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Fixing a bricked Nexus S

I had a Vibrant before and flashed it constantly. I soft bricked it several time and it was easy just to Odin back to stock and try again. Before I begin to flash Roms on this phone I would like to know how one would fix a bricked Nexus S. I searched "bricked Nexus S" and didn't come up with much.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Flash a stock img thru fastboot/adb. Just as painless as Odin was if not easier.
Sent from my Nexus S

Yeah I figured that much but I have never used ADB before. What are the commands to flash a stock img and where can I get a stock img? I already have ADB set up, serial # comes up when I enter - adb devices. I'm ready to root and flash but I want to be prepared for anything. I don't want to panic for ten minutes like I did the first time I bricked my Vibrant.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

You should be able to snag a stock image from the development section. As far as what adb commands to use check out any of the root tutorials in development.
Sent from my Nexus S

bricking the phone is not easy... everything can be wiped and reinstalled with ease. Recovery is your friend.

leyvatron said:
bricking the phone is not easy... everything can be wiped and reinstalled with ease. Recovery is your friend.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why I love this phone. When I first rooted my wife's phone she was a nervous wreck about me ruining it. Now, she jokingly cheers when it boot loops or hangs on the google splash screen.

kenvan19 said:
That's why I love this phone. When I first rooted my wife's phone she was a nervous wreck about me ruining it. Now, she jokingly cheers when it boot loops or hangs on the google splash screen.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Coolest wife ever? haha

risegeek said:
Coolest wife ever? haha
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hehe why'd'ya think I married her

Hi Everyone.
I have my Nexus S for a 3 days - it's brand new. Last night i turned it off. It was about 50% charged. Today i can't turn it on. Phone is dead. What's wrong? There is no any response, even during charging (black screen).
Phone wasn't rooted. It has Android 2.3.2 update.
What can I do?

Van_Dyke said:
Hi Everyone.
I have my Nexus S for a 3 days - it's brand new. Last night i turned it off. It was about 50% charged. Today i can't turn it on. Phone is dead. What's wrong? There is no any response, even during charging (black screen).
Phone wasn't rooted. It has Android 2.3.2 update.
What can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not enough information is present. you can attempt to get into bootloader / recovery, plug USB to the computer. When plugged, does the computer make a plugged in noise? if it does.. try turning it on, try using adb on it, etc.
as a last resort: if its not rooted or modified in any way, you can go back to best buy and exchange it since you said you've only had it for 3 days

Van_Dyke said:
Hi Everyone.
I have my Nexus S for a 3 days - it's brand new. Last night i turned it off. It was about 50% charged. Today i can't turn it on. Phone is dead. What's wrong? There is no any response, even during charging (black screen).
Phone wasn't rooted. It has Android 2.3.2 update.
What can I do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First thing to do is pull the battery, let it sit a minute or two, then put the battery back in and try to boot.
Also, try booting into recovery or fastboot. With power off, press and hold volume up button, then press/hold power on switch. You should enter fastboot mode. From fastboot menu, select boot to recovery. The phone will reboot and you'll get to a screen with an "!" and an android robot on it. At that point you press hold power, then press/hold volume up (make note that this is the reverse of what you did earlier).
Once in Recovery, try wiping cache from the menu.
Reboot.
If still no good, then repeat the process but pick factory reset/wipe from the menu in recovery. Note that this will wipe all personal data and apps off the phone but it won't touch your sdcard contents.

The case with pull battery - not working.
I can't enter fastmode using 2 keys combination.
Computer don't recognize the phone. It's brick...

Van_Dyke said:
The case with pull battery - not working.
I can't enter fastmode using 2 keys combination.
Computer don't recognize the phone. It's brick...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last option is to try to trick it into Samsung's Download Mode (see the Odin thread in Development section), but if the keys aren't recognized you can't soft boot into it so you'll need a dongle with a resistor to get there.
Sounds like it's truly a brick at this point. You'll probably have to return it, but I'm concerned about returning a phone that has your personal data on it without being able to wipe it. Doesn't seem like much way around that at this point if you can't get fastboot or download.

get the 301k resistor JIG and then you can go into the download mode even without the 2 keys + usb plug
you can always make your own JIG if you have the materials at home or a nearby Radio shack

Thx for all Your advices
Problem was with the dead battery. The battery died during the night - i don't know why. I think the system waren't able to boot up ant start charging process.
My solution:
I took 9V battery, 2 wires and charged dead battery for a while from 9V battery. Then a put it into phone and plug in to wall charger. Charging process started
Now everything is ok

That's pretty scary that it wouldnt take a charge if run down completelty. But hey handy to know incase it happens to any of us,
If you get any repeat i would take it back to get a fresh battery of course (only right to do so).
here's hoping you never need to though

Van_Dyke said:
Thx for all Your advices
Problem was with the dead battery. The battery died during the night - i don't know why. I think the system waren't able to boot up ant start charging process.
My solution:
I took 9V battery, 2 wires and charged dead battery for a while from 9V battery. Then a put it into phone and plug in to wall charger. Charging process started
Now everything is ok
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is scary......
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Bricked
Tried unlocking nexus s last night, now it appears bricked. Cannot connect to computer to reflash as it seems to have wiped the driver. Any ideas on how to bring it back from the dead? thanks
I have managed to see the phone with fastboot. I was hoping that fastboot update, would re-image the brick. Can anyone let me know the correct syntax. I am not able to copy an image onto the phone. Thanks again

