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[Q] Help with SGH-T959W only booting into recovery

Hello, all. I hope someone can help me with my SGH-T959W. Right now I'm at the point where the phone has CWM installed, but will only boot into recovery no matter what I do. I've followed the N00b guide to Flashing/Fixing the SGS4G, but clearly I'm missing something.
I tried to follow the Windows-based procedure for the SGH-T959W, but was unable to get version 1.40 to execute, and was unable to locate version 1.31.
So, given that the SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V are the same phone except for the bootloader, I tried the Java-based Stock KJ-6 + Root. The first time I tried it, the upload failed after the PIT, and the phone was no longer able to boot into anything other than download mode. I eventually managed to get it to the point where it tried to flash the modem, but I was never able to get the modem to flash successfully. I tried both under Windows and Linux, using two different PCs and every USB cable I could find, since I know those tend to be dodgy. Still, I've never gotten past flashing the modem, though sometimes it's done worse.
But at this point, I had a phone that would dutifully boot into CWM, so I could change strategy anyway. So I grabbed the unofficial Cyanogenmod 10.1, copied it to the root of the SD card, and tried to load that via CWM. It failed the hardware check.
That's problem #1. Is it possible to modify Cyanogenmod to check for the 959W instead of only the 959V?
Now, problem #2. I decided to give Slim ICS a whirl, since it's light on requirements and a 512MB/1GHz device would probably appreciate a lighter load. The two packages claim to install, but the progress bar never reaches 100%, and when I try to boot the phone, it just boots into CWM. It's a newer version of CWM now, and the startup logo is different, so something worked, but clearly not everything.
When installing, I did mount UMMU, factory reset, wipe the cache and the Davlik cache, mount UMMU, install, then fix perms. But I still get that loop back to CWM.
So something critical didn’t take, however many times I tried (I've lost count, but I think I'm going on 10), and I don't know the architecture well enough to know where to start looking. I'm pretty comfortable with other operating systems, but this is only the second Android device I've tried to customize.
I suspect I can’t solve any other problem until I solve problem #2, regardless of which distro I end up wanting to run.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured the more questions I answered up front, the better the chances of fixing this would be.
Thanks for any help you're willing to offer a n00b.
Dave F.

I think what you were doing with heimdall is the way to go except the t959w doesn't like modems and I think there's some way to leave out the modem part but eh.. I'm not that well versed. Anyway here's a link that may or may not be relevant
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1956025

Please read forum rules before posting.
Questions and request for assistance go in the Q&A section.
Thread has been moved.
Thank you for your future attention to this.
Have a great day!

dfarquhar said:
Hello, all. I hope someone can help me with my SGH-T959W. Right now I'm at the point where the phone has CWM installed, but will only boot into recovery no matter what I do. I've followed the N00b guide to Flashing/Fixing the SGS4G, but clearly I'm missing something.
I tried to follow the Windows-based procedure for the SGH-T959W, but was unable to get version 1.40 to execute, and was unable to locate version 1.31.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look here for 1.3.1.
dfarquhar said:
So, given that the SGH-T959W and SGH-T959V are the same phone except for the bootloader, I tried the Java-based Stock KJ-6 + Root. The first time I tried it, the upload failed after the PIT, and the phone was no longer able to boot into anything other than download mode. I eventually managed to get it to the point where it tried to flash the modem, but I was never able to get the modem to flash successfully. I tried both under Windows and Linux, using two different PCs and every USB cable I could find, since I know those tend to be dodgy. Still, I've never gotten past flashing the modem, though sometimes it's done worse.
But at this point, I had a phone that would dutifully boot into CWM, so I could change strategy anyway. So I grabbed the unofficial Cyanogenmod 10.1, copied it to the root of the SD card, and tried to load that via CWM. It failed the hardware check.
That's problem #1. Is it possible to modify Cyanogenmod to check for the 959W instead of only the 959V?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, not a CWM issue. Ever since TeamAcid and I started on CM9 (and I believe the last few CM7 builds) added support for T959W. Almost everyone (thankfully! ) has kanged those device trees and also support T959W. I'm sure other T959W users will chime in to tell you that 97% of all roms here work on T959W. (GB and forward)
dfarquhar said:
Now, problem #2. I decided to give Slim ICS a whirl, since it's light on requirements and a 512MB/1GHz device would probably appreciate a lighter load. The two packages claim to install, but the progress bar never reaches 100%, and when I try to boot the phone, it just boots into CWM. It's a newer version of CWM now, and the startup logo is different, so something worked, but clearly not everything.
When installing, I did mount UMMU, factory reset, wipe the cache and the Davlik cache, mount UMMU, install, then fix perms. But I still get that loop back to CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Crazy mount setups shouldn't matter anymore. That was an oldschool Froyo/Early GB thing. Almost all new CWM install scripts do the right thing now.
dfarquhar said:
So something critical didn’t take, however many times I tried (I've lost count, but I think I'm going on 10), and I don't know the architecture well enough to know where to start looking. I'm pretty comfortable with other operating systems, but this is only the second Android device I've tried to customize.
I suspect I can’t solve any other problem until I solve problem #2, regardless of which distro I end up wanting to run.
Sorry for the long-winded post, but I figured the more questions I answered up front, the better the chances of fixing this would be.
Thanks for any help you're willing to offer a n00b.
Dave F.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I like the long posts! Especially when then they contain more detail for me to help you figure out your problem with. I'm also partial to the short posts that include logs!
TwitchyEye said:
I think what you were doing with heimdall is the way to go except the t959w doesn't like modems and I think there's some way to leave out the modem part but eh.. I'm not that well versed. Anyway here's a link that may or may not be relevant
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1956025
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@TwitchyEye you're right That is the heimdall oneclick that should be used.
@dfarquhar I think using the heimdall oneclick that @getochkn made should be the right path for you. Make sure you use the right version of heimdall. Make sure you completely remove the old version (software and drivers), use zdiag to make absolutely sure!
If all else fails, post here again! (maybe with logs )

