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[HELP!] Velocity Cruz T301 Full Brick Recovery

Hi XDA,
so basically i bought a Velocity Cruz T301 recently and followed the known procedures for rooting, flashing ClockworkMod Recovery and custom rom (SJHill Rom v0.3).
before the full brick my device was at ClockworkMod 5 and rooted with SJHill Rom v0.3.
i installed CWM by flashing the zip in stock recovery, then succesfully rooted the device, finally wiped and flashed my custom rom
after major dissapointment in this tablets performance i decided i wanted to get rid of it.
So i downloaded the stock rom, wipe and flashed it onto the tablet...
the tablet turned off when it was finished (i think it was attempting to reboot) and never turned back on again...EVER! :good:
i cant even get to recovery
i tried flashing with adb and fastboot but the device is never even presents itselft to the computer.
i found out that you can boot the device into USB boot mode where you hold the "VOL -" (Volume Down) button and press the reset button and while connected to the computer (windows only) a "JZ4760 USB Boot Device" appears.
i did some googling and also found out that the T301 is based on similar tech to a bunch of tablets and they can all be modified by some software released by Ingenic called USBBootTool.exe
the tool is written in chinese and i cant decypher it all, though i found out how to use it based on its usage for other Ingenic based tablets
1.) you will need to disable driver signature verification (press F8 on boot of windows and toggle the setting, i hate rebooting too but it has to be done)
2.) boot your tablet into USB Boot Mode (hold down Vol - and press Reset button)
3.) install the driver for your device (included in the files below)
4.) with the tablet disconnected you would open the USBBootTool.exe
5.) select your tablet in the options and fill each box with the files needed to flash (files included below)
6.) reconnect the tablet while still in USB Boot Mode and the software will flash your device on detection
everything goes fine for me except when i get to the flashing part in the end.
when USBBootTool detects my tablet, it attempts to flash and gives me a stream of errors and never flashes my device.
i dont know what to do at this point. i have provided direct links to all the software im using and also links to where i got them.
any help would be appreciated, thank you to the XDA community in advance
>------------------- DOWNLOADS ------------------------<
USBBootTool.exe / Tablet Drivers (4725 / 4725B / 4740 / 4750 / 4755 / 4760 / 4770)
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/79196608/burn_tools_3.0.16.rar
obtained from - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1720621
Velocity Cruz T301 Update.zip (contains the system.img / data.img / mbr-xboot.bin files)
http://www.cruztablet.com/T301update.zip
obtained from - http://www.cruztablet.com/Article_861.php
SJHill Rom v0.3
http://www.androidfilehost.com/?fid=9390362690511176486
obtained from - http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/27583-rom-t301-sjhill-rom-17-feb-2012-download-link-updated/
ClockworkMod 5
http://files.androtab.info/ingenic/cwm/20120514/T301-recovery-signed.zip
obtained from - http://androtab.info/mips/ingenic/clockworkmod/

I have the same situation. I have gone through every menu in the USB Boot tool and to no avail am I able to recover my T100.

gmick is redoing the software because the coding is set up wrong. Once he gets that figured out there should be a fool proof unbricking method that we can follow. He is posting information over on Slate Droid if you want to take a look.

feyerbrand said:
gmick is redoing the software because the coding is set up wrong. Once he gets that figured out there should be a fool proof unbricking method that we can follow. He is posting information over on Slate Droid if you want to take a look.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok post the link to the thread, and ill add it to the first post as a solution if its found to be a working one

JustSayTech said:
ok post the link to the thread, and ill add it to the first post as a solution if its found to be a working one
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*Cross Post from SlateDroid* (but I can't post the link because XDA won't allow it)
I found out why the USB boot isn't working. Well, more appropriately I know where it fails but not exactly "why".
The USB Boot tool works like this:
1) Send x00 command (Get CPU Info)
2) Device responds with "JZ4760V1"
3) Host sends two binaries, stage1 and stage2. Stage 1 sets up memory stuff, and Stage 2 sets up USB flashing functions.
4) Host checks that the binaries executed by issuing another x00 command (Which serves as an "Are you still there?" function)
5) If the response is good, the host will flash the images, if the response is bad, it will abort.
Our devices are failing at step 4. The linux usb boot tools (xburst-tools) fail in an identical fashion.
I know that the first stage binary transfers and executes fine because if it didn't the device would be limited to 16k. The second stage is 120K and is transferred successfully. Once the second stage "execute" command is sent, the device crashes.
The second stage is also unique to the CPU type. I've used all of the binaries for JZ4760 I could find on the net and when that failed I cross compiled my own binary from source and it still crashed.
At this point I highly doubt I'll ever be able to fix it, and this completely explains why no one could get any usb recovery tool to work while others using similar devices could. I guess our board is modified just enough for ingenic's stock binaries to fail. Without knowing what's changed (getting Velocity Micro's source) we're SOL.
I can open it up again and solder on the serial header but I'm betting it's going to give me some generic "couldn't execute" message that isn't going to help me. I'll probably do this anyway though because I've come this far so what's the loss.

wow, i learned alot from that post, seems like writing a usbboottool-like application that can send the commands but also log and possibly bypass security checks etc but that def would take sometime. thank you for your insight, seems youve come the closest to cracking the case, actually you found the fault, hopefully your methods can eventually bring about a fix

JZ 4770
gmick said:
*Cross Post from SlateDroid* (but I can't post the link because XDA won't allow it)
I found out why the USB boot isn't working. Well, more appropriately I know where it fails but not exactly "why".
The USB Boot tool works like this:
1) Send x00 command (Get CPU Info)
2) Device responds with "JZ4760V1"
3) Host sends two binaries, stage1 and stage2. Stage 1 sets up memory stuff, and Stage 2 sets up USB flashing functions.
4) Host checks that the binaries executed by issuing another x00 command (Which serves as an "Are you still there?" function)
5) If the response is good, the host will flash the images, if the response is bad, it will abort.
Our devices are failing at step 4. The linux usb boot tools (xburst-tools) fail in an identical fashion.
I know that the first stage binary transfers and executes fine because if it didn't the device would be limited to 16k. The second stage is 120K and is transferred successfully. Once the second stage "execute" command is sent, the device crashes.
The second stage is also unique to the CPU type. I've used all of the binaries for JZ4760 I could find on the net and when that failed I cross compiled my own binary from source and it still crashed.
At this point I highly doubt I'll ever be able to fix it, and this completely explains why no one could get any usb recovery tool to work while others using similar devices could. I guess our board is modified just enough for ingenic's stock binaries to fail. Without knowing what's changed (getting Velocity Micro's source) we're SOL.
I can open it up again and solder on the serial header but I'm betting it's going to give me some generic "couldn't execute" message that isn't going to help me. I'll probably do this anyway though because I've come this far so what's the loss.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
for my JZ4770 Earlier USB tool was flashing .img without any problem but for now it is saying "load cfg failed". "API downlaod failed' like dialogues and doesnt flash anything. Any idea? Thanks in advance!!