Noob {MAC User}... Please be gentle
Greetings Everyone,
Okay, so I endeavoured to root my phone last night and was successful. I ran into trouble when the clockwork recovery and superuser permissions kept getting removed each time I reboot.
Now, I'm at the Google splash screen with no way to move forward. I'm a mac user and I don't really get the adb thing. Got adb to work with mac from a youtube video, but still not sure what commands to run.
What I've done so far:
- wiped cache
- wiped/factory data reset
- retraced my steps by using terminal to setup superuser permission from this post (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=927838)
What I think:
- maybe in all of my clicks I removed the ROM, so the phone doesn't have a ROM to work with.
This maybe a really infantile conclusion, but I know there's a solution (had a rooted G1 that I flashed all the time and thought I bricked once but was able to get it back to stock).
Eagerly waiting for a reply... no cell phone if this can't be fixed.
Tamara

warrenb said:
Tried unlocking nexus s last night, now it appears bricked. Cannot connect to computer to reflash as it seems to have wiped the driver. Any ideas on how to bring it back from the dead? thanks
I have managed to see the phone with fastboot. I was hoping that fastboot update, would re-image the brick. Can anyone let me know the correct syntax. I am not able to copy an image onto the phone. Thanks again
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would be easier to help you if we knew exactly what you did that caused the problem. You said you tried to unlock it...you mean fastboot oem unlock or something else?
If you can get into fastboot, you're not totally lost, but the computer needs to see the phone to do it.
I'm working in a vacuum here on what your real problem is, but without further details, the things you can try are boot into recovery (from the fastboot mode select boot recovery)...if you're stock recovery, press/hold power, then volume up once you see the android "!". From there wipe cache and whatever else it will let you wipe. Try rebooting. IF that didn't work go back to recovery and try a factory reset of the phone (will delete all your apps and stuff on the phone, but not on the sdcard (pics and stuff).
If none of that works, you can still try getting Clockwork recovery on the phone via fastboot. Boot phone to fastboot and then on computer type the command "fastboot flash recovery <put file name of recovery version you're flashing here>"
Once in clockwork, you should have access to adb via the computer. On your computer go to the Development section here and download any of the various nandroid images posted there. Now you use clockwork mounts and storage menu to mount the sdcard. Then use adb to "adb push <insert path and filename of your nandroid image here> /sdcard"
Unmount the sdcard with the clockwork mounts and storage menu. Now go to the backup menu, select advanced restore and find the nandroid image and restore it.
With any luck, you should be able to boot into a fresh phone.

help- bricked it, no recovery, what now?

Hey yall. I had the phone for 6 days before I bricked it. I am wondering if there is any stock recovery mode or anything or what I shsould do? I think something went wrong due to using the root toolbox pro app. I have done some backups within the ap as well as Titanium Backup but now the phone will not boot up and I dont know if/how to put it in factory recovery mode. Soft reset does nothing. The Motorola logo will show on startup but then the screen just blacks out forever, not off, just colored black.
A few details, the phone was rooted with Motofail2go, with no recovery and bootloader still locked as far as I know.
Should I take it to Sprint for a factory reset? Is this even an option? What are my other options?
Next time I will probably use the Moto unlock key so I can open the bootloader all legit like and have a recovery mode...

Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Once unlocked flash the custom recovery of your choice (I like twrp). You can boot into custom recovery by holding volume up and the power button from a powered down state. Here is the link for instructions on how to flash twrp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887070
Then you can download one of the stock backups for the Q posted in the development section and restore them using the custom recovery. Most of the ones I have seen have been compatible with twrp.
The only way to download the stock rom backups is to remove the sd card from your phone, plug your sd card into a PC or other device with a card reader, download the stock backups, and place the stock backup rom files on your sd card. Finally place the sd card with the stock backup downloads into your phone.
These backups and information on how to go through this process can be found in this thread on page 2: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001226
The key is to make a backup of your existing rom with twrp and then move the stock backups from your sd card to the twrp/backups/yourdeiceserial/ directory. That creates a backup directory which twrp knows to look for backups in.
Don't feel bad, I've been in that state several times since getting the Q, live and learn.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

UnicronAlpha99 said:
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Once unlocked flash the custom recovery of your choice (I like twrp). You can boot into custom recovery by holding volume up and the power button from a powered down state. Here is the link for instructions on how to flash twrp:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1887070
Then you can download one of the stock backups for the Q posted in the development section and restore them using the custom recovery. Most of the ones I have seen have been compatible with twrp.
Don't feel bad, I've been in that state several times since getting the Q, live and learn.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that does not work you could drop it in water or something. You have not officially unlocked boot loader so you still have warranty. Or you could just tell sprint it quit working and act completely clueless. At least its bricked with warranty still intact.