Thanks everyone. I grabbed v 1.3.1, so I'm getting ready to try it now.
If anything goes wrong, I'll look into where the logs are stored and how to retrieve them, and I'll be back. Assuming I can't use the logs to figure it out on my own of course.

dfarquhar said:
Thanks everyone. I grabbed v 1.3.1, so I'm getting ready to try it now.
If anything goes wrong, I'll look into where the logs are stored and how to retrieve them, and I'll be back. Assuming I can't use the logs to figure it out on my own of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sometimes, it's just the output you see on your screen is a good enough log

bhundven said:
Sometimes, it's just the output you see on your screen is a good enough log
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Got it working! Heimdall 1.3.1 was the key. I then turned around and flashed Slim ICS since I had it on the SD card already, and it worked. I'm debating whether to move on to Slim Bean, but maybe I need to leave well enough alone for a few days now that I have a working phone.
Thanks again,
Dave

Did I just brick my OPO?

Hey everyone.
I was using a custom ROM, just to try Lollipop, and saw the OTA rolling out today.
I started Bacon Root Toolkit and returned my phone to stock, with the 4.4.4 original ROM, with the automatic download.
Then I tried updating it through the phone, but the OTA was not available for me yet. So I downloaded the file everyone was using to manually update it (cm-12.0-YNG1TAS0YL-bacon-signed.zip).
Used to same option on BRT to return to stock but this time selected the zip file I downloaded.
It started ok, with the prompt window showing the files pushed to the phone, like modem, system, cache, etc.
But then it stopped, waiting for the device.
I looked at it and the screen was turned off. I had full battery.
Waited some minutes and nothing. The phone was not recognized anymore. And it's also not turning on.
Any idea what happened and what I can do?
Thanx.

Cappelletti said:
Hey everyone.
I was using a custom ROM, just to try Lollipop, and saw the OTA rolling out today.
I started Bacon Root Toolkit and returned my phone to stock, with the 4.4.4 original ROM, with the automatic download.
Then I tried updating it through the phone, but the OTA was not available for me yet. So I downloaded the file everyone was using to manually update it (cm-12.0-YNG1TAS0YL-bacon-signed.zip).
Used to same option on BRT to return to stock but this time selected the zip file I downloaded.
It started ok, with the prompt window showing the files pushed to the phone, like modem, system, cache, etc.
But then it stopped, waiting for the device.
I looked at it and the screen was turned off. I had full battery.
Waited some minutes and nothing. The phone was not recognized anymore. And it's also not turning on.
Any idea what happened and what I can do?
Thanx.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You used an OTA zip to return your phone to stock? That's your problem. An OTA zip isn't a full system, it's a partial system that builds on top of the existing previous build to update the phone. So by not fully understanding what you're doing you've caused a catastrophic failure on your device.
At the moment your only hope is this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/help/guide-unbrick-oneplus-one-t3013732
If anything is going to save your phone it's that, so have a read and give it a try.
And get rid of that toolkit. I get it, toolkits might seem like they make things so much easier, but they're nothing but trouble. In this instance it's allowed you to flash an incomplete system to your phone, possibly bricking it. I'm not blaming the toolkit for this situation, this situation was caused by human error. But, if you had never used a toolkit in the first place you wouldn't have bypassed some crucial, basic, elementary knowledge. Knowledge that's needed to know what you're doing when flashing.
Toolkits allow the user to do things to their phone without actually having a knowledge of what's going on. Had you not used this toolkit in the first place you might have a better working knowledge of flashing, and you might not be in this situation right now. So yeah, maybe they seem easier, but in the long run you're better off without them. You're much better off properly learning the ins and outs of flashing and owning a modified phone.
Transmitted via Bacon