First restart your computer (actually restart it) then redownload the USB boot tool and save it in a completely new directory and use a different USB port
Sent from my Pokeball

Yes, I did
JustSayTech said:
First restart your computer (actually restart it) then redownload the USB boot tool and save it in a completely new directory and use a different USB port
Sent from my Pokeball
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I tried with this suggestion. Rather I reinstalled xp and the tried again. But the dialogues are same. The history is like this. Was having ICS on JZ 4770. Formatted with usb tool and put JB updates. It was not sensing touch so reflashed another JB updates. Now the tab boots, it reaches to boot logo for around 12 seconds and restarts in stock recovery. While it is in booting stage it get detected by windows and adb also. In stock recovery mode it get detected by windows and in turn by adb also. If I tried to install updates through SD card it shows it had installed and reboots after completion. But again the same way it goes to boot logo and then back to stock JB recovery. It also boots in ingenic boot device mode and gets detected by USB burn tools. But when try to flash any of the ROM it gives the same dialogues "check cfg failed" "api download failed" "boot. fw failed" and cant flash anything.
Is there any tool which can be flashed or a script which can be used from SD card for completely formatting flash memory so that USB burn tool can flash required ROM?

can you flash the stock rom in recovery?

Managed using USB BOOT TOOL for ingenic JZ 4770 board in English
JustSayTech said:
can you flash the stock rom in recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks man but I managed to boot the device. I used following USB BOOT TOOL for ingenic 4770 boards. The goodness with this tool, this is completely in English. You will know what you are doing. Even after opening the main window of the tool you can right click and then get another options(yes again in English). My problem with this device was bad blocks at 1024. In the options there is chance to force erase whole the nand partitions which I used and erased all the partitions thereby made all the partions available for flashing and readable by the tool. Then from File option selected stock rom files and flashed them. While flashing selected JZ4770 iNanad.ini file in manual configuration. This tool has really helped me to come out of the issue and will be useful for guys using JZ 4770 board.
http://www.4shared.com/rar/m1BUV5r2/USBBurnTool_20120401_for_relea.html

Got USBBootTool.exe kind of working.
1. Download the following file from Ingenic.
ftp * ingenic * cn/3sw/01linux/tmp/jz4770-20110610.rar
2. Download Applocale from Microsoft.
www * microsoft * com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=13209
3. Extract the jz4770-20110610.rar and find the folder. (Using 7zip should keep the UTF encoding in Chinese)
20110610\04burn\20110524_4770_Programmer
4. Copy the folder 20110524_4770_Programmer to location you want to use it in.
5. Install Microsoft Applocale (Just in case, I don't think it is required)
Now Start Applocale and create a shortcut to USBbootTool.exe inside 20110524_4770_Programmer
中文(简体) is simplified Chinese option and should let you view the GUI correctly.
6. Now with the Applocale Shortcut created for USBbootTool.exe you can start the application with correct fonts.
Now this is where is breaks down.
TABLET-8 NAND FINAL BSP(S3 TEST) will allow you to read from it and write to it, but the CFG is off.
\tool_cfg\tablet-8-nand-final.ini is the configuration for it.
DO NOT CONNECT THE DEVICE WITH ANY OPTIONS CHECKED OR LOAD ANY FILES.
See Attached Images.
Next to the Read button is some Boot Option menu. I am not fulling aware of what this does.
What I need is a someone to help me fix/correct the ini/cfg files in
\20110524_4770_Programmer\tool_cfg\.ini
\20110524_4770_Programmer\4760\
to correctly match the files of the NAND.
Also if anyone has a copy (dd to img) or (cat to img) of the block devices.
That would help a ton.
# cat /proc/partitions
# cat /proc/mtd
I would also love another T10x Tablet for cheap.
I want to start building things like new bootloader, kernel, system image,
performance libraries to take full use of the Ingenic JZ4760 (www * ingenic * cn/product.aspx?CID=11)
I also bring Christmas gifts
2 APKS. You can place them in /system/app or /data/app.
Google Play will crash now and again, but it will load and work. (Vending.apk)
Secondly I bring the gift of performance increase, just by a slight bit.
edit the line of the heapsize in /system/build.prop dalvik.vm.heapsize=96m
Remember to make sure the permissions are set back to 666 or 644.
Original Vending.Apk before updates came from here: (Incase you are paranoid)
code * google * com/p/ics-nexus-s-4g/source/browse/trunk/system/app/Vending.apk?spec=svn20&r=18
ics-nexus-s-4g * googlecode * com/svn-history/r18/trunk/system/app/Vending.apk
To prevent spam on the XDA forums, ALL new users prevented from posting outside links in their messages. After approximately 10 posts, you will be able to post outside links. Thank you for
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stupid. how do you expect real people to help post Tech Docs? That is bad Moderating and Administrating.
Make sure to replace the Asterisk's with spaces to normal dots.

Requesting Block Images.
Does anyone have a copy of it they can send me for a T10x?

block images......
IceGryphon said:
Does anyone have a copy of it they can send me for a T10x?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which block images do you want?
...also is there a way to rip the stock images off the jz4760 in the t301.
Such as:
Can i usethe ingenic uboot tool?
Anybody find the jtag pins?
Is the 4 pin conn next 2 the batt for serial?
.......i guess ill try to take a look this weekend
Ics would be really nice, but probably slower than stock..... especially with the limited ram
I unpacked the stock rom. I also unpacked an ics rom for a jz4770, and repo sync'd the aosp and mips 3.0.8 android kernel.
I'm still trying to figure out specs for the processor though. I know that its mips32 - el- fp- r1, but i cannot figur out the dsp version ... if it has one?