matt2k12 said:
Hey yall. I had the phone for 6 days before I bricked it. I am wondering if there is any stock recovery mode or anything or what I shsould do? I think something went wrong due to using the root toolbox pro app. I have done some backups within the ap as well as Titanium Backup but now the phone will not boot up and I dont know if/how to put it in factory recovery mode. Soft reset does nothing. The Motorola logo will show on startup but then the screen just blacks out forever, not off, just colored black.
A few details, the phone was rooted with Motofail2go, with no recovery and bootloader still locked as far as I know.
Should I take it to Sprint for a factory reset? Is this even an option? What are my other options?
Next time I will probably use the Moto unlock key so I can open the bootloader all legit like and have a recovery mode...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Both of the methods above are very effective. When I had the first photon I bricked it and just dropped it in water and did a claim. Depending on the insurance you have that way may cost you $100. The other method should work. When I first got this phone I did the exact same thing and to go back and unlock then flash twrp and in stall a stock backup someone had posted.
Sent from my XT897 using Tapatalk 2

UnicronAlpha99 said:
Try holding power button and the down volume key to power off. Once you power off press and hold them again. This should boot you into fastboot, Motorola's adb shell basically. This can take a couple tries, make sure the phone is powered down completely before hitting volume down and power button to get into fastboot. If you can boot into fastboot you can unlock using this guide: http://www.droid-life.com/2012/08/20/how-to-unlock-the-motorola-photon-q-bootloader/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. Is there anything extra extra special about getting into factory fastboot mode? I can't seem to get it done. Is there an official set of instructions anywhere? Does the phone need to be plugged into the PC? It was always my understanding (for the last week) that Power and Vol Down was the soft reset mode which reboots the phone. Therefore it always tries to reboot in normal mode. This is what keeps happening. It never powers completely down using this method.
Anyhow, once I follow your instructions, the Moto logo appears, no Sprint logo appears, the phone "powers on" but the screen is blacked out (not off). After waiting for a while at the blank/black screen, or holding down several buttons like vol or camera I get the first attachment: "Process system is not responding. Would you like to close it?" When I wait nothing happens. When I push OK nothing happens. By chance, I held down power during the notification and the power menu came up behind the ANR notice (second/third attachments). So obviously there are some things working but the main system isn't booting up. And either factory fastboot is nuked or I can't figure it out. When I power down from this accessible power menu and try to do the fastboot (Power / Vol Down) I still havent gotten it to work.
Any other ideas before I take drastic measures?
Since I bought it from Amazon would that be my best route for return or should I go thru a Sprint store?
Thanks in advance.

Hi again yall. You know once I got to thinking about it, I decided to check out the return policy on Amazon Wireless. They will accept any device under warranty for the first 30 days and it is up to Moto for the next 11 months of warranty coverage. They email me a packing label and it ships out 1 day and they ship out the new phone 1 day shipping. Hard to beat, just takes 2 days of shipping and some more fun times with my Epic, 10.1CM style, in the meantime.
Who's to say it wasnt some sort of hardware or software glitch that bricked the phone rather than my screwing around? Nobody knows and it isn't up to the consumer to prove his innocence. I bought everything legally, all the apps at the app store, and only ran the motofail2go root method. Wasn't running any custom Roms, Mods, or anything. I don't feel bad after they got me for another 2 grand for 24 months, and since I have been with Sprint for 10 years;l I have spent well over 10k or 15k with them lifetime.
If any other method pops up between now and when I ship it out I may give it a shot but if not, ah well, capitalism.

matt2k12 said:
Thanks for the response. Is there anything extra extra special about getting into factory fastboot mode? I can't seem to get it done. Is there an official set of instructions anywhere? Does the phone need to be plugged into the PC? It was always my understanding (for the last week) that Power and Vol Down was the soft reset mode which reboots the phone. Therefore it always tries to reboot in normal mode. This is what keeps happening. It never powers completely down using this method.
Anyhow, once I follow your instructions, the Moto logo appears, no Sprint logo appears, the phone "powers on" but the screen is blacked out (not off). After waiting for a while at the blank/black screen, or holding down several buttons like vol or camera I get the first attachment: "Process system is not responding. Would you like to close it?" When I wait nothing happens. When I push OK nothing happens. By chance, I held down power during the notification and the power menu came up behind the ANR notice (second/third attachments). So obviously there are some things working but the main system isn't booting up. And either factory fastboot is nuked or I can't figure it out. When I power down from this accessible power menu and try to do the fastboot (Power / Vol Down) I still havent gotten it to work.
Any other ideas before I take drastic measures?
Since I bought it from Amazon would that be my best route for return or should I go thru a Sprint store?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using adb. If your computer has drivers on it for phone you might able to get into fast boot. If that does not work I would try Sprint store first. Have locked my phone up several times while hacking wife off in progress and have used adb every time. Only time i have been truely scared is when i soft bricked my nexus 7. had to stay at work for two hours after i got off to get it to recover because i was scared of her lol.
---------- Post added at 02:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 PM ----------
If you get adb to recognize device you could take chance and officially unlock boot loader. Then flash twrp. There is a thread in general section about having trouble getting official update. It has a stock recovery in it. Trick would be moving files to recovery section of twrp