timmaaa said:
You used an OTA zip to return your phone to stock? That's your problem. An OTA zip isn't a full system, it's a partial system that builds on top of the existing previous build to update the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The OS12 OTA zip is actually a full zip like the CM12 nightlies (the partition images are exactly the same as in the 20150411 nightly apart from boot.img & system).
You can't use the BRT to flash it though because it doesn't contain a system.img - /system is flashed using the same method as the nightlies (system.new.dat & system.transfer.list)

Spannaa said:
The OS12 OTA zip is actually a full zip like the CM12 nightlies (the partition images are exactly the same as in the 20150411 nightly apart from boot.img & system).
You can't use the BRT to flash it though because it doesn't contain a system.img - /system is flashed using the same method as the nightlies (system.new.dat & system.transfer.list)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks man, good to know.
Transmitted via Bacon

Spannaa said:
The OS12 OTA zip is actually a full zip like the CM12 nightlies (the partition images are exactly the same as in the 20150411 nightly apart from boot.img & system).
You can't use the BRT to flash it though because it doesn't contain a system.img - /system is flashed using the same method as the nightlies (system.new.dat & system.transfer.list)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I tried it. People were using it on TWRP.
As I had just returned the phone to stock I didn't have a modified recovery. So I used BRT.
I had flashed lots of times before. On previous phones and tablets. Found BRT just yesterday.
I'll take a look at the provided link in a moment. I'll let you guys know if it worked for me.
Thanx.

timmaaa said:
You used an OTA zip to return your phone to stock? That's your problem. An OTA zip isn't a full system, it's a partial system that builds on top of the existing previous build to update the phone. So by not fully understanding what you're doing you've caused a catastrophic failure on your device.
At the moment your only hope is this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/help/guide-unbrick-oneplus-one-t3013732
If anything is going to save your phone it's that, so have a read and give it a try.
And get rid of that toolkit. I get it, toolkits might seem like they make things so much easier, but they're nothing but trouble. In this instance it's allowed you to flash an incomplete system to your phone, possibly bricking it. I'm not blaming the toolkit for this situation, this situation was caused by human error. But, if you had never used a toolkit in the first place you wouldn't have bypassed some crucial, basic, elementary knowledge. Knowledge that's needed to know what you're doing when flashing.
Toolkits allow the user to do things to their phone without actually having a knowledge of what's going on. Had you not used this toolkit in the first place you might have a better working knowledge of flashing, and you might not be in this situation right now. So yeah, maybe they seem easier, but in the long run you're better off without them. You're much better off properly learning the ins and outs of flashing and owning a modified phone.
Transmitted via Bacon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't try it yet, but I forgot to mention that the phone is totally dead. No lights or whatever. Neither the charging light is turning on.

Cappelletti said:
I didn't try it yet, but I forgot to mention that the phone is totally dead. No lights or whatever. Neither the charging light is turning on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Numerous people who had phones which were showing absolutely no signs of life whatsoever have revived their phones using that unbrick tool I linked you to. All indications from these phones were that they were hard bricked but that tool saved them, it might take several attempts and a few hours but it's worth a try.
Transmitted via Bacon

timmaaa said:
Numerous people who had phones which were showing absolutely no signs of life whatsoever have revived their phones using that unbrick tool I linked you to. All indications from these phones were that they were hard bricked but that tool saved them, it might take several attempts and a few hours but it's worth a try.
Transmitted via Bacon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try it, for sure.
Thanx.

