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[Q] Problem unbricking i9023 with AdamOutler's Resurrector

Hello everybody
It seems I'm quite late with this issue so I wasn't sure whether to post in an old thread or open a new one...
A few days ago my 12-year-old nephew, for 3 month a really proud owner of a Nexus S I9023 came to me desperately sad: He had tried to update to ICS (the manual "update.zip method") and ended up with a totally unresponsive phone like many others back in December.
I do not own an Android device myself and this stuff is all new to me (so sorry for any dumb questions or thoughts ;-) ), but after some googling and finding this great forum and especially AdamOutler's tool (and reading about other people's success with it) I was confident to be able to bring the Nexus back to life. But I'm still stuck at a certain point...
What I've done so far:
-I installed Ubuntu 10.04.3 LTS natively on a PC (I failed with using a virtual installation on my Mac).
-Installed JavaSDK and the UnBrickable Resurrector.
-Downloaded the Android SDK from here and installed it following this advice (I didn't download fastboot separately as it was included in the SDK).
-Downloaded a full ROM from here , extracted the bootloader.img and boot.img from the .zip, downloaded recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-crespo.img and put all that stuff in the fastboot directory.
Ok, ready to go now (I think):
I start the Resurrector (R40), select "Nexus S", remove the battery, plug in USB, replace the battery (now the Resurrector recognizes the Nexus) and click "Perform Resurrection" (without holding any button on the Nexus). After a few seconds the Resurrector reports success, showing the "Android with speech bubble" and saying "Fastboot mode" below. On the Nexus the Search- and Homebutton (the both on the right side) are now lit-up, but the display is still black.
At this point I'm wondering if everything went ok, shouldn't the Nexus now already show its bootloader screen like on Adam's image or the battery charging screen ? Anyway, according to the Resurrector everything is fine, so let's continue.
I start Terminal and cd to the fastboot directory. Just to be sure the Nexus is recognized:
Code:
lsusb
Bus 002 Device 023: ID 18d1:4e20
Code:
fastboot devices
34329EB4B3F800EC fastboot
Now I'm not exactly sure what to do next. As far as I've understood some have now flashed the bootloader, boot & recovery images first, others have "booted from the recovery.img (?)", in both cases I end up with this:
Code:
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader.img
sending 'bootloader' (1536 KB)...
OKAY [ 1.629s]
writing 'bootloader'...
FAILED (remote: Bootloader Locked - Use "fastboot oem unlock" to Unlock)
finished. total time: 1.631s
Code:
fastboot boot recovery-clockwork-5.0.2.0-crespo.img
downloading 'boot.img'...
OKAY [ 4.374s]
booting...
FAILED (remote: Bootloader Locked - Use "fastboot oem unlock" to Unlock)
finished. total time: 4.376s
But when I try to unlock, I only see this:
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
...
I wait several minutes but nothing happens. I stop this by unplugging the phone and an error appears:
Code:
FAILED (status read failed (No such device))
finished. total time: 561.710s
(I assume waiting nearly 10min is enough?)
I also tried to run fastboot as root with sudo, but that doesn't change anything. I'm really stranded at this point. :-(
This is my first contact with Android and I'm also not very familiar with Linux, but in my humble understanding I should be just one little step away from success, shouldn't I?
For me everything seems to work properly, the Resurrector reports success, saying the Nexus is in fastboot mode now, fastboot is running and recognizing it and also my attempts to "fastboot flash" or "fastboot boot" obviously work until the "Bootloader Locked" error pops up.
So the two big questions are:
1. Is it ok that after successful resurrection only Search and Home are lit-up, but the display remains black or should I see the bootloader or battery charging screen?
2. Why is fastboot stuck while unlocking?
I'm also wondering if it's worth it to set up a Linux/Windows dualboot installation to run fastboot or even Odin in Windows, I can't imagine that I have a better chance that way, this should work with Linux alone, shouldn't it?!
So, I hope I haven't bored you too much ;-)
I would really appreciate some help to make my nephew happy again...
Have a nice weekend!