I have gotten the phone to soft power down and get into fast boot and custom recovery. It's a bit tricky with timing, I usually wait for the screen to go black after soft reset, let go, and immediately hold power and volume down. If you can not boot into fastboot I honestly don't know what you can do either than return the phone.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

UnicronAlpha99 said:
I have gotten the phone to soft power down and get into fast boot and custom recovery. It's a bit tricky with timing, I usually wait for the screen to go black after soft reset, let go, and immediately hold power and volume down. If you can not boot into fastboot I honestly don't know what you can do either than return the phone.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the help Unicron. I think Brandons method might be my only alternative... but you know what? I already have the box packed up to ship back to Amazon! I am still a noob; I dunno if I could go the distance on this one. I have been updating my Android SDK files since I got the phone but I never got it to recognize boot up thru ADB fastboot. disclaimer* I havent tried it in a couple days since all teh SDK updates completed.
I dunno though I am a big time DIYer when possible. If it werent for the massive amount of tape I put on the box and packing label I would already be trying this method. I can't convince myself just yet. Amazon makes it too easy. I could have the *new* phone by Friday. Then I wouldn't be wasting my remaining work week trying to hack into my personal Christmas present in order to make it function...........................................
Edit - Yes I'm impatient. My job is too demanding and I am trying to set a good precedent for 2013. Wasting the first 3 work days on a phone is not how I intend to start off the year. There is probably a valuable lesson to be learned from this as far as hacking experience and to be honest with the responses here I think I could get it to boot up from PC in SDK/ADB mode and go from there. I just didnt know if that was possible until after I made the claim with Amazon. I still have an entire day today and tomorrow if I want to indulge myself. It doesnt matter if I mail the package today or Wednesday, I can still get it by Friday. I believe this thread is still valuable because we have patterns of repeating past failures and I may find use of it when I recieve my new phone and, darn it, it mysteriously bricks as well. in the same fashion.... the only thing I was really trying to do was get all my apps on my SD card... sad huh?
Edit 2 - Opened up the box, tried fastboot and adb, nothing. Off she goes.

I don't blame you, it sounds easier to exchange in your case any way. The main suggestion I have is if you are getting into any type of build.prop or operating system tweaks that have potential to lead to boot loops or cause the phone not to boot, then unlock the bootloader and install custom recovery.
The Moto-fail method seems limited to only be able to run apps that require root. For me this has no use as I want to be able to have complete control over all aspects of the Android OS. There is not a huge mod community for the Q as yet but I believe Cyanogen will be a reality as Interloper continues working on it. I came from an Epic with Cyanogen and soft-bricked it a minimum of 50 times. CWM was very forgiving on that phone, the Q is a lot more finicky and frustrating.
If you have insurance through the carrier then you are going to pay $150 for a refurb if something goes wrong and you hard brick the phone. If you unlock bootloader and install custom recovery then you have a fail-safe in the form of nandroid backups and restores. Then you can mod away with little fear.
Good luck on the new phone and I hope you don't give up after six days of modding with the Q!
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

matt2k12 said:
Thanks for the help Unicron. I think Brandons method might be my only alternative... but you know what? I already have the box packed up to ship back to Amazon! I am still a noob; I dunno if I could go the distance on this one. I have been updating my Android SDK files since I got the phone but I never got it to recognize boot up thru ADB fastboot. disclaimer* I havent tried it in a couple days since all teh SDK updates completed.
I dunno though I am a big time DIYer when possible. If it werent for the massive amount of tape I put on the box and packing label I would already be trying this method. I can't convince myself just yet. Amazon makes it too easy. I could have the *new* phone by Friday. Then I wouldn't be wasting my remaining work week trying to hack into my personal Christmas present in order to make it function...........................................
Edit - Yes I'm impatient. My job is too demanding and I am trying to set a good precedent for 2013. Wasting the first 3 work days on a phone is not how I intend to start off the year. There is probably a valuable lesson to be learned from this as far as hacking experience and to be honest with the responses here I think I could get it to boot up from PC in SDK/ADB mode and go from there. I just didnt know if that was possible until after I made the claim with Amazon. I still have an entire day today and tomorrow if I want to indulge myself. It doesnt matter if I mail the package today or Wednesday, I can still get it by Friday. I believe this thread is still valuable because we have patterns of repeating past failures and I may find use of it when I recieve my new phone and, darn it, it mysteriously bricks as well. in the same fashion.... the only thing I was really trying to do was get all my apps on my SD card... sad huh?
Edit 2 - Opened up the box, tried fastboot and adb, nothing. Off she goes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.

befrosty8612 said:
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure wish I would have known that ahead of time. Does this work without any recovery mode and with the bootloader still locked?

matt2k12 said:
Sure wish I would have known that ahead of time. Does this work without any recovery mode and with the bootloader still locked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It does work without any recovery mode and I believe it still works without the bootloader being unlocked, I didn't know about this myself until after I had already unlocked it. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner.