timmaaa said:
You used an OTA zip to return your phone to stock? That's your problem. An OTA zip isn't a full system, it's a partial system that builds on top of the existing previous build to update the phone. So by not fully understanding what you're doing you've caused a catastrophic failure on your device.
At the moment your only hope is this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/oneplus-one/help/guide-unbrick-oneplus-one-t3013732
If anything is going to save your phone it's that, so have a read and give it a try.
And get rid of that toolkit. I get it, toolkits might seem like they make things so much easier, but they're nothing but trouble. In this instance it's allowed you to flash an incomplete system to your phone, possibly bricking it. I'm not blaming the toolkit for this situation, this situation was caused by human error. But, if you had never used a toolkit in the first place you wouldn't have bypassed some crucial, basic, elementary knowledge. Knowledge that's needed to know what you're doing when flashing.
Toolkits allow the user to do things to their phone without actually having a knowledge of what's going on. Had you not used this toolkit in the first place you might have a better working knowledge of flashing, and you might not be in this situation right now. So yeah, maybe they seem easier, but in the long run you're better off without them. You're much better off properly learning the ins and outs of flashing and owning a modified phone.
Transmitted via Bacon
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
IT WORKED!
It was 1am yesterday when I messed up, so I decided to create the thread here and go sleep, after some troubleshooting that didn't work. I believe I'd come accross that thread you pointed, but thanks for it.
I mean... really, THANX!

Cappelletti said:
IT WORKED!
It was 1am yesterday when I messed up, so I decided to create the thread here and go sleep, after some troubleshooting that didn't work. I believe I'd come accross that thread you pointed, but thanks for it.
I mean... really, THANX! [emoji14]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, no worries, glad to help.
Transmitted via Bacon

How to find stock ROM files for my BL unlocked XT925 with no backups?

First a few disclaimers to explain why I'm here.
- My secondary intention with this question is finding some answer as generic as possible to also help other people. Of course my primary intention is fixing my own issue, but the biggest part of it from what I can tell in the past 8 hours have been finding ROM files. All links are broken, except for 4.1.2 and none of those worked for me. In fact, they bricked my phone pretty hard.
- I'm on a mac. It's a nightmare finding tools for the mac, but I doubt any of them would really be any use for my case, one reason why I didn't even bother going for a windows vm. Another one is I'm traumatised by installing and running VMs. Finally this is for the challenge and learning a bit more.
- I've being trying to fix this through lots of research in the past 8 hours and I do know a few bits about going around and doing things (so sad this guide had no repercussion so far). But clearly, I'm dumb enough to brick my phone twice with no backups. At least could figure it out the first time (I had more time in hands as well). Please consider this. This means I've tried a lot of stuff you may wanted to advise, but it also mean I may have missed something obvious in the middle.
Okay...
By "bricked" I mean:
1. I can't go through the same process I did before to flash any CM image. CWM won't flash CM11 and CM12 recovery complains my bootloader isn't 4.4.
2. Both CWM and twrp recoveries should allow touch. None work, so I an't use twrp.
3. Battery keeps getting low and I've got no clue how to charge it to full again or even see how much it is at without installing twrp, which keeps getting uninstalled randomly at reboots, despite all of this topic about a solution. `fastboot getvar battery-voltage` doesn't show it. The mac script (which I was about to write myself based on op) also doesn't seem to help. In my case, I've removed the `./fastboot` because I've got it on my shell path.
I believe (1) happened, as I said on the disclaimer, right after I've flashed one of those 4.1.2 ROMs. By "flashed" I mean running the BAT file which mostly works on mac. ECHO of course wouldn't show the messages of progress there, but all fastboot commands do run.
And I also believe if only I could find 4.4 stock ROM files they might work or, at least, bring bootloader back to where it was so I could install CM12 again. And as far as I could notice without having Windows to try, no windows tool would really help here. That RSD Lite for instance, looks like it's just a GUI to run fastboot commands.
Above ALL
I just wanted to find a ROM stock file which I could fastboot flash into xt925 to reset it as hard as possible from zero and that the link will probably not break in the future for whoever may need it.
I figured THIS shouldn't be too hard to find, even for mac only, but it has been.
PS: Being able to fix the battery thing is also very important and quite a relevant follow up on the question! Right now I'm stuck with a ROM file that might work, but got no battery to try! ( 10 hours debugging now... )

only one stock kitkat rom for XT925 ! i'll upload this for you !

You know, if this works I'll have to, at least, go through some of your 187 posts and find a dozen or so to thank you way more than once!
I've now downloaded [this one](http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63163078&postcount=6), which [he also posted again later on](http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=63272842&postcount=2), hoping it will do it! If it does, I'll try to upload in this post, as it looks like XDA hosted files last for much longer than anything else.
Only problem for flashing anything now is I can't seem to get enough battery!