Error in erasing nand
nanachitang420 said:
thanks man but I managed to boot the device. I used following USB BOOT TOOL for ingenic 4770 boards. The goodness with this tool, this is completely in English. You will know what you are doing. Even after opening the main window of the tool you can right click and then get another options(yes again in English). My problem with this device was bad blocks at 1024. In the options there is chance to force erase whole the nand partitions which I used and erased all the partitions thereby made all the partions available for flashing and readable by the tool. Then from File option selected stock rom files and flashed them. While flashing selected JZ4770 iNanad.ini file in manual configuration. This tool has really helped me to come out of the issue and will be useful for guys using JZ 4770 board.
http://www.4shared.com/rar/m1BUV5r2/USBBurnTool_20120401_for_relea.html
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used english ingenic tool to erase bad blocks but m nt able erase bad blocks live suit is giving eror id=0x4848

[Q] Unbrickable Mod Help - Won't complete?

Problem solved -- lessons learned posted on page 2 - in short, use Linux to do this and do the soldering right the first time. Still this experience may be helpful to some who try and come across similar hurdles. Thanks to all who helped.
So I was successful last year rooting and putting a new firmware on this phone. I cam back to try something new but made the bonehead move of grabbing a GB loader for the Vibrant and hard bricked the phone. Nothing worked of course so I got brave and tried the Unbrickable mod. I've worked under a microscope before and after some trial and error modified my tools to manage the task (I think!?).
Up front I want to thank Adam and everyone else who put effort into the Unbrickable mod - that's simply amazing work and I wAs so fascinated I had to try it too.
So I now nothing about linux so all around this has been a huge learning experience and I'm hoping my problem is software but I fear not. I'm running Ubuntu over VirtualBox and used the links provided in Adam's Development thread for the the T959V - of course I'm new here so couldn't comment there. There was no Detector download so I just downloaded the Resurrector. Upon hooking up the phone I got a huge smile because the phone was recognnized by the computer and finally by the resurrector when I figured out how to get Ubuntu to see the USB. I ran the device and everything went apparently well HOWEVER I could not follow on with Heimdall One-click as it would not recognize the phone.
Here's the Output from the ReSurrrector
**********************************************************
Begin Resurrection Sequence
Requesting Permission to access device
Please wait.... Uploading..
-------------------------------------------------------------
Hummingbird Interceptor Boot Loader (HIBL) v2.1
Copyright (C) Rebellos 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
SMDK42XX,S3C64XX USB Download Tool
Version 0.20 (c) 2004,2005,2006 Ben Dooks <[email protected]>
S3C64XX Detected!
=> found device: bus 001, dev 004
=> loaded 24576 bytes from /tmp/TempHeimdallOneClick99719EDC/UnBrickPack/HIBL.bin
=> Downloading 24586 bytes to 0xd0020000
=> Data checksum d8dc
=> usb_bulk_write() returned 0
failed to write 24586 bytes
Interceptor Injection Complete. Injecting modified SBL
*****************************************************************
I assumed all was good and went forward. I got no display from the phone but the navigation lights did come on. However as said, Heimdall said phone disconnected. The phone is recognized in Windows as well however Odin does not recognize it. I tried Resurrector again and again. In looking at the Resurrector output I noticed there is a fail to write so I'm not sure where to go from here.... is there something wrong wtih my solder job? is one of the adjacent resistors disturbed?
I feel so close and yet so far... any direction is appreciated

sounds like a driver issue. here's a link for heimdall suite 1.3.2 for windows. unzip and make sure your phone is connected to a usb port in back of your pc first. front side usb ports can cause some problems. when phone is plugged into pc via usb, run the zadig.exe in the drivers folder. when open, options>list all devices. then from the drop down menu, select the one for samsung (mine now says galaxy s 4g) and then click install drivers. should be good to go with heimdall after that is done.
http://cdgfx.me/hEiMdaLL

Yep. Driver issue. Its better to use a Heimdall one-click if you can find one for your device. Linux also requires no drivers.

Again - please let me thank all in advance for looking at this problem.
So I've cleared all instances of USB installation before and the result is that I can now see "SCE S5PC110 Test B/D" show up in Zadig however - The drop down box shows only "USB Input Device (Interface 0) and another for (Interface 1)" and of course the S5PC110. I have "list all devices selected" however this devices only shows as the S5PC110 and thus Samsung is not selectable in the drop down box.
Driver reads as (NONE)
WInUSB (v6.1.7600.16385)
USB ID 04E8 1234
WCID shows a red "X"
There is no option to select Samung s4sg I suspect because the bootloaders are still not corrected and the Unbrickable mod is present?
Anyway, I pressed the install drivers button and indeed a usb driver installed with the following output.
******************************************
ini file 'zadig.ini' not found - default parameters will be used
default driver set to 'WinUSB'
0 devices found.
libwdi:info [detect_version] Windows 7
1 device found.
1 device found.
3 devices found.
Using inf name: SEC_S5PC110_Test_BD.inf
Succesfully extracted driver files.
Installing driver. Please wait...
libwdi:info [extract_binaries] successfully extracted driver files to C:\usb_driver
libwdi:info [wdi_prepare_driver] succesfully created 'C:\usb_driver\SEC_S5PC110_Test_BD.inf'
libwdi:info [wdi_prepare_driver] Vista or later detected - creating and self-signing a .cat file...
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\usb_driver\amd64\wdfcoinstaller01009.dll'
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\usb_driver\amd64\winusbcoinstaller2.dll'
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\usb_driver\sec_s5pc110_test_bd.inf'
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\usb_driver\x86\wdfcoinstaller01009.dll'
libwdi:info [ScanDirAndHash] added hash for 'C:\usb_driver\x86\winusbcoinstaller2.dll'
libwdi:info [CreateCat] successfully created file 'C:\usb_driver\SEC_S5PC110_Test_BD.cat'
libwdi:info [CreateSelfSignedCert] created new self-signed certificate 'CN=USB\VID_04E8&PID_1234 (libwdi autogenerated)'
libwdi:info [SelfSignFile] added certificate 'CN=USB\VID_04E8&PID_1234 (libwdi autogenerated)' to 'Root' and 'TrustedPublisher' stores
libwdi:info [SelfSignFile] successfully signed file 'C:\usb_driver\SEC_S5PC110_Test_BD.cat'
libwdi:info [SelfSignFile] successfully deleted private key
Driver Installation: SUCCESS
3 devices found.
*********************************************
I have the Heimdall One Click for this device but as seen previously in both linux and windows - Heimdall does not detect this device as a Samsung and shows Disconnected... Similarly Odin does not detect this device.
So I switched back over to VM Virtual Box running Ubuntu 12.04 and no difference there either. I further made the USB permanent and took off automount from windows so that I could ensure the device interfaced directly into linux in the short period of time I assume is the download period - that is to be able to enter password for Resurrector, then plug in phone, and then press OK in a short period of time. The result is the same.
Summary - in Linux, Resurrector recognizes the device but Fails to write 24586 bytes as before. I can now also be in Windows and have the S5PC110 device recognized however nothing can write to it in Windows as far as I know.
*********************
One last try with a different method - held Vol +&- & power before connecting to computer. The following output from Resurrector in Linux appears the same as previous except for the questionable write. After the usb_bulk_write however I heard the device disconnect and again the progress stopped here
----------------------------------------------------------
Hummingbird Interceptor Boot Loader (HIBL) v2.1
Copyright (C) Rebellos 2011
-------------------------------------------------------------
SMDK42XX,S3C64XX USB Download Tool
Version 0.20 (c) 2004,2005,2006 Ben Dooks <[email protected]>
S3C64XX Detected!
=> found device: bus 001, dev 002
=> loaded 24576 bytes from /tmp/TempHeimdallOneClick14WD41A3/UnBrickPack/HIBL.bin
=> Downloading 24586 bytes to 0xd0020000
=> Data checksum d8dc
=> usb_bulk_write() returned 24586
Interceptor Injection Complete. Injecting modified SBL
************************************************** **************
there is no display on the phone and nothing progresses. The usb bulk write happens only on occassion and is immediately followed by the usb disconnect sound.

