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[Q] Unable to factory reset

Yesterday my phone started acting up. All running process crashed and not many was able to start. I had to constantly click "force close". I think this started after I installed the Google+ app, but not sure.
I have tried uninstalling all unnecessary apps, without luck. I then tried wiping to factory settings by using the Android menu, but without any changing. I then tried by holding vol+ and power, going in to recovery and wiping both to factory and app cache. This doesn't change anything either. By googling I can see some suggests to hold vol- and power, to get to a another wiping-functionality but this just boots my Nexus S to normal state - no menu appears.
Has anybody an idea of what I can do?
Edit: more info; if I click "Report" and investigate the message sent to Google, I see that error has something to do with SQLite-relatet classes. Which makes some sense, alot of my changes are reset each time the phone is rebooted. For instance did I miss a call a couple of hours before the phone went crazy - this is shown at each boot in the notification area eventhough I clear the area and/or goes to missed call section

Factory reset via menu does delete all your "custom" apps, so I'd say it's not one of the existing apps causing problems.
The way you describe function after your factory reset sounds like factory reset didn't work properly.
If you feel safe I'd recommend rather flashing 2.3.4 again using either Odin or the OTA zip from Google (requires open bootloader).

I think you're right that factory reset doesn't do what is expected. Once I click it, the phone reboots and shows the Android guy next to an unwrapping package. This lasts only 2 seconds, then it reboots itself again and goes into normal phone mode (where all the app-crashing starts again).
I have not flashed or rooted my phone before, but I will consider this now since my NS is pretty much a brick. Thank you for your swiftly response.
Edit: Shouldn't I get a menu, when I push and hold vol- button, while turning on the device? Right now it just boot as normal.

Before you use odin....try going into rom manager a reflashing clockwork! Ive had that android dude on my screeen but reflashibg via rom manager always fixed it. Try that
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA Premium App

Wow my Nexus has totally shut me out.
I cannot use ClockworkMod unfortunately since I am not able to root my phone. It is not detectable via USA (when I use vol+/pwr and connect USB). I am unable to check the USB Debugging option on the phone. Each time I check it, go to home-screen and back to the menu, it has de-selected it again. Also I noticed when I read the info that is sent to Google for all those app-crashes I get, I see SQLiteException and error in an SQLite.java file. So it seems like some database layer is broken.
I read one could copy the ClockWork.img to my phone and use the standard recovery option to flash the img (I think). But when I go into the recovery menu, the file is gone. When I boot the phone again, it has deleted the .img file - eventhough if I copy it to several different folders, they are all gone :-(.
I feel pretty screwed at the moment. How can I else wipe all data?

I'd recommend to check if your device is correctly identified in windows. Missing USB drivers might cause problems. Get the latest drivers and a guide from here.
If you succeed booting into fastboot properly (vol up and power) you can follow this guide. Get the latest cwm recovery.img here.
Last option would be to boot into download mode (vol up + vol down + power + plugging in usb cable) and use Odin from samfirmware.com
--
All options require correctly working USB drivers.

I managed to unlock the bootloader, by quickly turning on USB-debugging (before any processes started to crash) and install the drivers from this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=6819751&postcount=4
A reboot later, I got this message:
"System UIDs Inconsistent
UIDs on the system are inconsistent, you need to wipe your data partition or your device will be unstable."
Right below was a button saying "Im feeling lucky" (??)
I installed ClockworkMod using fastboot and tried "Fixing permissions" with no luck. I will try some ROM later on, and hope it will bring my phone back

Normally this error happens when you have a faulty app ruining your system, formating/deleting whole sdcard does usually fix this.

rentaric said:
Normally this error happens when you have a faulty app ruining your system, formating/deleting whole sdcard does usually fix this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can safely mount USB-storage and format the whole bunch?
I been sweating over this stupid issue all day now, all I want is a fac-reset :´(
Edit: "format /sdcard" using CWM didn't do anything

DennisRP said:
I can safely mount USB-storage and format the whole bunch?
I been sweating over this stupid issue all day now, all I want is a fac-reset :´(
Edit: "format /sdcard" using CWM didn't do anything
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
See I'm no expert on this whole thing. At this point I'd just flash a whole new system via Odin. Prolly not the smartest or safest option, but that's what I'd do because I don't know better. If that wouldn't fix it either, I'd return the phone on warranty