If the bootloader is locked then you need to OEM unlock then on the screen it should say unlock bootloader? I need to press up with the volume keys and press ok power button.. Then it should be unlocked try that then white everything yo the phone
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

In order to unlock oem, you first need to fastboot unlock which you did.
Then, confirm it on your phone which you didn't b/c you can't see/don't have fastboot screen.
And i think you didn't have fastboot screen b/c you didn't hold the buttons like you supposed to.
That's what everyone has to do to enter fastboot.
I think you should follow this thread.
And download and use the ROM package he has linked.
And instead of ODIN which requires Windows, you can use Heimdall which can run on Linux/Mac.
And search how to use Heimdall before flashing.
And if you don't have a backup, download some ROM (stock one preferred) to flash instead of restoring backup.
Also, search how to flash a ROM and clean/full wipe in CWM before flashing.

Same situation here, please help me.
Hello Cicofz and everybody,
I am stuck in about the same situation. Only a little later, my phone bricked on a 4.0.4 upgrade.
I used resurrection and on my phone the same Search and Home lit-up, the display remains black! but resurrection tells me it is in download or Fastboot mode. My fastboot on Mac doesn't get stuck, it tells me everything is Oke. However there is no possibility to get the screen on and really start fastboot on my phone...
So i think I'm stuck on the same thing you got stuck on some weeks ago.
Did you solve the problems in the meanwhile? If so can you please let me know how you did this.
If anybody els can help me please Do...
regards KnoefKnoef

Hello KnoefKnoef,
yes, I was able to bring the Nexus back to life (and a big grin back on my nephew's face) ;-) Afterwards it turned out pretty easy, just fastboot with Ubuntu, no need for any Windows stuff.
It's getting late here in Germany, so I'll try to recall and post what I've done tomorrow. I'm not sure, but I think I've even copied the whole terminal session so I can tell you step by step. I must have a look at the PC I used for it tomorrow...
Good Night

It is running... and yes it is on ICS 4.0.4.
thanks for your Quick reply, butt help is not needed anymore.
After using UnBrickable Resurrector in Linux I got the phone in download mode. with the home and search light glowing.
Then I Switched to Windows using this tread: *OFFICIAL* Android 4.0.4 IMM76D ROM for Nexus S 4G http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1575502
It ended in a message Failed. Butt the phone was reboot-able. And best of all it is running on ICS 4.0.4.
So I'm very happy now.
It was quite a procedure doing all this on a MAC using Windows and Linux. Butt I eventually managed to do it....
Thanks for your input...

knoefknoef said:
thanks for your Quick reply, butt help is not needed anymore.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Pleased to hear that

[Q] Bricked Transformer TF700

Hi,
I've never changed anything on my transformer as far as custom roms, never gained root, never even previously booted into the stock recovery. But after one night i woke up to my tablet being burning hot while it was charging. Further investigation showed that it was just rebooting over and over.
I turned it off. left it off to cool down, turned it on.
Bootloop.
I then downloaded the asus firmware put it on an SD card and followed the steps for installing it through asus recovery.
Bootloop.
I can't seem to find a guide on how to actually get nvflash going which is how i'd assume i should fix this.
By the way, I killed my warranty 6 months ago when my girlfriend stood on my tablet (it was on the bed and she walked on the bed in shoes/heels) and cracked the screen. It's been running fine and when it's on it's not noticible. But obviously without the warranty i'm kind of ****ed for an issue that probably Asus did cause.
This actually happened a few weeks ago but my last effort to fix it went south and i haven't thought about it for a while but now i was thinking of taking another crack at it again..
Short question (TL;DR):
Can someone link me a good guide to get nvflash to put either a better recovery or a new non-corrupt rom on my tablet?
Update1: Okay so people here confirm that I have fastboot enabled. But i don't understand how to use it. I've installed the fastboot driver. I've below posted what outputs when i try to push a CWM recovery to it (it looks fine but doesn't seem to work?).
If anyone has some links to how to use any tools via fastboot or APX to recover from here that would be good. Even if you just want me to dump information just tell me how and i'll run anything.
Update2: This time i found out that the fastboot icon is visible to anyone with JB. But fastboot isn't unlocked unless you run the asus apk. So I do not actually have fastboot enabled. Which explains the strange behaviour below.
Because even after trying to install asus official firmwares from SD card and failing, the only alternative remaining is to send it back to asus.

well you need to get it to boot in order to unlock.
perhaps follow the downgrade instructions in general?

lafester said:
well you need to get it to boot in order to unlock.
perhaps follow the downgrade instructions in general?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That resulted in a dead android with a red exclaimation mark from his chest cavity.
No dice.
Any other ideas?
Edit: There's a newer version than the one which is on my device, but updating causes it also to die Stupid triangle of death.
I've got 4 options in the pre-boot stuff; which is RCK Android USB and Wipe Data. None of these seem helpful, i was hoping there might be a way to push across using adb but i guess that requires root beforehand.

skythra said:
I've got 4 options in the pre-boot stuff; which is RCK Android USB and Wipe Data. None of these seem helpful, i was hoping there might be a way to push across using adb but i guess that requires root beforehand.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the USB option is available, that should mean your tablet is unlocked and you can use fastboot from your PC to flash a custom recovery.