Lumin30 has a file called usbdeview in his fresh out of the box thread. Use that to remove all samsung drivers. It sounds like a residual driver is causing a problem.

eollie said:
Lumin30 has a file called usbdeview in his fresh out of the box thread. Use that to remove all samsung drivers. It sounds like a residual driver is causing a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks eollie but I did that already. I had to delete all previous Samsung and S5PC installations as I've tried so many things to date which involved using almost every usb port. It did make a difference in that now the device is recognized but as the test board and not as Samsung. I have gone through the route of installing the samsung drivers previously from the various Samsung Driver files that are around however none resulted in this phone being recognized as a Samsung again.

On the windows pc go to device manager and delete all USB drivers not just the ones related to phone then reboot and then try a heimdall one-click and only use zadig to install drivers??

OK - so I wanted to remove Windows from the equation as the experts suggested it's a driver issue and despite all my efforts I was having no success. I installed Ubuntu (dual boot) and voila Resurrector now completes and for the first time I actually get into download mode with a graphic on the screen. Using bhundven's One click The T959V Heimdall One-Click Collection I finally saw "connected" and was able to follow the steps twice to flash bootloaders. All operations completed successfully before disconnecting the phone however the phone did not reboot. SO I repeated the whole process again without any change.
current state - I cannot get the phone into download mode without using Resurrector. While I know a ton of progress has been made here thanks to the tools provided by Adam, bhundven, and others my phone still behaves as it did before - no display except for button lights on some methods to get to download mode. My jig does nothing either. Battery is fully charged and I remain stumped.

Did you make sure you flashed with bootloaders cus Ive had tthat happen with an older phone
----------------------------------------------
If helped don't be afraid to hit the thanks button it doesn't bite lol

erikmm said:
Did you make sure you flashed with bootloaders cus Ive had tthat happen with an older phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes twice with UVKJ6 package and subsequently tried AntonX-Basic_with_a_twist-v1.1.0-OC_UV.jar with double cycle to get the bootloaders flashed...
each time the process now gets to the point where it tries to reboot the phone and disconnects. The bottom status screen still maintains a rolling circle with statement of it's last step but the phone is powered down and nothing else will happen. No combination of buttons or jig or usb to computer will get the phone to boot or enter download mode.
On going back to windows (and Zadig) the device is still only seen as S5PC110 -- so I guess there is an improvement in but the phone is still not recognized as Samsung, Heimdall or Odin won't see it, and I have no idea what to try next.

You do have a SGH-T959V and not a 959W right? Have you tried to use heimdall frontend and flash everything except the modem? The 959W people that have been stuck in a bootloop got out of is by flashing everything except the modem. Then once sucessful they reboot to recovery and flash the modem of choice for the rom you are using.
I would pm getochkn and get the exact steps he uses and try it.

eollie said:
You do have a SGH-T959V and not a 959W right? Have you tried to use heimdall frontend and flash everything except the modem? The 959W people that have been stuck in a bootloop got out of is by flashing everything except the modem. Then once sucessful they reboot to recovery and flash the modem of choice for the rom you are using.
I would pm getochkn and get the exact steps he uses and try it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. Are you in Canada? A quick google search of "drsilicone" shows people with that same name on Canadian forums like redhotdeals, etc, so if that's you and you have a "W" phone, I may be able to help. 99% of the phone is the same as the "V" but small differences make a big deal sometimes and I have a pretty much complete dump now of a "W" phone with great help from bhundven and other team acid members. PM if you do have the "W" phone and we'll see what we can do. I've helped fix 2 other "W" peoples phones in the past 2 days. If you don't have a "W", then I can't help much. lol.
EVen if you see nothing on the screen, try the download button combo anyways. I did that to my phone yesterday, looked dead, but holding the buttons and putting the cable in, it still went into DL mode and Heimdall saw it, flashed back my dumps and was going again.