I was looking at Odin from the start, since nothing else seemed to be working.
So right now I got started on Odin. Followed the .pdf steps and flashed the bootloader at first succesfully. I was asked to remove the battery and re-connect my NS. Began downloading "pda" and "phone", but at around 10% a big fat red "fail" message appeared and now I just see the Google-logo on startup. I still cant flash any roms via fastboot.
Im too tired too right now, been working with this for 14 hours straight. I will look at it tomorrow evening. Thanks for your help rentaric

Weird, you're not the first one who had trouble running Odin using their guide.
Overall it's pretty simple.
Enter download mode. Vol up vol down and power at the same time while plugging in the USB cable. Start Odin, should show a yellow colored box with a port number. Uncheck everything but reset timer and auto reboot. Unzip the correct zip file from samfirmware.com (check if you got i9020 or i9023 and get the universal Odin exe), apply file from the folder accordingly. Bootloader and bootloader. Phone and modem. Pda and pda. Csc can remain empty (will change carrier info in fastboot).
Double check md5 hash to avoid broken files.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

rentaric said:
Weird, you're not the first one who had trouble running Odin using their guide.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course I did not go to bed, how should I be able to sleep with a broken phone .
The firmware suggested on samfirmware.com for my phone, was 2.3.3 and some other version (my phone was 2.3.4.2/GRJ22 or something similar, I suspect that might be the cause. Also I unchecked everything, that might also have been of importance). The flash will always fail when everything was downloaded - it then said something about "remote" and "Loke" and then fail. But as I mentioned, I had succesfully flashed boot.img (2.3.3) thus no boot occured now. I googled the correct bootloader, used fastboot and was booting succesfully again.
I began looking more into the sdcard, as error-messages was leading me this way. To compress 4 hours of investigations into a few lines, it seems as my PBA is malfunctioning as other xda-members have experinced. Only solution is sending the phone to Samsung for a PBA replacement. I purchased the phone in Bestbuy USA and the danish Samsung partners are not too joyfull about this - I will contact Samsung and hope they can help me.
I experinced the exact same thing as this poor guy - http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=993403
Every thing you try to do to /sdcard is worthless.
Formatting (USB/using CWM/using adb shell linux commands) says "Succes" but nothing happens.
Copying files says "Succes" but nothing happens. If I boot phone into CWM, mount usb and upload new rom/apk/whatever and try to do a "install update.zip" it fails with some mounting errors.
Im ready to go cry in a corner - I really want this to be fixable via software, but I probably have to realize that this is a hardware issue.

Apparently Samsung doesn't offer worldwide warranty for cellularphones :´(. God it sucks to pay repair-expenses on a 1 month old mobile.

[Q] Samsung appeal, Erased dalvik_cache, now stuck on CWM recovery page

I customized a Samsung Galaxy Appeal phone, installing
root, clockworkmod 5.0.2.8 and busybox, using Odin (source:
Area51) some time ago.
Recently I decided to erase /dalvik_cache (thru recovery), as
this sounded harmless and I thought it might free-up some
space from orphaned apps.
Ever since then, I've been stuck at the CWM recovery menu - no
matter what erasing, re-flashing, rebooting, removing battery etc. I do, I always
end up at the recovery page. I've tried various remedies
suggested for 'boot-loops' and the like, including
'fix_permissions'. Maybe I haven't done the exactly-needed steps
in the exactly-correct order.
I have even 'successfully' restored from an earlier nandroid,
and also tried to re-install the original customization, which came close to working, but I still
end up at the recovery page. I haven't tried adb/fastboot yet because the 'quick-downloads' won't download.
Is something that needs to be erased, not getting erased?
One possible clue is the show-log: it appears to be very short,
ending after the 'missing extended_commands' line.

tfj said:
I customized a Samsung Galaxy Appeal phone, installing
root, clockworkmod 5.0.2.8 and busybox, using Odin (source:
Area51) some time ago.
Recently I decided to erase /dalvik_cache (thru recovery), as
this sounded harmless and I thought it might free-up some
space from orphaned apps.
Ever since then, I've been stuck at the CWM recovery menu - no
matter what erasing, re-flashing, rebooting, removing battery etc. I do, I always
end up at the recovery page. I've tried various remedies
suggested for 'boot-loops' and the like, including
'fix_permissions'. Maybe I haven't done the exactly-needed steps
in the exactly-correct order.
I have even 'successfully' restored from an earlier nandroid,
and also tried to re-install the original customization, which came close to working, but I still
end up at the recovery page. I haven't tried adb/fastboot yet because the 'quick-downloads' won't download.
Is something that needs to be erased, not getting erased?
One possible clue is the show-log: it appears to be very short,
ending after the 'missing extended_commands' line.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just flash the stock firmware via ODIN. Once done you can switch to a custom rom again.
SamMobile.com provides the needed firmware.