_that said:
If the USB option is available, that should mean your tablet is unlocked and you can use fastboot from your PC to flash a custom recovery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay, that's odd, well so this is a good thing for me then. I can just follow one of the guides here for pushing a firmware onto it? Can you recommend one?
My understanding is i need to get ADB to work by installing the google tools and then install the ADB driver and something something.. I'm going to go read up now about that and pray to my favourite diety of the minute. I assume there should be one for electronics..

Okay so,
using fastboot, installing the drivers and etc. I tried to flash a custom recovery, but so far it doesn't look like it worked; here's the output:
C:\Users\X\Desktop\Android Tools\platform-tools>fastboot -i 0x0B05 reboot
rebooting...
finished. total time: 0.552s
C:\Users\X\Desktop\Android Tools\platform-tools>fastboot -i 0x0B05 flash rec
overy recovery-jb-touch.img
sending 'recovery' (6866 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.867s]
writing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 0.069s]
finished. total time: 0.944s
C:\Users\X\Desktop\Android Tools\platform-tools>fastboot -i 0x0B05 reboot
rebooting...​
It doesn't reboot my tablet at all. It doesn't load the recovery from any form of way i can tell. I'm at a loss again. I still can't find a guide to use fastboot to send any kind of stock firmware or custom firmware to the tablet reliably either. So i'd like any tips/links etc please

Okay so i'm still struggling to do this alone with tidbits strewn across the internet. Every time i think i find new information I find that I can't follow the directions because something else prevents me. Having 'fastboot' hasn't really helped me at all yet.
So i found http://android.stackexchange.com/questions/28077/bricked-my-asus-tf300t-manual-jb-update and i was using that but i'm still finding odd behaviour with fastboot.
Let me explain in copy-paste form.
C:\Users\Skythra\Desktop\Android\platform-tools>fastboot devices
???????????? fastboot
C:\Users\Skythra\Desktop\Android\platform-tools>fastboot devices
015d262e990c0c08 fastboot
C:\Users\Skythra\Desktop\Android\platform-tools>fastboot flash system 01\blob
sending 'system' (800199 KB)...
OKAY [ 97.595s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [ 0.067s]
finished. total time: 97.665s
C:\Users\Skythra\Desktop\Android\platform-tools>fastboot devices
???????????? fastboot​
After using fastboot and issuing a second command it then stops for a countable 5 seconds before it says ??????????. If i say fastboot -reboot it says success but it doesn't reboot the device. So here's my understanding of what happens:
I load the staging area with the BLOB file
The copy to the staging area completes
fastboot goes crazy and doesn't listen
Next reboot doesn't do the android installation (which people have mentioned but i've never myself seen)
I go back to bootloop
If i reboot the device go back to fastboot, i can send it the command "Fastboot reboot" and it works. But any command after "Flash" nothing else works.
So far there has been a total of zero success I'm about to try the older firmware instead of the same as what's on there.

Okay so,
Apparently because fastboot is there doesn't mean I have real fastboot access. Probably this is my guess:
With JB you get access to Read from fastboot but it doesn't truthfully write. The simplified USB interface might take your data as it's sent but it's probably not storing it.
So the truth of the matter is i'm NOT unlocked. It's exactly as I thought.
I can't recover from trying to move any version of asus official firmware onto the ext_sd card and RCKing (even when the android man appears to work correctly, it still clearly restarts into a bootloop).
So this has to be sent back. Which likely won't be covered by warranty due to the fact that many months ago my now-ex-girlfriend broke the screen.
Fantastic
I can only assume this: Either the OTA update failed and my TF700 then melted itself from the charging+bootloop heat. Else when my ex stood on it, it broke something that would only be used in recovery.
Either way I'm down my 700AUD item and sad for the experience
Ahwell. I suppose i could change the title of this to "Solved" and update the OP as "Unfixable".