100% T959V -- it's a T-mobile phone that yes I previously rooted and unlocked. Worked fine for a year until my idiocy with the boot loader a few days ago.
and thanks for the advice but as I've noted above I've tried every key, button, jig, usb combination with no luck. The Unbrickable mod, resurrector, and Heimdall one-click with boot loader flash sequence appears to have worked except for the very last event expected - that is for the phone to reboot -- it does not reboot however.
The ONLY thing that produces any recognition or response in the phone is Adam's Resurrector. True the phone is now recognized in the window's environment as S5PC110 Test BD but it has never again been recognized as a Samsung so Heimdall simply won't find, connect, or otherwise allow command line flashing of this device. Similarly, Odin does not show any ID:Com open so that doesn't work either.
I can only hypothesize that the boot loaders were NOT actually written to the device as it would then show up as a Samsung no?? The only other thing to note is that after resurrector puts the device into Download mode (and I now see the yellow triangle graphic) I cannot disconnect the device and move to another port - the phone shuts right down and it's not responsive to ANYTHING I've tried..... and I think I've tried all sorts of combinations with battery in and out.
Edit:
Reading the Unbrickable Captivate thread again FredWorrell wrote on2nd September 2011, 04:31 AM #24
... a tip the size of a human hair. Although, if you screw up and you remove both resistors instead of just one, the phone can now be put into download mode and will accept a download. Unfortunately, it still won't boot normally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is the situation I guess I face but as I'm not certain what resistors he was referring to nor what those comparable resistors are on the T959V I'm still stumped -- unless Adam or someone knowledgeable can offer input...
I've borrowed this picture from Tablador for the magnification and clarity (Thank you Tablador) to highlight one resistor I have my questions about. I'm not sure how I can test it's function right now and my magnification is at 6X so I can't truly see the solder joints. I did disturb it but fixed it - could that explain this symptom?
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Problems SOLVED
Thanks for everyone's help - it turns out that it was the resistor pictured above. The picture above shows solder shoulders on these resistors - without equal magnification I would swear there was none and with the landing pads located underneath it looks like an impossible task but with the right technique I was able to correct my previous mistake.
Funny story goes along with this - I bought a Vibrant last year from a kid who said it was bricked by Kies and he didn't know what to do. I'm up for an adventure and bought it from him. I ended up getting the T959V right after with a broken screen so didn't really try too hard to fix the vibrant. Anyway, with this challenge I set out tonight to do the unbrickable mod on the Vibrant as the T959V wasn't working. On opening up I found quite the mess -- this kid obviously tried the unbrickable mod and the whole bank of high and low resistors was gone with 4 chips spread off to the sides -- A complete disaster indeed and made me realized I had been taken in buying it... Oh well, I was able to harvest a resistor (I guessed one near the cpu that looked similar to the one I wrecked on the T959V) and my only choice now was to go back to the T959V and try again.\
I added some magnification and was able to install the new resistor in place of the questionable one pictured. Happy simply with the new soldering skills I've gained over the past week I resigned myself to the result of this final attempt. Imagine my surprise when I pressed the power button and it booted into CWM -- I couldn't complete the boot sequence so I had to run Resurrector again followed by Heimdall One CLick and I'm overjoyed - This time it all worked as expected.
Thanks to Adam, bhundven, and all others who've contributed to these magnificent technical lessons.
If this thread will serve anyone else in trying the Unbrickable mod I would summarize my lessons --
#This is very difficult and technical work trying to solder these things - don't try it without the right tools, knowledge (which can be gained by reading and watching videos), and a steady hand. Seriously, if you shake under a microscope don't bother - pay someone.
#Don't bother trying to do this in Windows - not worth the headache -- Ubuntu provides a very easy way to install dual boot to your computer and it was so intuitive that I regret not doing it sooner.
# and I guess I'll just testify as one more person that this mod really does work exactly as described -- if it's not working as described you may have USB driver issues or soldering issues as I had. If it's not working - do the mod again and make sure all the connections are as they should be.

Cannot root & flash LineageOS 14.1 (v1awifi) with sequence in LineageOS wiki page

Cannot root & flash LineageOS 14.1 (v1awifi) with sequence in LineageOS wiki page
Presently I have an unrooted SM-P900
Android: v 5.0.2
Build: LRX22G.P900UES1CPL1
I am using a custom built desktop Windows 10 machine. At this point I don't know what else to try. I'm not a computer noob, but I am new to rooting and flashing Android ROMs. I'm hoping I can get help from the community.
The installation instructions I followed are on the Lineage OS wiki. I can't post the link because I have fewer than 10 posts here.
1. Success: Setup "adb" via instructions. Entered "adb devices" and got successful response.
2. Success: Enabled USB debugging on P900.
3. Success: Installed Heimdall Suite v 1.4.0. Found at Glassechidna website. Installed " Microsoft Visual C++ 2012 Redistributable Package (x86)" version 4. Typed "heimdall version" in 'Command Prompt' and got "1.4.0" in response.
4. Success: Next - 'Power' + 'Vol. Down' + 'Home' - to get into 'Download Mode' on the P900: Successful.
5. Success: Run "zadig.exe" [v2.0.0]. 'Options' menu, 'List all devices'. Found item called "Gadget Serial" that represents my tablet.
6. Success: In "zadig.exe", choose a 'driver' and click "Replace Driver" button.
a. The 'driver' options to choose from are: WinUSB (v6.1.7600.16385), libusbK (v3.0.4.0), libusb0 (v1.2.5.0).
b. In my efforts to be successful, I tried all 3 drivers.
7. FAIL: Test Heimdall Suite setup. Type "heimdall print-pit --verbose", if device reboots then Heimdall is installed and working correctly.
* This is the point in the installation process I can't get past. I get errors and my P900 does not reboot. In the 'Command Prompt' I see:
Initialising connection...
Detecting device...
Claiming interface...
Setting up interface...
Initialising protocol...
ERROR: Failed to initialise protocol!
** 'Verbose' mode returns more information than what I've shown. The 'Initializing protocol' step has failed with errors: -1, -7, -12 depending on the drivers I installed in Step 6. Those drivers are compiled into the "zadig.exe" program.
I have tried the following:
( 1 ) All three drivers in v2.0.0 of 'zadig.exe' listed above.
( 2 ) All four drivers in v2.3.701 of 'zadig.exe' which includes: WinUSB (v 6.1.7600.xxxx), libusb-win32 (v1.2.6.0), libusbk (v3.0.7.0), usb Serial (CDC).
( 3 ) USB 3.0 samsung cable in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
( 4 ) USB 2.0 Amazon cable in both USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports.
( 5 ) Repeated all previous steps with a Lenovo Ideapad Y470 laptop with Windows 10. Nothing different happened.
( 6 ) Reinitializing Android OS with Kies v3. Kies sees the P900. I can choose to 'update and reinitialize'. It presents a status bar showing it is downloading something. The tablet then goes into 'Download Mode'. But then I get an error that connection with the P900 was lost. Tried this with USB 2.0 / USB 3.0 cables and ports on desktop PC, same result.
My thoughts:
[ i ] There is a v1.4.2 of the Heimdall Suite. But only the source code is available. When I googled it I read of people having more success with that most recent version on other Android devices. But, I don't know the first thing about compiling the code into a Windows 10 executable. And I don't want to use Linux distro CD to run v1.4.2 because I know nothing about Linux OS.
[ ii ] I used 'Power' + 'Vol. Up' + 'Home' to reformat P900 into factory condition prior to all of these steps. But I thought that my tablet initially was 4.4.2 Android. I thought perhaps downgrading the Android OS to 4.4.2 might help, which is why I tried KIES. But even that does not work.
[ iii ] My initial motivation for doing this was to format my external SD card as internal. I know it will be slower, but that is ok. I just do not want to have storage limitations (I have 32 GB version). v 5.0.2 has immature options to achieve this on the P900. I couldn't simply format the external SD card as 'internal'. NO option to do so.
Thank you,
Bearacuda