befrosty8612 said:
It does work without any recovery mode and I believe it still works without the bootloader being unlocked, I didn't know about this myself until after I had already unlocked it. Sorry I couldn't help out sooner.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Awesome, I am wanting to do the backdoor root method again but, of course, may brick it. I dont think Amazon will keep sending me new ones.... but maybe!

befrosty8612 said:
FWIW, pressing vol down + power til it resets then pressing the camera button + power once the screen is black gets you to the Boot Mode Selection Menu, where you can start recovery, fastboot, BP tools (still not sure what that is entirely) and some others. Seems to be a fairly reliable/easy method for getting to both recovery and fastboot from any point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For anyone concerned, I knew it would only be a matter of time until bricking my new device. This damn Root Toolbox Pro did it to me again, and on a simple, menial task. I am going to be working thru the motions on getting this to work.
Using the instructions quoted I did get stock recovery to work or at least flash on the screen for a split second. Seems like there is a timer on the recovery screen. I am having trouble with the fastboot prompt though on the PC. Do I do it in the "platform-tools" folder which contains fastboot or in the "tools" folder of the main SDK directory? I am really a noob, can you give me the cliff notes of how to get into ADB, fastboot, etc on the Photon Q in order to do a factory reset? I already have Android SDK installed and completely up to date so that is done. And Fastboot is installed. I'm just having trouble crossing the finish line here... I can get the fastboot page opened in the stock recovery but from there I'm lost. I dont know what to type into the command prompt, in what directory, or what.... Also when I open the command prompt in the SDK folder on the PC with fastboot in the directory and type "adb reboot bootloader" it says "device not found". Maybe (surely) that is the wrong prompt?
FWIW my phone is showing the dead android guy. I didnt do anything besides try and clear up my Play Store download list which required a reboot. The phone never started back up. I dont know how much damage was done or info was lost or whatever, but seeing as how I was rooted but still locked, I had no custom recovery. So no back ups. Is there anything to restore or am I looking at a full wipe and restore?

matt2k12 said:
For anyone concerned, I knew it would only be a matter of time until bricking my new device. This damn Root Toolbox Pro did it to me again, and on a simple, menial task. I am going to be working thru the motions on getting this to work.
Using the instructions quoted I did get stock recovery to work or at least flash on the screen for a split second. Seems like there is a timer on the recovery screen. I am having trouble with the fastboot prompt though on the PC. Do I do it in the "platform-tools" folder which contains fastboot or in the "tools" folder of the main SDK directory? I am really a noob, can you give me the cliff notes of how to get into ADB, fastboot, etc on the Photon Q in order to do a factory reset? I already have Android SDK installed and completely up to date so that is done. And Fastboot is installed. I'm just having trouble crossing the finish line here... I can get the fastboot page opened in the stock recovery but from there I'm lost. I dont know what to type into the command prompt, in what directory, or what.... Also when I open the command prompt in the SDK folder on the PC with fastboot in the directory and type "adb reboot bootloader" it says "device not found". Maybe (surely) that is the wrong prompt?
FWIW my phone is showing the dead android guy. I didnt do anything besides try and clear up my Play Store download list which required a reboot. The phone never started back up. I dont know how much damage was done or info was lost or whatever, but seeing as how I was rooted but still locked, I had no custom recovery. So no back ups. Is there anything to restore or am I looking at a full wipe and restore?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As abnormal as it seems, your situation seems pretty normal... at least from my shoes. I went through the same scenario... I didn't know what adb was, or fastboot, etc. So, here's what I know
the fastboot commands work even if adb doesnt see it in the list of devices attached. Somehow it just works (as long as the phone is in fastboot mode).
If you're able to get to the fastboot mode, things should be okay. Just open a windows explorer window to the Platform-Tools, hold the shift key and right click on a blank space within the window, then click open command window here.
you should be able to pass any adb (if the phone is on and recognized) or fastboot (if phone is in fastboot mode) commands from that command prompt.
Also, if you have a stock recovery, CMW, or TWRP image, this is the folder to copy those .img files to. Once you get your phone into fastboot mode and its plugged into the computer, just type into the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
If you're just looking to reboot the phone into recovery
If you have a CWM or TWRP recovery just replace the recovery.img with whatever the .img file that you have. Also, as a tip instead of writing the entire file name, just press the first couple letters then press the tab key within the command prompt, it should fill in the rest. keep pressing tab until you get to the .img file name you want.
To avoid doing this again, maybe I can help... what were you trying to do to begin with? From the sound of it, you were trying to root the phone with the Root Toolbox Pro but it bricked, and then you tried to reboot into recovery and then got the red android... ?