LS.xD said:
Just flash the stock firmware via ODIN. Once done you can switch to a custom rom again.
SamMobile.com provides the needed firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apparently, sammobile doesn't have it - it lists it, but but it's not available.
Also, neither adb nor fastboot can find the device (which is always in active CWM menu mode).
Update: adb (but not fastboot) now sees the device (as "recovery"); will experiment

tfj said:
Apparently, sammobile doesn't have it - it lists it, but but it's not available.
Also, neither adb nor fastboot can find the device (which is always in active CWM menu mode).
Update: adb (but not fastboot) now sees the device (as "recovery"); will experiment
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Samsung phones do not provide a fastboot mode but the download mode.
Which firmware do you need?

LS.xD said:
Samsung phones do not provide a fastboot mode but the download mode.
Which firmware do you need?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not sure what you're asking; the phone is a galaxy appeal sgh-i827.
Can you suggest what I can check using adb? There are a large number of shell commands available in /sbin and /system/bin,sbin,xbin. <bugreport> fails, apparently because dalvik is missing something.

tfj said:
I'm not sure what you're asking; the phone is a galaxy appeal sgh-i827.
Can you suggest what I can check using adb? There are a large number of shell commands available in /sbin and /system/bin,sbin,xbin. <bugreport> fails, apparently because dalvik is missing something.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you any rom you can flash to the phone?

LS.xD said:
Have you any rom you can flash to the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe AndroidArea51 has a rooted, but otherwise stock, ROM.
I'm doing this at a public library, and would appreciate any tips
about how to download large files - are there Download
Managers - whether online, or Browser add-ons, or Android apps
(downloading to a phone over wifi would be convenient) - that can resume a download precisely, after 2 weeks of complete dis-connection (including reboots)?

SOLVED:
... I'm back ... (boy, that took a long time).
A near-stock ROM for the Samsung Appeal (I think it's rooted) was available at the AndroidArea51 website (try different links; one - 'code.google'? - worked for me). It's 250 MB.
Once I had the ROM in hand, Odin fixed things in a flash.
In fact, on pressing Odin's 'Start' button, the flashing
took less than 10 seconds - apparently because it only
needed to re-flash the 21-Kb "cache.ext4.tar" file.
The phone was back to normal.
Then, as a test, I again ran the 'Erase Dalvik Cache'
procedure in the phone's custom recovery, and once
again, this put the Appeal into a semi-bricked state
(and was easily fixed with Odin).
So, the lesson here is, if you hear that erasing
'cache files' is perfectly harmless, that may not
apply to the Dalvik-cache; that'll need re-flashing.
Here are the steps I used to recover from a Dalvik-cache
erasure on the Samsung Appeal, using Odin3 v1.85:
====================================================
Install the Samsung USB-drivers for the Appeal
It's possible the phone's 'usb-developer' mode and/or
'unknown-sources' mode need to be on (in a semi-bricked
state, there's likely nothing you can do about this).
Turn off the phone.
Put the Appeal into Download mode:
Hold power and volume-down buttons until the phone
vibrates (about 2 seconds); immediately release buttons.
Read warning and follow instructions on phone's screen to get
into Download mode, or not (to back out of Download mode,
assuming you *aren't* in the middle of downloading anything,
press the power button down for about ten seconds, the phone
will vibrate and then (attempt to) re-boot).
Execute the Odin program; a 'box-screen' displays.
Plug the phone into a USB port; in Odin's screen, the
"ID:COM" box should fill-in with color and a number.
This means Odin has recognized your device.
In the Odin screen, the default 'AutoReboot' and 'F.ResetTime' options are the only ones selected.
Unzip the Romfile, in some easy-to-find folder.
The enclosed file that's needed is "cache.ext4.tar"
(and any files with nearly-identical names, like "cache.ext4.tar.a")
Press Odin's "PDA" button (*not* the "PHONE" button! - that
ought to be renamed "RADIO") and browse the filesystem until the
"cache.ext4.tar" file is listed.
Press Odin's start button.
... Success.