UPDATE
I reached out to the LineageOS community on Reddit. AndyCGYan replied and told me he had compiled 1.4.2 windows versions of heimdall.exe and heimdall-frontend.exe. I asked him to share them with me. He did. In a command prompt I typed: "heimdall142 print-pit --verbose". The command prompt scrolled with a flurry of text and my SM-P900 rebooted from 'Download Mode'. It worked!
I'd feel better if the Glassechidna guy would compile his own software into a 1.4.2 windows product, but I'm grateful this guy responded.
Thanks AndyCGYan

UPDATE 2: SM-P900 flashed with TRWP and Lineage OS 14.1
I finished the process of flashing my SM-P900 to the Lineage OS v14.1 (20171125). Lineage OS v14.1 (20171202) gave the following error:
"adb: error: failed to get feature set: no device/emulators found"
But when I flashed the 20171125 version it worked. So I'm guessing there is a problem with the 1202 nightly.
The Windows compiled v1.4.2 version of Heimdall I received got me past the 1.4.0 print-pit problem. I don't have 10 messages posted here yet so I can't post the link to the files. But if you go to my post on Reddit in the Lineage OS forum you'll see the link. The person who made the files available to me said he'd keep the files there for others to download. Unless you compile them yourself, I don't know of anywhere else these can be obtained.
To clarify, here is the information regarding my SM-P900
Stock Android v5.0.2
Country: Cellular South (XAR)
PDA: P900UES1CPL1
CSC: P900XAR1CPL1
Kies 3.0 (to obtain most recent Windows Samsung device drivers)
ADB v1.0.39
Heimdall Suite (v1.4.0 with heimdall.exe (v1.4.2) and heimdall-frontend.exe (v1.4.2) replacing 1.4.0 versions)
TWRP v3.1.1-0-v1awifi
Lineage OS 14.1 - Android v7.1.2 - nightly version 20171125 (20171202 gave an error)
Open GApps - arm - v7.1 nano
addonsu - arm - v14.1
NOTE: Even though ADB was successfully setup, I was not successful pushing any files (TWRP, LineageOS, etc.) onto "/sdcard/". Trying so caused an error. I was able to:
( 1 ) remove my extSDCard (64gb Samsung) from the SM-P900,
( 2 ) plug it into my computer and copy over the TWRP, LineageOS, Open Gapps, and addonsu zip files to extSDCard
( 3 ) re-insert my extSDCard back into SM-P900
( 4 ) In TWRP recovery mode, there is an 'INSTALL' button that lets you select multiple zips from either internal or external SD storage. After selecting the zips on the extSDCard all of the files flashed over just fine.
NOTE: When the LineageOS instructions tell you to reboot into recovery mode just after flashing TWRP, what they mean is to press the "REBOOT" button which then leads to a submenu with a "RECOVERY" button. I initially thought the "REBOOT" button meant restarting the system so I didn't push it. Instead I tried pressing the Home + Vol. UP + Power button combination. But all that did was restart the SM-P900 into the stock v5.0.2. Which according the LineageOS instructions destroys the TWRP custom recovery. After repeating this step several times while trying variations of button pressing I finally hit the "Reboot" button and found the submenu of additional options: "System", "Recovery", "Download", etc...
Good Luck

Bearacuda said:
I reached out to the LineageOS community on Reddit. AndyCGYan replied and told me he had compiled 1.4.2 windows versions of heimdall.exe and heimdall-frontend.exe. I asked him to share them with me. He did. In a command prompt I typed: "heimdall142 print-pit --verbose". The command prompt scrolled with a flurry of text and my SM-P900 rebooted from 'Download Mode'. It worked!
I'd feel better if the Glassechidna guy would compile his own software into a 1.4.2 windows product, but I'm grateful this guy responded.
Thanks AndyCGYan
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please can you share the 1.42 version with me? i am having the same problems

never mind in ended up using odin in the end with twrp. all good now

I'm not sure if there is a specific reason you proceeded using this method rather than using Odin as it was pretty painless to do it with Odin 3.10.6. This is what I did :
(I was already on Lollipop so I did not need to install a Lollipop bootloader.)
- Uploaded TWRP through Odin with auto-reboot and Reset Time unselected.
- I manually turned off the tablet after it was done flashing.
- I turned the tablet back on by pressing Vol.Up + Home + Power
- In TWRP : I swiped to allow modifications
- I made a backup
- I wiped everything except external storage
- I flashed Lineage OS and Magisk in one go.

I installed it without problems but this time it doesn't see my sd card I wonder why

Unbrick Honor 9 STF-L09 (NOT FREE, HCU and DC-Phoenix required)