befrosty8612 said:
As abnormal as it seems, your situation seems pretty normal... at least from my shoes. I went through the same scenario... I didn't know what adb was, or fastboot, etc. So, here's what I know
the fastboot commands work even if adb doesnt see it in the list of devices attached. Somehow it just works (as long as the phone is in fastboot mode).
If you're able to get to the fastboot mode, things should be okay. Just open a windows explorer window to the Platform-Tools, hold the shift key and right click on a blank space within the window, then click open command window here.
you should be able to pass any adb (if the phone is on and recognized) or fastboot (if phone is in fastboot mode) commands from that command prompt.
Also, if you have a stock recovery, CMW, or TWRP image, this is the folder to copy those .img files to. Once you get your phone into fastboot mode and its plugged into the computer, just type into the command prompt:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
If you're just looking to reboot the phone into recovery
If you have a CWM or TWRP recovery just replace the recovery.img with whatever the .img file that you have. Also, as a tip instead of writing the entire file name, just press the first couple letters then press the tab key within the command prompt, it should fill in the rest. keep pressing tab until you get to the .img file name you want.
To avoid doing this again, maybe I can help... what were you trying to do to begin with? From the sound of it, you were trying to root the phone with the Root Toolbox Pro but it bricked, and then you tried to reboot into recovery and then got the red android... ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the response. So, all I have to do is: go to fastboot and flash a stock recovery image file and it will automatically wipe the phone, cache, everything, and restore the operating system? Sounds awfully easy! I found some stock files in this post : http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001226&page=2 Are these the ones you used before?
Last question: I can flash CWM or TWRP but wont be able to access them if my bootloader is locked, correct? So flashing a stock recovery will allow me to have my stock phone back again, locked and un-rooted? I guess if I cant get it to work with the stock recovery then I can unlock the bootloader and do a CWM or TWRP recovery and then flash the stock .img files?
Thanks again for your help. I already had root with the motofail2go method which I like using but seems like when I try and use some generic root feature from apps from the app store that it will crash/brick the phone cuz obviously those apps are generalized and likely to brick certain percentage of devices....

Ok what does this mean? Something with the bootlaoder obviously. Does it need to be unlocked?
Code:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>fastboot flash recover
y qrecovery1.img
(bootloader) Variable not supported!
target reported max download size of 31457280 bytes
sending 'recovery' (5962 KB)...
OKAY [ 0.479s]
writing 'recovery'...
(bootloader) Preflash validation failed
FAILED (remote failure)
finished. total time: 0.755s
C:\Program Files (x86)\Android\android-sdk\platform-tools>
And on the phone screen it says "invalid image size for partition recovery" twice for both times I tried this method.

You will need to flash the system image as well if you want those, as the recovery image will only flash the recovery. The files in that link are for twrp only... so you'll have to be able to get there first.
With the custom recoveries, I'm not 100% sure whether or not you will be able to use them without being unlocked. I would wait to see if anyone else can answer that question for you, but if you did try it without an unlocked bootloader, you at least have the stock recovery to fall back on if needed.
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app
---------- Post added at 09:16 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 PM ----------
I'm thinking it could either be that your phone is full and the image you're flashing is too large to fit on the space available...
Or you're trying to flash custom software on a locked phone.
Hopefully someone is able to answer that a little better...
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

You can't alter the stock recovery (flash a custom recovery like twrp or cwm) in fastboot without having the bootloader unlocked. Your options are to unlock your bootloader, flash custom recovery, create a backup of your current setup, download one of the stock working backups, place it in the backups folder for twrp on your external sd card, and restore one of the known working backups in the development section (befrosty linked to one). Or you could use RSD lite to return to stock using a stock factory firmware flash. That involves connecting your phone to your PC and flashing the phone back to factory stock. Information on RSD Lite and links to the FXZ's can be found here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2095536
Sent from my XT897 using xda app-developers app

[Q] I accidentally everything (TWRP)

Basically I was using TWRP to wipe my TF700T and I wiped the OS. Luckily I made a recovery on my SD, but the problem is that I can't get it to boot back into TWRP in order to run it. All the Power + Volume Down does is just cause the device to rumble. Powering on the device just lets it sit in the bootscreen. If I can get into the bootloader I can basically fix the machine. Problem I have remaining is that I can't seem to get into the bootloader.
The device calls itself APX when plugged into my computer now, if that means anything. I'm gonna try to drain the battery by leaving it on over night without the flash card. Maybe that'll do something.
Any suggestions on how to unbrick this thing? Or did I just succeed in turning a very expensive tablet into a very expensive paperweight?

JunoZXV said:
Basically I was using TWRP to wipe my TF700T and I wiped the OS. Luckily I made a recovery on my SD, but the problem is that I can't get it to boot back into TWRP in order to run it. All the Power + Volume Down does is just cause the device to rumble. Powering on the device just lets it sit in the bootscreen. If I can get into the bootloader I can basically fix the machine. Problem I have remaining is that I can't seem to get into the bootloader.
The device calls itself APX when plugged into my computer now, if that means anything. I'm gonna try to drain the battery by leaving it on over night without the flash card. Maybe that'll do something.
Any suggestions on how to unbrick this thing? Or did I just succeed in turning a very expensive tablet into a very expensive paperweight?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im having exactly the same problem, did you find a solution to this?

So far no results yet. I tried hitting the reset button on the side but all that did was lead me back to the boot screen. I read something about undoing the the hard boot using a series of override programs. But the problem is the documentation is so cluttered that I can't fathom the instructions (I'll try it again just in case.)