Seeing what ASUS was telling people fixing their Prime would cost for user incurred damage, you might be better off just to buy a new tablet. Fixing it would only save a hundred bucks or so and they might void your warranty.

[Q] Nexus 5 died in the night. Fastboot works, but recovery is a black screen.

Hi all, first time posting here.
Last night my Nexus 5 turned itself off while charging. Today it won't boot past the white Google logo. I had an unlocked bootloader, but was stock with no root and no custom rom, 5.1.1. I've had the phone for over a year, and bought it from a high street UK phone chain on contract, not from the Play Store.
I've spent the last 6 hours learning, trying, reading, trying again, watching videos, trying not to punch things, but nothing works.
Here's what I know:
I can boot into fastboot mode
bootloader is unlocked
recovery mode is a permanent black screen
"adb devices" cmd in platform-tools does not find the device
I've tried tweaking Windows 7 drivers (driver for fastboot etc.) but to no avail (including using clockwork)
"fastboot devices" returns the serial code for my phone
flashing using fastboot commands gives me "flash write failure" on bootloader-hammerhead xxx .img
even "fastboot erase boot" does not work ("failed to erase partition")
"fastboot reboot-bootloader" simply turns the phone off (does not attempt even a normal reboot)
Unless I'm in some weird driver quandary, I fear my phone may be beyond help as even simple commands do not work. Any help is much appreciated.

I should mention that "flash-all" doesn't work within platform-tools.
The reboot doesn't actually work. When it says "waiting for device" I manually restart the phone into fastboot myself. And then I get write errors, when it's starts pushing the radio file.
imgur . com / eBk4KnX.png

Pete.D said:
Hi all, first time posting here.
Last night my Nexus 5 turned itself off while charging. Today it won't boot past the white Google logo. I had an unlocked bootloader, but was stock with no root and no custom rom, 5.1.1. I've had the phone for over a year, and bought it from a high street UK phone chain on contract, not from the Play Store.
I've spent the last 6 hours learning, trying, reading, trying again, watching videos, trying not to punch things, but nothing works.
Here's what I know:
I can boot into fastboot mode
bootloader is unlocked
recovery mode is a permanent black screen
"adb devices" cmd in platform-tools does not find the device
I've tried tweaking Windows 7 drivers (driver for fastboot etc.) but to no avail (including using clockwork)
"fastboot devices" returns the serial code for my phone
flashing using fastboot commands gives me "flash write failure" on bootloader-hammerhead xxx .img
even "fastboot erase boot" does not work ("failed to erase partition")
"fastboot reboot-bootloader" simply turns the phone off (does not attempt even a normal reboot)
Unless I'm in some weird driver quandary, I fear my phone may be beyond help as even simple commands do not work. Any help is much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try locking the bootloader, and then unlocking it again?

Oh god , I think you have a hard bricked nexus .

Schoat333 said:
Did you try locking the bootloader, and then unlocking it again?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good idea! Just tried it (which it let me do) but still getting write errors running flash-all.

Given the sudden shutdown and corruption on your phone along with failure to write and to erase sounds like your internal memory has gone bad.
If that's the case you won't be able to to anything. I had the same occur with a Galaxy S3 last year and the nand memory went bad. Unfortunately it does happen, but not often. My guess is you now have a paperweight

Water damage, need to format before fixing

Hi, I had nearly finished setting up my brand new Pixel 3a when I made a classic mistake - & dropped it into a toilet. I pulled it out almost instantly, but the damage had been done. I tried to turn it off, but it wouldn't even let me do that as the screen was completely non responsive & whatever I did kept on rebooting it. It was set to ask for a pin on boot, but I can't type it in as the touch screen doesn't work. The whole screen is completely black, so I can't see anything either. I used Google's Locate my Phone & set it to wipe it for me, but the alarms that I set on the phone keep on going off at the times that I set, so it obviously hasn't wiped it. Sometimes I get some life by pressing Vol Down + Power whilst plugged into via USB - & it comes back with:
Code:
$ adb devices
List of devices attached
03JAY2VCL7 unauthorized
or
Code:
$ adb reboot fastboot
error: device unauthorized.
This adb server's $ADB_VENDOR_KEYS is not set
Try 'adb kill-server' if that seems wrong.
Otherwise check for a confirmation dialog on your device.
All I need to do is to factory reset it, as the data on the phone has security implications & I need to erase it before it gets scrapped (or, slim chance, repaired).
I had connected it to my workstation to copy lots of files across, & I'm sure that I turned on ADB Debugging & Dev Mode, so I'm not sure why I get "device unauthorized"
Can anyone tell me the keys to press to tell it to factory reset please?
TIA, Justin