Introduction
THIS METHOD IS NOT FREE. I HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO DO THIS FOR FREE, EXCEPT MAYBE WITH THIS : https://forum.dc-unlocker.com/forum/modems-and-phones/huawei/162196-free-hcu-license-offer
Oh my god. I just come out of 3 days of trying to get this to work, non-stop. I feel the need to write this guide so people in the exact same configuration as me won't have to go through what I did.
Yes there are many tutorials about unbricking your Honor 9, but few are very detailed, and I couldn't make them to work for my european STF-L09. Plus, very few of them have a solution for updating to the very latest version (9.1.0 as the time of writing). So here we go.
The device I did this with, and the situation I was in.
There are so many variants of the Honor 9, and I've tried tutorials that weren't the same model as me, they just wouldn't work.
Honor 9 STF-L09, Europe version, Kirin960.
Previous installed ROM before brick was Oreo (the Pie update I tried to make bricked the phone), but I think you can do that on any previous version.
After the brick, I had a completely dead Honor 9 : no reaction at all, whether I plugged it in or tried any buttons combination.
What you need
- The correct Drivers
- A HCU Client Timed License, which is 19 EUR for 72h, and is going to give you access to the main software we need, DC-Phoenix.
- The correct .dgtks Repair File
- The correct ROM file to flash
- HiSuite
- Tools to open the back of your phone
- A metal object to connect the testpoints (anything will do : tweezers, copper cable, paperclip, sim-tool...)
- Read these two tutorials from www.dc-unlocker.com :
https://www.dc-unlocker.com/dc-phoenix-flash-repair-tutorial
https://www.dc-unlocker.com/flash-bricked-huawei-phones-in-huawei-1-mode
Step 1 - Connect the testpoints
Then open the back of your phone to reveal the testpoints that you can see on the image below (thanks to the user 4r44444 for the picture).
Then, open the Device Manager on Windows, and reveal the COM and LPT Ports (so you can see if you failed at connecting the testpoints or not).
You don't need to connect the two testpoints shown in the picture : you only need to connect the bottom one with anything else that's metal inside the phone.
It will take you some trial and error but eventually, your Device Manager should refresh and show you an unknown device called "SER".
Step 2 - Install the drivers
First, install the latest version of HiSuite to get the basic drivers. Make sure to close it completely (taskbar) and disable the fact that it opens itself when you plug your phone, or it might screw things up.
Then, install the two drivers that are on both dc-unlocker.com tutorials I've linked above.
https://files.dc-unlocker.com/share.html?v=share/984CE114852148B5B9A9CDD918BEC235
https://files.dc-unlocker.com/share.html?v=share/18B15B9D02C945A79B1967234CECB423
The first one "Huawei_Android_phone_drivers.rar" was not useful for me, but the second one, "Huawei drivers testpoint.rar", is to make your COM port recognizable instead of this unknown "SER" in device manager.
In Device Manager, right click on "SER", "Update driver", and locate the extracted folder on your computer.
This is all you need I think, but I installed so many random drivers (which I would not recommend) that I'm not even sure anymore.
Step 3 - Repair the phone with DC-Phoenix
Following "Method 3" from this link, but with some differences : https://www.dc-unlocker.com/dc-phoenix-flash-repair-tutorial
As I said, this method is not free. You can buy credits to make DC-Phoenix work for 72 hours (you need 15 of them for that I think), but since we need HCU, you're better off buying a timed license which gives access to DC-Phoenix.
Open DC-Phoenix, and click on the "Download files" button on top. There, search for the file "STF-Full-Repair-NV-included-Board-A051-7.0.0_r1.dgtks" and download it, it's the Repair File.
https://get-file.org/search#q|STF-Full-Repair-NV-included-Board-A051-7.0.0_r1|1
With your phone connected via testpoints (it has to appear in the Device Manager in the COM Ports, and I recommend changing the COM Port to 1 (right click, Port settings, advanced,...)), go to the "Update OEMINFO" tab, and check "Use BOOTLOADER". There, choose "Kirin960_T2_A7.0_V4" (maybe it's a different one for you, but for me only this one worked).
Then check "Update OEMINFO and unlock Huawei ID", and choose "STF-L09". Click Update, and this should run without errors. If it doesn't recognize your device, that means that it's not turned off and connected via testpoints.
Once that is done, your device may show a sign of life by booting into fastboot mode (or sometimes not). Anyway, you can go directly to the "Update Firmware" tab, and in the "Update file" field, choose the file "STF-Full-Repair-NV-included-Board-A051-7.0.0_r1", check "Rescue Revovery" and "Old slow algo", and click "Update".
After completion, your phone should be able to boot (after a very long press) into a chinese test ROM.
Step 4 - Repair the phone infos with DCU
Follow this tutorial : http://hcu-client.com/huawei-phone-repair-as-empty-board/
Don't forget to change your phone to Manufactured mode (as explained) so you can read your phone info.
In the Step 4, they let you choose between Repair UMTS or CDMA tab, I chose CDMA because I think the phone has a MEID.
Then, when they tell you that you just have to click on "Repair as empty board" to make everything fill in automatically, for me this was complete bs : only my IMEIs were added.
So what you have to do is fill your original SN, WiFi and BT MAC adresses, and so on. But since your phone is bricked and you probably dumped the box that states the SN, you're outta luck like me. It seems like it's illegal to change a MAC or SN number, so I can't recommend it, but I personally just chose random numbers (that have the same number of digits).
For model I entered "STF-L09", for vendor "hw", and for country "eu". Don't check "Erase restricted ver.", since it's only for Qualcomm CPUs. Click on Repair.
Once this is done, your phone should be resetting, and able to boot in the same ROM as before, except in english.
Step 5 - Upgrade to the latest Android 9.1.0
Normally you'd have to do this step with DC-Phoenix : just flash one of their Full Stock Roms they have on their file database (click Download Files on DC-Phoenix, and search for "STF-L09").
You can try that (don't forget that you have to be in fastboot mode (Vol down + plug USB) to install), but it really didn't work for me, and even if it did, I don't know how you'd update after it, because your phone probably won't receive OTAs.
So the solution I found was this one : https://www.reddit.com/r/Huawei/comments/az4bl7/finally_managed_to_update_my_mate10_pro_to_pie/
First, uninstall your latest version of HiSuite to be able to follow this tutorial and install the old version.
Then, the file I chose in Firmware Finder was this one :
STF-L09 9.0.1.175(C432E2R1P5)
STF-L09C432E2R1P5B175 (9.0.1.175)
STF-L09C432E2R1P5T8B175 (9.0.1.175)
I chose the "full" version, which gave me this link :
http://update.dbankcdn.com/TDS/data/files/p3/s15/G3757/g1699/v260353/f1/full/update.zip
After following this tutorial, your phone should boot normally. You can then installs OTAs to update to 9.1.0. I'd recommend resetting the phone after this last step, to have a clean install.
If it doesn't work for you, you can also try this method : https://www.getdroidtips.com/full-guide-install-stock-firmware-huawei-smartphone/
I'll try to answer as many questions as fast as possible (since the Timed License is quite stressful), so feel free to ask !

Does the HCU Client unblock the network after doing the full repair?

Hello , Is this solution still works for honor 9 ?
I can't find stock rom on official website also.

