive it also just stalls out rather than saying that the drive has not been found.
If I go into the disk manager to see if maybe it's just a drive name conflict in the management console it doesn't load because the manager just stalls out at "Connecting to Virtual Disk Manager Service"
I was originally having this problem on stock rooted FROYO, I was able to use Kies (through the same windows machine) and upgrade to stock GB but on GB I was still having the problem. Then I switched over to the stock rooted GB rom and I'm also still having the problem.
I'm pretty convinced the problem has to do with windows not my phone because I seem to have isolated it to just this windows install (I haven't had the opportunity to try on another windows machine but I figure it will probably work fine there) since it can't be due to the cable or a faulty Froyo/GB install.
Do you have any ideas on how I can fix this? I'll gladly provide anymore information regarding my problem if you think it will help.
Windows....sux dont it...
I would uninstall all phone drives....download new set...reinstall....and see what happens.
And like you said....i would try another windows pc....

[Q] RT RECOVERY, NO recovery, NO USB BOOT

OK...First I have a surface RT.. It is a colleges tablet as I am a network admin at a telecom company..
I have never seen anything other than the surface logo with no "spinning wheel"
I have tried the 3 reboots, booting normally on the 4th...volume up and power for days .....the keyboard boot options (backspace, win key +everything, F8, F11 for the hell of it..) I tried holding down in different sequences every possible combination with power, volume up/down and the windows soft key (onthe tablet)
I have created USB's with a kingston 16GB, a sandisk 8GB, sandisk cruzer 16GB, a USB3 128GB, and a micro 32GB card in a USB adapter. I extrated 2 different zip files to them all after formatting fat32, using diskpart to make the part active. both oft these compressed files were from microsoft that I downloaded after registering the device.
I tried formatting the sticks with a USB format tool as opposed to win 8. I tried 2 other compressed recovery images I found elsewhere. Furthermore I I attempted 2 different ISO files and 2 different IMG fliles using rufus, usbit, and universal USB installer...both 8.0 and 8.1 recovery images/ISO's/ZIPS. At first I observed the access light on the USB Drives blink once right after booting but now no light at all...for the hell of it I even tried to connect it to a win 8.1 machine via 2 different USB-USB cables I had.
Please advise if there are any other options?? and do you want me to post the video of me smashing this POS in this thread?
thank you for your time...
Just to make sure, the bootable USB drives were GPT partition scheme formatted, right?
Go to a Microsoft store. Seems like a hardware defect if you cannot boot off of a USB stick.
Ok no expert here. I just bought a used SP2 I5-4300u and downloaded Ms recovery disk. One USB I made would not boot on the tablet.. another would only get to 70-80% quit. The last one just an old usb2 8g and it worked flawless.
I have a usb3 and it works on 3 computers at home.. it will NOT boot on this tablet where others will. So it might just be your usb nothing else.. maybe
Zeblade said:
Ok no expert here. I just bought a used SP2 I5-4300u and downloaded Ms recovery disk. One USB I made would not boot on the tablet.. another would only get to 70-80% quit. The last one just an old usb2 8g and it worked flawless.
I have a usb3 and it works on 3 computers at home.. it will NOT boot on this tablet where others will. So it might just be your usb nothing else.. maybe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Am in the same boat, although mine is the surface pro 2. wont boot from any usb device I have tested the usb stick on other surfaces and it boots those. when the surface is working it see the usb stick and allows me to select it to boot from but once it reboots it just skips the usb stick and boots the int hdd
Same Thing
coops82517 said:
Am in the same boat, although mine is the surface pro 2. wont boot from any usb device I have tested the usb stick on other surfaces and it boots those. when the surface is working it see the usb stick and allows me to select it to boot from but once it reboots it just skips the usb stick and boots the int hdd
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have a Surface RT running both 8 & 8.1 and it does the same as yours with the ignoring of the boot selection.
Has anyone found a fix to this yet?
-FU
Bootloader, secure boot violation?

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