Questions about 1st time root SM-J700P w/7.1.1

Hello. I've never bothered trying to root a phone before, but getting tired of the forceware apps being a buggy PITA you can't even disable/remove, so thought it was time to root for more control.
However, there are so many old posts, old tut videos, updates to software that might be superseded by newer software by the time you get to the last page, etc. that I'm not actually sure what's what or where to start, so figured I'd ask and hopefully get accurate info from you guys/gals that are more in the loop on the most current methods using the latest software.
Phone in question seems to be a 2015 J700PVPU2BQJ2 software version w/ J700P.03 version hardware updated to 7.1.1 and it's through Virgin. I ONLY want to root the phone, and nothing more, while trying to keep the phone as close to factory image as possible., and prefer using a PC to do it. Thought Auto-Root might be way, but it looks like it's not in use anymore?
Again, I'm new to phone rooting and the lingo, so treat me with kid gloves, thank you.

J727P
Nupid Stoob said:
Hello. I've never bothered trying to root a phone before, but getting tired of the forceware apps being a buggy PITA you can't even disable/remove, so thought it was time to root for more control.
However, there are so many old posts, old tut videos, updates to software that might be superseded by newer software by the time you get to the last page, etc. that I'm not actually sure what's what or where to start, so figured I'd ask and hopefully get accurate info from you guys/gals that are more in the loop on the most current methods using the latest software.
Phone in question seems to be a 2015 J700PVPU2BQJ2 software version w/ J700P.03 version hardware updated to 7.1.1 and it's through Virgin. I ONLY want to root the phone, and nothing more, while trying to keep the phone as close to factory image as possible., and prefer using a PC to do it. Thought Auto-Root might be way, but it looks like it's not in use anymore?
Again, I'm new to phone rooting and the lingo, so treat me with kid gloves, thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok you have an older phone the J700P you can start by downloading odin an twrp recovery an superSU zip you can get twrp from here !https://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxyj72015qcomsprint.html
an odin from here
https://mega.nz/#!nYVDXBAC!_cTWbW4_Ow8sZMWcZvO7bVwEEBFlD1DQsB5NeFhj1EY
An just google latest superSU zip to find that !
good luck !
step 1 enable oem in development settings !
step 2 put phone into download mod an flash twrp then boot into twrp recovery an flash superSU zip !

Thank you for the info. I'm presently confused. Here's what I've done:
I ran Odin and flashed with twrp-3.2.1-0-j7ltespr.img.tar. It went through successfully going off odin's message.
Vol. up + home + power. It'll eventually show a yellow triangle with the white trash can guy on it's side stating "No Command". Power + up gets the Android Recovery screen.
At this point, am I supposed to choose the Wipe Data/factory reset option? I see tuts that seem suggest I should already be in the twrp UI or something. I've tried watching vids and looking at a handful of tuts, but either they are the wrong phone, too old, the button combos show something else entirely, etc.
Thanks!

Anyone? Videos show the buttons vol. up + home + power as booting right into twrp recovery gui. For me, it's going into "Android Recovery" screen. Is there an extra step with Odin or something that I missed? Or am I supposed to wipe/boot in the Android Recovery screen and it'll boot the twrp recovery gui? If bricking something I'm not familiar with wasn't a concern, I'd be courageous with it.

I tried the twrp-3.1.1-2-j7ltespr.img.tar and same thing. Odin says it's a success. Phone boots up to normal phone screen. Videos show the person's phone booting right into Twrp recovery. Mine acts like nothing changed. Root checker says unrooted. The Twrp app says unrooted. OEM Unlock and Debugging options in phone are selected, and I have it set for manual updates.
Anyone have an idea what's going on here?

J700P
Nupid Stoob said:
I tried the twrp-3.1.1-2-j7ltespr.img.tar and same thing. Odin says it's a success. Phone boots up to normal phone screen. Videos show the person's phone booting right into Twrp recovery. Mine acts like nothing changed. Root checker says unrooted. The Twrp app says unrooted. OEM Unlock and Debugging options in phone are selected, and I have it set for manual updates.
Anyone have an idea what's going on here?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok when flashing twrp with Odin first uncheck auto reboot in options flash twrp pull battery replace battery an boot into twrp an flash superSU zip then reboot system !