OK, possible progress.
I pressed Vol Down then Power, & held everything down for about a minute. ADB no longer showed any devices, but fastboot did as root..!
Code:
[email protected] /home/user $ fastboot devices
03JAY2VCL7 fastboot
so I tried this:
Code:
[email protected] /home/user $ fastboot erase data
erasing 'data'...
FAILED (remote: Fastboot command (erase:) is not allowed when locked)
finished. total time: 0.140s
Ahh, it's locked...!
Code:
[email protected] /home/user $ fastboot getvar all
(bootloader) product:sargo
(bootloader) serialno:03JAY2VCL7
[SNIP]
(bootloader) unlocked:no
OK, maybe this will work?
Code:
[email protected] /home/user $ fastboot flashing unlock
...
OKAY [ 0.143s]
finished. total time: 0.143s
I wonder...
Code:
[email protected] /home/user $ fastboot getvar all
(bootloader) product:sargo
(bootloader) serialno:03JAY2VCL7
[SNIP]
(bootloader) unlocked:yes
OK, that looks good...
Code:
[email protected] /home/user $ fastboot erase userdata
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [ 4.619s]
finished. total time: 4.619s
OK, that looked really good. So, my question is now did I manage to erase the data on the phone?
I thought that an OEM Unlock also did a factory reset? Am I right in that? Also, I thought that the "fastboot erase data" removed all of my user data? Am I right in that too?
Basically, am I OK now, is the phone completely erased (as much as I can, under the circumstances)

I see this authorization issue every month when I use adb to sideload updates. When you plug the phone into your computer, it pops up a prompt to "Allow USB debugging" before it is allowed. Once authorized, I am not sure how long the authorization lasts for. I think it may be until the next reboot. But for sure, it is not persistent because every month I have to re-authorize it from the same computer as I did last month.
What I find confusing is that even though I check the box that says to remember the authorization, it still asks every time I connect it. Why does this authorization not persist?
So the problem is that you can't authorize the connection. I have a program called scrcpy that mirrors the phone screen onto your computer and lets you use your computer keyboard and mouse, but it has exactly the same problem as it uses adb so you have the same popup where you have to authorize the connection before it can work.
Maybe when it dries out some the screen will start to work again? This phone is one of the easiest on the market to open up: https://9to5google.com/2019/05/10/google-pixel-3a-teardown/ I think if I were really stuck, I would try removing the screen, draining out any liquid and then gently drying it with a heat gun. You can leave the screen connected while doing this and if the screen starts to work then you can authorize the connection.
I did some more thinking about this and it seems like the best solution might be to try to get the phone booted into recovery mode using the power and volume keys. In this case, there is not an authorization prompt. The problem is that you won't be able to see the screen prompts so you will be working blind. https://www.hardreset.info/devices/google/google-pixel-3-xl/recovery-mode/ "Wide data/factory reset" is probably what you want.
Good luck!

OPO auto start when charger is connected fail

Hello, All,
It's time for my OPO to help me in other ways except as a phone.
I have removed the battery and its now only running on a charger BUT it doesn't turn on when a charger I plugged in. This is a function I require for the projects. I have tried the "fastboot oem off-mode-charge 0" method (worked for other devices) but the command just hangs and doesn't go through. Is there any other way to achieve this?
Thank you

skokoble6ter said:
Hello, All,
It's time for my OPO to help me in other ways except as a phone.
I have removed the battery and its now only running on a charger BUT it doesn't turn on when a charger I plugged in. This is a function I require for the projects. I have tried the "fastboot oem off-mode-charge 0" method (worked for other devices) but the command just hangs and doesn't go through. Is there any other way to achieve this?
Thank you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i searched around where i could but i doubt it. Personally if it hangs for you i would reflash the opo to it's out of the box state (so you get a fresh bootloader) and try again. Maybe try it with another pc/laptop? does the command hang with or without the battery? Or perhaps a flashable .zip exists somewhere so the setting gets applied though TWRP but i'm not sure (i'm just speculating)