Bump update: So I called Asus and it turns out it's gonna cost 288$ to get the thing fixed by them. So I'm not doing that. I'm looking into other ways of recovery. I've got other multiple options I'm exploring at the moment. Like looking for a recycling program or a way to use the technology in a new way.

UPDATE X2
So I talked to a friend and the very fact that it sits at APX was a tipoff. Basically it means the recovery is shot but the Bootloader is OK. Meaning that the device isn't as bricked as I thought. What needs to be done is to download the android ADT bundle (google it) and from there get into the platform tools under command prompt, type "adb" then "adb devices" and finally "adb reboot recovery"
if it works the recovery should reflash and then using the backup restore the OS.
Granted I'm having trouble getting my comptuer to say "APX has been connected" due to a faulty data cable but I should be home free after this

JunoZXV said:
UPDATE X2
So I talked to a friend and the very fact that it sits at APX was a tipoff. Basically it means the recovery is shot but the Bootloader is OK. Meaning that the device isn't as bricked as I thought. What needs to be done is to download the android ADT bundle (google it) and from there get into the platform tools under command prompt, type "adb" then "adb devices" and finally "adb reboot recovery"
if it works the recovery should reflash and then using the backup restore the OS.
Granted I'm having trouble getting my comptuer to say "APX has been connected" due to a faulty data cable but I should be home free after this
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately if you can only get to APX mode and you don't have nvflash specific blobs for your device you are hard bricked...

Luckily I make a recovery file in my SD card wayy back when I did my first Cromi mod. It should still work if the forced recovery restores TWRP. Otherwise, yes, I might be hard bricked.
My friend, however, thinks there might be another way to force a OS past this block though. I'll have to see how this plays out.

JunoZXV said:
Luckily I make a recovery file in my SD card wayy back when I did my first Cromi mod. It should still work if the forced recovery restores TWRP. Otherwise, yes, I might be hard bricked.
My friend, however, thinks there might be another way to force a OS past this block though. I'll have to see how this plays out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry it really doesn't look good, Maybe i can corrected but the device will fallback to APX mode if the bootloader is corrupted, without a bootloader you cant install/fix a recovery and without NvFlash blobs you cant fix the bootloader. Your two options are buy a new motherboard and replace it yourself or send it in for repair with Asus

JunoZXV said:
Luckily I make a recovery file in my SD card wayy back when I did my first Cromi mod. It should still work if the forced recovery restores TWRP. Otherwise, yes, I might be hard bricked.
My friend, however, thinks there might be another way to force a OS past this block though. I'll have to see how this plays out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As JTR says I'm pretty sure you can't fix this without replacing the hardware now. I don't think your friend really understands what APX mode is. YOu can't access the bootloader nor recovery. Without NVflash backup blobs you can't recover anything, there is no way to get your TWRP backups back on to the device and even if you could you have no working bootloader......

[Q] Android won't boot...

Hey folks...I'm running into a problem I was hoping someone might be able to help with.
Earlier today I pulled my phone out of my pocket at work and saw that it was off...I thought that the battery must have died sooner than I thought. I started charging it in the car on the way home and it wouldn't boot up like normal. It would get to the google or "dots" screen and then reboot. I again thought that the battery might just be really low. After getting home and charging the phone all the way I still can't get it to boot up. As of now, one of 3 things will happen...
1-The phone will turn on, get to the google screen and bootloop (usually when plugged in).
2-The phone will turn on, get to the google screen and freeze.
3-Get to the "dots" screen and either swirl forever or eventually reboot and do one of the above again.
I've read some threads where people suggest this is a faulty power button, that doesn't seem to be the case for me though because I can get into fastboot and it won't select anything or turn off without me doing it.
I've used WugFresh NRT and wiped/reflashed android. I'm running out of ideas. Do you have any others?
I was running the stock 5.0.1, unlocked, not currently rooted.
Thanks!

kyle313 said:
Hey folks...I'm running into a problem I was hoping someone might be able to help with.
Earlier today I pulled my phone out of my pocket at work and saw that it was off...I thought that the battery must have died sooner than I thought. I started charging it in the car on the way home and it wouldn't boot up like normal. It would get to the google or "dots" screen and then reboot. I again thought that the battery might just be really low. After getting home and charging the phone all the way I still can't get it to boot up. As of now, one of 3 things will happen...
1-The phone will turn on, get to the google screen and bootloop (usually when plugged in).
2-The phone will turn on, get to the google screen and freeze.
3-Get to the "dots" screen and either swirl forever or eventually reboot and do one of the above again.
I've read some threads where people suggest this is a faulty power button, that doesn't seem to be the case for me though because I can get into fastboot and it won't select anything or turn off without me doing it.
I've used WugFresh NRT and wiped/reflashed android. I'm running out of ideas. Do you have any others?
I was running the stock 5.0.1, unlocked, not currently rooted.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you try flashing factory images?

ryukiri said:
Did you try flashing factory images?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, that was what I flashed :/