Help me with my hard-bricked N920P

I guess I finally hard-bricked my N920P trying to install Universal SafetyNet Fix. It was on stock (N920PVPS3DRH1) but I had TWRP and Magisk Canary installed. I was trying to get Zygisk working but couldn't get it properly turn on, even on the stable and canary builds. That's where I had tried to install the SafetyNet fix module. It said it doesn't fully support anything below Android 8.0, but it did finish installing and asked me to reboot. And it never turned back on.
I cannot get into the download mode, recovery or system. Tried all key combos and no life at all. I drained the battery all night long and tried plugging into the PC and now it detects it as an unknown "Exynos7420" device. That was something from the nothing I got before. I tried looking up on how to rebuild the corrupt bootloader but I couldn't wrap my head around on how the process works. There was material on getting a software called "USB_Downloader" and I got all the way to installing the drivers and getting that software recognise the device as a COM port. I did this in a Windows 7 32 bit VM on VirtualBox (VMWare kept crashing my entire USB Host Controller everytime I tried passing the phone's connection to the VM, which was weird).
Now I'm stuck with this software and am unable to understand what I need to do next. There was something about getting the sboot.bin file and creating 4 new files to push through the Exynos COM port to fix the bootloader. There was also something about getting a Hex editor to do this, but I cannot understand what's going on. Could someone please help me get around this?
Thanks in advance!!

Never mind I fixed it. Just posting it here to make sure no one else gets stuck like I did for a long while. So what I had done was I forgot I had a custom ROM installed. It had been based on the N920PVPU3DQC5 firmware. So I downloaded that firmware, extracted the sboot.bin file then went to work with a hex editor (HxD for Windows specifically).
Open sboot.bin in the hex editor and start making new files listed below. The sections are also listed below, you can ensure the size in the bottom of HxD.
Save them as novi1.bin, novi_2.bin, etc...
The offsets I used are:
BL1 or novi1.bin: 0 - 0x1FFF (size 0x2000)
BL2 or EL3 or novi_2.bin: 0x2000 - 0x31FFF (size 0x30000)
EL3 or BL2 or novi_3.bin: 0x32000 - 0x3dfff (size 0xC000)
S-BOOT or novi_4.bin: 0x3E000 - 0x18F100 or end of file (size 0x15110), this will include tzsw.
Next this is the cfg file I used:
Code:
; S Project
; must keep order of binary list
; BL1
DNW_STORE e5250 fwbl1 200 20 novi1.bin
;DNW_WAIT
; BL2
DNW_STORE e5250 el3_mon 2000 20 novi_2.bin
; u-boot
; Wait Re-Enumeration
DNW_WAIT
DNW_STORE e5250 bl2 2000 20 novi_3.bin
;DNW_WAIT
DNW_STORE e5250 bootloader 20000 20 novi4.bin
;DNW_WAIT
;DNW_STORE e5250 tzsw 20000 20 4pt.img
Copy this code and save it as SH-usb-booting.cfg in the same folder as your .bin files. Now you can launch the multidownloader and load the .cfg and select Auto Run. Now press and hold the power button on your phone and connect it to the PC. It should automatically go through the whole flashing process and end up in the download mode screen. You can now flash the firmware from there!
If you have any doubts hit me up!

LOL I'm stuck again. I got into Download mode but my VM was having trouble connecting to the Download mode USB modem and it crashed the USB controller on my PC. I had to reboot the phone and now I'm stuck again in Exynos USB mode. Trying to get back into Download mode using the files I created above but it's not working anymore. I can hear the USB getting disconnected on the host at the AP Re-enumeration step but it isn't disconnecting from the guest VM. I guess I'll have to find a physical PC to try this out on.
EDIT: I had used VirtualBox until this step. After the hanging on Re-enumeration issue, I figured it could be Virtualbox causing the issue so I tried using VMWare, and ta-da, it worked. Read posts below for updates.

So I somehow got myself to get into Download mode consistently. Turned out my VM's USB controller was acting up so I clean installed it and I'm able to send the sboot files and get into Odin mode. But new trouble. Everytime I flash the stock firmware it goes through the process, passes and resets. But it never boots!! Just goes back to the same Exynos mode. I can re-flash the sboot file to get back into Odin mode but I'm stuck like this. I have no idea what to do now...

Progress so far:
I can't remember what custom ROM I had originally. Radeonmaya S8+ N920P ROM was supposed to be based on the DQC5 deodexed stock ROM posted here in the N920P forum.
1. Tried creating new files from DQC5 - SPR sboot.bin: Booted into Download mode, tried flashing the 4 file firmware, no progress, resets back into Exynos mode.
2. Used the DQC5 - SPR sboot.bin to boot into download mode: Tried flashing thr 4 file firmware for the latest firmware that was installed in the phone which was DRH1. No progress, resets back into Exynos mode.
If I'm reading this correctly, the Radeommaya ROM makes changes to boot.img and system partitions. Everything else remains stock, therefore my original bootloader for firmware DRH1 should work. However, I'm not able to get into the system.
I must note that TWRP recovery was installed on the device. The best course of action would be to install the same custom ROM back together with TWRP, but I could not find an Odin flashable tarball for the Radeonmaya ROM. The forum's been dead for a couple of years and the Telegram group is also dead. Looking for ways to make my own tarball using handpicked files maybe.
Currently trying to create new .bin files to boot into Download mode via the Multidownloader from sboot.bin files I salvaged from the XAS (Sprint Unbranded) firmware packages DRH1 and DQE1 (Apparently this firmware has helped someone in the Radeonmaya ROM thread to boot back into the system from a similar hard bricked situation, however I speculate this would not fix my problem because the DQE1 firmware is newer than the DQC1 firmware, which the custom ROM was based upon)
Will post more findings later.
P.S. VMWare could be quite finicky to work with when trying to passthrough the Exynos USB Device to a Windows 7 guest. It caused my AMD Ryzen host to crash its entire USB controller and both my USB mouse and the phone wouldn't connect to the HOST, let alone the guest. It causes a never-ending loop in the code which also stops a proper system restart, hence needing you to force power-cycle the whole computer.
This is because of the unusual nature of the driver being 32-bit only and incompatibility with VMWare. However, it should work when you reinstall VMWare without the Enhanced Keyboard driver, and also reinstalling the Exynos USB driver on the host and the VMWare USB Device (found in the Universal Serial Bus controllers section when you have the USB connection passed through to the VM).