Error! message when updating to 6.0.0(MRA58N)

Hey! I don't know if this is the right place, but I'll try to explain my problem.
Yesterday I got a notification of an update(think it's 6.0.0 (MRA58N)). Today, when I tried to install it I just got an "Error!" message.
I tried to reboot the phone, but nothing happened. It doesn't turn on. However, I can get it into that fastboot screen or what it's called.
Haven't had any problems before, and Im kind of a beginner on these technical issues regarding phones.
So could someone please explain what I should do(hopefully nothing to complicated).
Thanks!

That sounds like a rooted phone. Is it? Have you owned the phone from new, or is it second-hand?

dahawthorne said:
That sounds like a rooted phone. Is it? Have you owned the phone from new, or is it second-hand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was new when I bought it (april 2014). I have only installed updates when getting a notification on the phone. I got a notification to do an update yesterday. Did it today. But while updating it just stopped and said "Error!". Turn the phone off, tried to turn it on but nothing happened.
What's the easiest way to make the phone work again?
Have in mind that Im not experienced at all with these stuff . Never had had any problems before
Thanks

Were you already on a version of Marshmallow? They are both version 6.0.0 regardless of the name (MRA58K/N).
Was there any message apart from just "Error"? Do you remember what it looked like?
I take it that you have enough battery?
I have no idea of the answer, just trying to get some clues.
(Oh, and at worst you can probably flash a new ROM. Don't get too worried just yet... )

dahawthorne said:
Were you already on a version of Marshmallow? They are both version 6.0.0 regardless of the name (MRA58K/N).
Was there any message apart from just "Error"? Do you remember what it looked like?
I take it that you have enough battery?
I have no idea of the answer, just trying to get some clues.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I updated to marshmallow a couple of weeks ago.
Yes, I was on about 75% battery when trying to update.
As far as I recall it was just the android guy and a red text saying Error! (well it said Fel! because it's in swedish.)
It started to install the updates, but just stopped halfway(rough estimate).
Hmm :/
EDIT: Yes, I've asked on other forums, and they have been saying to flash(it's called taht right?) But since I'm new to this stuff, I want to check all possible alternatives first. And if I decide to do this, I'll have to feel fully prepared on what to do, don't want to screw up things even more

To give you at least some hope have a look at this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/stuck-launching-flashstock-bat-t3244470
If you've never done any flashing before, I recommend that you install Wugfresh's Nexus Root Toolkit. It can be used to flash a new ROM, but I'm becoming more convinced that the people in these forums are right in saying that it's good to try things manually rather than relying on a toolkit. I suggest that you use the toolkit's tutorial to set up your PC with all the right drivers & programs (ADB/Fastboot) so that you're prepared for typing in the commands.

dahawthorne said:
To give you at least some hope have a look at this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/help/stuck-launching-flashstock-bat-t3244470
If you've never done any flashing before, I recommend that you install Wugfresh's Nexus Root Toolkit. It can be used to flash a new ROM, but I'm becoming more convinced that the people in these forums are right in saying that it's good to try things manually rather than relying on a toolkit. I suggest that you use the toolkit's tutorial to set up your PC with all the right drivers & programs (ADB/Fastboot) so that you're prepared for typing in the commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I'll have a look at it.
Just to be sure. A factory reset wont work, right?

I don't know - I suppose it's worth trying. But if the phone doesn't turn on, you'll have to go through the PC setup anyway so that you can work on the phone. Besides, it will come in very useful when you need to do any maintenance on the phone in future (if that's what you want).
Or is there a factory reset in stock recovery? I don't use it myself, so I don't know.

CoJonees said:
Thanks, I'll have a look at it.
Just to be sure. A factory reset wont work, right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wug's toolkit needs a fix. It will not load the new Mashmellow either

Want to learn something instead of using a toolkit to do stuff for you?
1) http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/noob-read-adb-fastboot-how-hep-t2807273
2) http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/tutorial-how-to-flash-factory-image-t2513701

Both these threads are unavailable, possibly deleted.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

beekay201 said:
Want to learn something instead of using a toolkit to do stuff for you?
1) http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/noob-read-adb-fastboot-how-hep-t2807273
2) http://forum.xda-developers.com/google-nexus-5/general/tutorial-how-to-flash-factory-image-t2513701
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
@beekay
"Want to learn something instead of using a toolkit to do stuff for you?"
You convinced me, but I think that the NRT has a lot of great help in setting up a PC so that you can actually start learning about ADB/Fastboot manual commands.
Although I'd done some minor fastboot stuff before, I'd never done the full Monty and installed a ROM, but I found the experience strangely pleasurable...