Thank you so much Peter! That did the trick THANK YOU :good:
For posterity to anyone else w/limited root knowledge with a SM-J700P Virgin variant running 7.1.1 (and what was most recent factory updates until this point); Flashed the twrp-3.2.1-0-j7ltespr.img.tar again w/o auto reboot in options of Odin, pulled battery once safe (i.e. you get the "Pass" message from Odin confirming everything went as planned) to get out of the downloading screen, replaced battery, booted the recovery (vol up + power + home) and it finally booted into the twrp recovery gui. Selected the "Install" option, then went to where the supersu.zip was stored on the SD (I created a separate "supersu" folder via PC connection for easy locating; internal phone memory card looks to now be unlocked, so can most likely use that if you don't have a SD card). Checked the "reboot once installed option" in the gui box and swiped to install supersu,zip and verified it was rooted via app after phone fully booted back up.
BTW, If anyone gets a hang/crash in Odin immediately after trying to select a twrp tar image in the "AP" box, try downloading the twrp image via PC instead of the through the phone (the legit twrp site that has the repository of past/current .tar), and just put it somewhere like Odin folder on desktop. Somehow, mine were getting corrupted via phone download through the twrp app, and Odin would NOT recognize the file was bad/corrupt when trying to select it via the AP box and hangs instead of giving a warning message. I ran into this earlier on then noticed the file was too small for some reason after viewing it on my PC, hence the Odin hang that needed a task manager kill.

I hate to necro an old thread but I still do not want to create an entire new topic for a single question. If I was to follow this info will it wipe the phone or will it simply root it while keeping all data on the phone? I ask as it is my wife's old phone and she would be pissed if I wiped her apps and everything on accident since she wont be able to remember what she had.
Edit: also when I add the TWRP file to odin it immediately hang/crashes like OP mentions but I am already DLing via pc. any thoughts?

Bricked when returning to stock (No command)

Hey guys,
decided to flash the latest DBT Firmware via Odin to get back to stock completely. (G930FXXU3ESA3)
After flashing the firmware through Odin the phone reboots and then installs an update and erases data (blue background).
After a second reboot I end up with a blue screen and the simple error: "No command".
I can not get into recovery, as I end up with the same error message wether booting into recovery or the system.
I CAN however get into downloadmode and flash twrp, after that I can boot into system but I want to keep the whole system vanilla, without TWRP.
Installing TWRP keeps the device encrypted, no matter what. I can wipe, then install no-verity-encrypt and as soon as I reboot the device is encrypted again.
Ive tried: Different Firmware Version (December 2018), 3 different cables, different odin versions.
Edit: attached an Image of the message that Pops up after about 30sec on the no command screen.

Ok, so your device will take UK Unbranded BTU firmware. You can get it from a few sources and even direct from Samsung servers with Samtool.
Forget all that flashing TWRP and non verify nonsense, if you can get into download mode you can flash firmware, obviously make sure the firmware downloaded is not corrupt etc.
I've used Odin V10 -13 to flash BTU and every version flashed it correctly. Sometimes you do get that "installing update" and then "erasing" but that's fine just leave the phone for a few minutes it should eventually reboot normally.

FLASH No verity.zip
VIA TWRP
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=4490455&d=1525176288

cooltt said:
Ok, so your device will take UK Unbranded BTU firmware. You can get it from a few sources and even direct from Samsung servers with Samtool.
Forget all that flashing TWRP and non verify nonsense, if you can get into download mode you can flash firmware, obviously make sure the firmware downloaded is not corrupt etc.
I've used Odin V10 -13 to flash BTU and every version flashed it correctly. Sometimes you do get that "installing update" and then "erasing" but that's fine just leave the phone for a few minutes it should eventually reboot normally.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just tried the latest BTU with Odin 3.13.1, same problem. Its reboots into the blue screen, applying system update to about 32% and then switches to "Erasing". After about 1min it reboots, shows "Installing System update" for a second and I end up with "No command" again. And from there on it just constantly reboots into the "No command" screen.
This seems like the same problem. I can not enter stock recovery to wipe though...
Things ive tried so far:
- Different firmware Versions (all oreo since downgrading is impossible)
- Formating with pit files
- Different Odin Versions
- Unplugging and replugging the battery
- Installing TWRP, wiping data and then installing stock recovery through TWRP

Did u try in Odin nand erase and repatition option? If not try it ( make sure u have pit file extracted or downloaded from the net)

Scorpionea said:
Did u try in Odin nand erase and repatition option? If not try it ( make sure u have pit file extracted or downloaded from the net)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did a efs backup through TWRP just in case, then flashed the latest DBT firmware with nand erase -> still the same problem.
I can only guess that this was caused by using a backup from another phone back when Oreo came out, this probably messed something up really badly. Very weird, im kinda lost.