@op found help yet :what::what::what::what:

Updating advice please ! Reroot failure

Hi everybody ! Ill try to keep it simple as I'm sure its covered somewhere but here goes ....
Ive been using my shield portable, rooted, for ages now no problems.
Like many Ive updated it in short ever since nothing whatsoever has worked properly , most annoyingly the screen doing backflips when you go near it and hundreds endless strange updates when rebooting.
Anyway I don't think you or I or any of us want to waste time trying to figure out why its done any of this but I just want to be able to fix it. I guess I'm going to have to start again somehow! its worth noting here that all my backup apps like Helium now don't seem to work.
After the update I of course ReRooted and it appears fine from boot loader , still says unlocked. but upon usage its clearly very confused about whether its rooted or not !
In short its useless. Advice please My kung Fu warriors
May your arrows fly straight and true

I have no idea about the various issues, but I would perform a factory reset, and clear cache and dalvik cache using at least 3 swipes per each function. The method of rooting I recommend is by flashing a zip of SuperSU from a custom recovery menu. CWM or TWRP are both available for the NSP. After flashing SuperSU, when you reboot and go into SuperSu you'll see that it's installed (locked down tighter) as a system app.
Downloads:
SuperSU (latest stable version) v2.65
CWM Recovery Menu (latest version) v6.0.4.4
TWRP (Modified recovery (based on TWRP v2.8.7.0)
Sorry. This is the best I can offer you right now. If this doesn't work I would reflash the stock images of whatever OTA you wanna be on. The images can be found @:
SHIELD Open Source Resources and Drivers. You'll need at least the platform-tools portion of the Android SDK (to use Fastboot to flash from recovery). A user friendly PC app that can basically do all this sort of stuff is Shield Ram v1.1. You might find that easier to use.
Oh and here's the latest Minimal ADB and Fastboot Drivers installer [v1.3.1]
If you need further help, let me know.

Hi ! Thanks for the good advice.
I should have mentioned, I'm using a Mac now.
From what I understand it's still possible , maybe
Even easier.....
Sorry to throw a spanner in your super helpful works !
Thanks again

[/COLOR]
Marrhead said:
Hi ! Thanks for the good advice.
I should have mentioned, I'm using a Mac now.
From what I understand it's still possible , maybe
Even easier.....
Sorry to throw a spanner in your super helpful works !
Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, pretty much the rule is generally "as long as you can still see the screen, it's probably fixable". Sounds to me like your best bet, would be to download the OTA you wanna be on, and flash a new install to your Shield. It's the quickest way from A-B. I'm about 99% sure that this would solve the problem (as long as you re-root it properly). Though if you have your reasons, you can try some of the other things first. You're welcome and let me know how things go!

So where does one get the latest OTA?
cheers

Marrhead said:
So where does one get the latest OTA?
cheers
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I did link up the main Nvidia page that would lead to the OTA images, but here's a direct link to DL just the OTAs:
Edit: you can get there through the link I included in my previous post: SHIELD Open Source Resources and Drivers. I'm having issues with editing posts, and all sorts of odd **** with the link trying to post a more direct link. It's an Nvidia site, just scroll down to Shield Portable Recovery OS Images (something like that).
Unfortunately there are only Linux and Windows downloads available. I'm not sure what your best option would be, as you have a Mac. You could contact Nvidia support, and see what they say about it. Sorry, but I don't think I can probably help much more than this.When I contacted Nvidia support about a year ago, they were pretty helpful. Hopefully you get this sorted soon. Oh and the OTAs are flashed via a terminal/command prompt. So if you can emulate DOS on your Mac (which I don't see why not...DOSbox? maybe) then that sounds to me like the solution.

Ok , hit another brick wall. Im using a windows computer now, followed all the instructions i can find, and now the bootloader seems dysfunctional.
Ive got adb and fastboot and its recognising the device but once rebooted into bootloader which loads fine, the commands say no device found and nothing works in this mode.
If i hit recovery mode then a little dead android appears! poor little guy.
I tried shield ram but it had same problems, seems to run fine but cant find shield once its in bootloader...
Ive got the image zip of the update i want to flash but no idea if im doing it right- not sure how to use it.
Help!