Killuminati91 said:
Just tried the latest BTU with Odin 3.13.1, same problem. Its reboots into the blue screen, applying system update to about 32% and then switches to "Erasing". After about 1min it reboots, shows "Installing System update" for a second and I end up with "No command" again. And from there on it just constantly reboots into the "No command" screen.
This seems like the same problem. I can not enter stock recovery to wipe though...
Things ive tried so far:
- Different firmware Versions (all oreo since downgrading is impossible)
- Formating with pit files
- Different Odin Versions
- Unplugging and replugging the battery
- Installing TWRP, wiping data and then installing stock recovery through TWRP
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, from the no command screen do the following.
Hold power until phone switches off, then press power+home+volume up. The phone should now boot into original recovery screen. Select "wipe/factory reset" and then reboot device. Job done.

cooltt said:
Ok, from the no command screen do the following.
Hold power until phone switches off, then press power+home+volume up. The phone should now boot into original recovery screen. Select "wipe/factory reset" and then reboot device. Job done.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that, recovery is simply not working. If I hold vol - + power + home to restart and switch immediatly to vol + I boot into the usual blue screen with No command. I even tried unplugging the battery to shut off the phone and boot into recovery from there but that is not working either. Sorry should have stated that more clearly.
If I flash TWRP however, I can easily boot into TWRP with the recovery button combo.

Killuminati91 said:
Tried that, recovery is simply not working. If I hold vol - + power + home to restart and switch immediatly to vol + I boot into the usual blue screen with No command. I even tried unplugging the battery to shut off the phone and boot into recovery from there but that is not working either. Sorry should have stated that more clearly.
If I flash TWRP however, I can easily boot into TWRP with the recovery button combo.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok it's a tricky one so one more thing I would suggest is download and install Samsung smart switch on your PC, place the phone in download mode plug it into lap top and choose emergency software recovery in smart switch
Edit. I just remembered before that try this button combo from the no command screen volume up+volume down+power.

cooltt said:
Ok it's a tricky one so one more thing I would suggest is download and install Samsung smart switch on your PC, place the phone in download mode plug it into lap top and choose emergency software recovery in smart switch
Edit. I just remembered before that try this button combo from the no command screen volume up+volume down+power.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmh. Searched a lot for the version that still supported emergency recovery. (which seems to be 4.0). If I go into download mode, start smartswitch and try to use emergency recovery there is nothing for me to select.
Volume up + down and power gives me the terminal like look which I attached in the first post with all those error messages.

Killuminati91 said:
Hmmh. Searched a lot for the version that still supported emergency recovery. (which seems to be 4.0). If I go into download mode, start smartswitch and try to use emergency recovery there is nothing for me to select.
Volume up + down and power gives me the terminal like look which I attached in the first post with all those error messages.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The EFS partition is corrupt or blank, it's the only logical explanation but the TWRP back up should solve that, without looking at it my self and running some commands i cant help your further.

cooltt said:
The EFS partition is corrupt or blank, it's the only logical explanation but the TWRP back up should solve that, without looking at it my self and running some commands i cant help your further.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP backup was created after I ran into problems though. Ive checked some more things and it seems like the serial number that is displayed (in combination rom and or Z3X) is not the same SN that is printed on the back of the phone. Could this be related? And how would I go about changing it back to the one on the sticker? The IMEI is correct.
Had someone who was more into the whole thing contact me here but when I wanted to "donate" only half of what he was asking he refused to help me.

Killuminati91 said:
TWRP backup was created after I ran into problems though. Ive checked some more things and it seems like the serial number that is displayed (in combination rom and or Z3X) is not the same SN that is printed on the back of the phone. Could this be related? And how would I go about changing it back to the one on the sticker? The IMEI is correct.
Had someone who was more into the whole thing contact me here but when I wanted to "donate" only half of what he was asking he refused to help me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats because he's a scammer. Never donate to get your phone fixed! Donate to Rom developers and things you like but never to get the phone fixed, they're usually lying.
The serial number should be the same ON the phone as displayed IN phone. Tell me the story about the phone, how did you get it? what region? where are you? what firmware was installed? Can you still flash a ROM with TWRP? Can you check OEM unlock?
---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:51 PM ----------
nmnmnmnmnmnmnmnmnm

Pretty sure he was just trying to remote repair for a price, which is not allowed on XDA. Would obviously donated on my own if he actually fixed it.
Bought the phone unlocked directly from a provider (simply - germany - dbt - g930f) back in 2016. Tripped kn0x after a few months, installed a few custom roms until Oreo came out.
This is where I messed up I think: I used a TWRP backup from someone else that he had shared here on XDA, which probably included his /efs too.
Since then I had constant connection problems, weak internet connection, dropped calls and so on.
Broke my screen and then decided to repair it myself. Bought a new frame, screen, battery, usb-port, earpiece and vibrator - managed to assemble all of that.
I can install all latest official firmwares (bootloader 3) through Odin. If I leave it at that I have no recovery and end up with the initially shown screen and "No command".
If i install TWRP from there and simply root with magisk or apply dm-verity-fix I can boot into the stock firmware with everything working.
I can also install ROMs. Just going completely vanilla is not possible anymore. OEM Unlock is checked, USB debugging works.
Edit: What is also astounding: If I flash version DBT-G930FXXS3ERHD-20180918145033 (oldest possible Oreo Version) I can enter recovery and do a factory reset and wipe cache.
If I do that however I am stuck at the Galaxy S7 Logo, not even bootlooping.

Killuminati91 said:
This is where I messed up I think: I used a TWRP backup from someone else that he had shared here on XDA, which probably included his /efs too.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
awww.....come on man you should have said this at the start! Of course you can't use someone else's EFS data, it's unique to your handset. Custom Rom's patch some but not all EFS data that's why they work and in your case that's why Stock firmware isn't going too.
Anyway if this is the problem (and i suspect it is) there is only one way to fix it with Octopus box which can write all the important info back onto the EFS. Your IMEI, Serial, Mac address etc. Odin reads the info from the EFS prior to nand write start, if the phone serials don't match it will always fail at some point.
You can install a custom via twrp but it will not work correctly due to EFS data miss match. Octopus box is your answer.

cooltt said:
awww.....come on man you should have said this at the start! Of course you can't use someone else's EFS data, it's unique to your handset. Custom Rom's patch some but not all EFS data that's why they work and in your case that's why Stock firmware isn't going too.
Anyway if this is the problem (and i suspect it is) there is only one way to fix it with Octopus box which can write all the important info back onto the EFS. Your IMEI, Serial, Mac address etc. Odin reads the info from the EFS prior to nand write start, if the phone serials don't match it will always fail at some point.
You can install a custom via twrp but it will not work correctly due to EFS data miss match. Octopus box is your answer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang it. Thank you! Off to find someone who can do this via remote access or in Berlin.

Same situation right now with my S7. Damn.

Hi everyone. Did you guys find any way to resolve this issue? i have exactly the same issue here.. but in my case i cannot use twrp cuz i never installed it before... the issue happened right after i tried to enter the recovery mode by pressing the buttons...
my wife's galaxy s7 touch screen was acting weird and i tried to get into the recovey mode..which is pretty muh easy to do... but once i tried the no command msg came up and now i have exatly the same case as the guy that opened this thread....also done everything hes done....any clue about this anyone?
id appreciate some help..
thanks in advance
Diego Boffa

Anyone?

I have exactly the same error with "fail to open recovery_cause(No such file or directory)#
My Tablet is now stuck with a blue "android dead" screen saying "No command".
My history to disaster:
- i've recovered a "broken" Samsung Tablet (sm-T585) with corrupted file system via
* Download Mode works -> TWRP install -> Mount option -> use ADB to recreate EFS partition -> re-flash stock image (android 8) with odin
- device works fine
- then i've noticed it can only be used with a certain cell provider (o2)
- then i've tried to flash an older version of the stock rom (android 7) due some problems in Android 8 (often some slow downs while operating)
- this doesn't work, the flash don't start
- therefore nothing should be happend, or?
- then i've can't get anymore in the stock recovery to wipe all data
...therefore the mess began:
* i can't flash TWRP anymore
* i can't flash stock recovery anymore
* i only can get into download mode
* i can only flash a certain rom type successfully (green PASS within odin), but with the final stuck with boot loop, with the mentioned blue screen
* other rom version can't flashed
I hopefully ask you guys here, if anyone can help me?
Any help would be very appreciated ...

Managed to brick my wife's Moto G Power twice trying to put a new image on it. Help Please.

*hangs head in shame*
Ok, I'm stumped and I need help.
Last time I rooted a phone, it was our old HTC Thunderbolts... Things have changed significantly since then, or so it would appear.
Trying to fix my wife's phone after a Verizon OTA update seems to have jumped her phone from Android 10 to 11, and in the process nerfed the hotspot (which we need, as we're rural with no landline broadband available)
I'm working on a Moto G Power (sofia XT2041-4), bought late last year off the shelf from Best Buy.
Home PC is a Windows 10 box. I do not have a linux environment available to me.
I am \ was trying to put LinageOS on it, but honestly don't care what OS it is as long as we can turn the hotspot on ourselves, regardless of what Verizon wants. Over a decade ago, I rooted our phones with ICS image, so I have some outdated experience here. CalyxOS looks nice but I don't think it'll work on Moto G Power.
So, here's where I'm at in the last 48 hours.
I have gone in and gotten the unlock key from motorola, and successfully undone the OEM Lock. (I know this is the case because it tells me I'm an idiot and I should lock it, every time it boots up now). This also managed to wipe the phone, which, oops, read to the end of the paragraph BEFORE unlocking and deleting pictures of the grandkids which came in since the last backup.
Somehow last night, I managed to get it to be a brick, but used LMSA to unbrick it, but that version is still the OTA updated Android 11, so same problem with the hotspot.
I have installed the Android SDK, newest motorola drivers, and also the standalone 'Minimal ADB and Fastboot' on my PC
I've managed to get TWRP installed in the recovery portion of the phone. (note: may have been wiped now, but I can get it back on I believe)
Following this video, I managed to bring TWRP up, wiped the device, then copied the Lineage OS image to the microSD card, as well as Open GApps. The only thing I couldn't get to work, other than, you know, the new OS, is I didn't see a place to enable advanced boot options, so I have to get back to the bootloader via Volume Down and Power from a full shutdown state.
When I try to install the LinageOS (17.1), it looks like it's installing, goes through steps 1 and 2, then a slew of error messages in the log.
I've got the 4 image files I pulled out of one of the LineageOS zip files (Boot, Product, System, VBMeta) in the 'Minimal ADB and Fastboot' directory.
I can run 'fastboot flash boot boot.img' from the 'Minimal ADB and Fastboot' directory and it succeeds.
When I try to run Product, System or VBMeta in the same way (cmdline = fastboot flash product product.img), all of them fail the Preflash Validation and it comes back with 'FAILED (remote failure)'
During this process, somehow I bricked my wife's phone AGAIN, but just got it reset with LMSA for the second time. So, I may have wiped out everything I've done previously on the phone, which may or may not be a good thing. But, I believe everything I've done up to this point is repeatable (which is somewhat why I wrote all of the above details out)
Edit: Progress is Made! - Ok, now that I've got FASTBOOTD figured out, I was able to flash the Boot, Product, System and VBMeta into active partition A. But when I use the command 'flashboot reboot' it just keeps coming back to the fastboot flashload screen with the green android with it's access panel open. I tried to get back into TWRP via entering 'Recovery Mode' at the loader, but apparently it got wiped. I'm guessing I should flash it back into the recovery slot ("fastboot flash recovery twrp-3.4.0-0-sofia-test9") and then maybe try to recover from Partition A via TWRP?
Things I'm not sure about
First, I'm pretty sure I'm not in FastbootD. I don't see a big red FASTBOOTD at the top, and according to this thread, means I'm not in it.
Update: Ok, I realized I didn't have the 'platform tools', which I have now downloaded, and once I was back in fastboot, I was able to run 'Flashboot reboot flashboot' and now I know I'm in FlashbootD. Not sure what I'm supposed to do in here at this point, but hey, I've now got the correct interface.
I think FASTBOOTD should be something I'm interacting with on the Moto G Power, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get to it.
Update on this, see above.
I feel like I've got to be CLOSE to getting this thing working, but damned if I can seem to cross the finish line.
Help?
Further Edit: So, I tried another OS, ResurrectionOS, just to see if it was an issue with the image.
Started with another reset with LMSA (I love that tool... It zeroes out all the stupid things I'm doing on the Moto G Power during this process)
Rebooted into FastBootD mode (with the nice red at the top)
Flashed all four of the images. No errors noted during the process
Wiped the Data
Rebooted... And right back to the bootloader. Cannot seem to get out of the boot loader to get the new OS to initialize.
Again, Help?

Did you ever solve this riddle?