If you can get into fastboot you "should" be able to flash stock images... Obviously this will revert any root and you will need to flash TWRP/CWM recovery after.
I assume you have a Windows PC with fastboot/adb setup and all drivers etc..
- Download latest "stock" hammerhead images (I cannot post links due to XDA rules... so: "developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#hammerhead"
- Extract the .tgz archive contents on your PC into a folder
- Boot the N5 into fastboot and plug USB cable from phone into your PC
- Go to the folder with the extracted files and run the "flash-all.bat" script on Windows
**Hopefully at this point your device will start to respond.. I.e, on fastboot screen, at the bottom you will see "writing" or something, as the script runs on the command window on your PC.**
If this works, you should be able to reboot once complete and then wait to see if you can get back into your phone.. then you can fastboot again and flash custom recovery, and then whatever rom.
If however you have a hardware issue (i.e, even after the above process it fails) then I am not sure what you could do... I guess ensure it has a complete charge. If you can get into fastboot and the buttons are responsive then it should not be a faulty power button.
Hope this helps :good:

Have you tried a simple factory reset? Reason I ask is it was working fine so sounds like something needs "flushing out" clear cache etc.

kyle313 said:
Hey folks...I'm running into a problem I was hoping someone might be able to help with.
Earlier today I pulled my phone out of my pocket at work and saw that it was off...I thought that the battery must have died sooner than I thought. I started charging it in the car on the way home and it wouldn't boot up like normal. It would get to the google or "dots" screen and then reboot. I again thought that the battery might just be really low. After getting home and charging the phone all the way I still can't get it to boot up. As of now, one of 3 things will happen...
1-The phone will turn on, get to the google screen and bootloop (usually when plugged in).
2-The phone will turn on, get to the google screen and freeze.
3-Get to the "dots" screen and either swirl forever or eventually reboot and do one of the above again.
I've read some threads where people suggest this is a faulty power button, that doesn't seem to be the case for me though because I can get into fastboot and it won't select anything or turn off without me doing it.
I've used WugFresh NRT and wiped/reflashed android. I'm running out of ideas. Do you have any others?
I was running the stock 5.0.1, unlocked, not currently rooted.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you choose the right model and firmware before you flash in WugFresh NRT?

The above could be right, however when I've used it, it's pointed out if I made that mistake. Having used his software dozens of times I've found it will bring any Nexus 5 back to life.

howard bamber said:
The above could be right, however when I've used it, it's pointed out if I made that mistake. Having used his software dozens of times I've found it will bring any Nexus 5 back to life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello! I am apologize for that I didn't read the OP carefully. This happened to me once in that particulary way, but it was immediately after flashing. OP says that it happened suddenly, without reason. So now I am the one, who doesn't read, right? Sorry for that.
Regards, Zagor

Thanks for the responses, but I'm still having trouble.
I have been able to successfully write the newest stock android 3 times (1 without full wipe, 2 with) and the phone still can't boot up and goes through one of the three issues above.
I've also been able to get to the system recovery from the bootloader and I've tried wiping the cache and doing a factory reset from there and the problem remains.
I'd contact google, but I bought it at launch so I don't think they'll do anything for me since it's been 1+ years.

kyle313 said:
Thanks for the responses, but I'm still having trouble.
I have been able to successfully write the newest stock android 3 times (1 without full wipe, 2 with) and the phone still can't boot up and goes through one of the three issues above.
I've also been able to get to the system recovery from the bootloader and I've tried wiping the cache and doing a factory reset from there and the problem remains.
I'd contact google, but I bought it at launch so I don't think they'll do anything for me since it's been 1+ years.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you have a bad nand sector. From fastboot try:
Code:
fastboot oem lock
Then reboot into fastboot and check if it's locked or not. If the device isn't locked your emmc is corrupt and there is nothing you can do. If that is the case call Google and they will most likely help you out with a RMA.

theesotericone said:
Sounds like you have a bad nand sector. From fastboot try:
Code:
fastboot oem lock
Then reboot into fastboot and check if it's locked or not. If the device isn't locked your emmc is corrupt and there is nothing you can do. If that is the case call Google and they will most likely help you out with a RMA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was actually able to relock the phone.
Luckily I called google and they're going to send me a replacement.
If anyone else has any other ideas, I'll still take them...I'd rather not be without a phone for the next week!

You won't be without a phone - they are sending a refurbish unit to you , putting a block on your credit card and waiting for you phone to arive at them. Once that happens they will release the funds.

Stock Pixel 2 Locking Up on Boot: What are my options?

Hi All,
First, thanks for clicking into my question! This is my first post, but I've been lurking here since I used to flash new roms on my original Nexus on a frequent basis, and a Gen1 Kindle Fire before that.
My fiancee is in a bind with her Pixel 2, so I'm hoping you all can help me out.
Her Pixel 2 threw a bunch of app errors over the course of two days, so she opted to reboot -- unfortunately it now locks up at the loading screen, with the Google 'G' and a loader bar (she's running the latest 8.1, pre-Pie) and hangs there, overheating until the battery runs out and we shut it down. We can get into the Recovery menu, but none of the reboot options there seem to help, and there is only the Factory Reset option remaining that we haven't tried.
This happened in the middle of a huge camping excursion as her Bachelorette, so there was limited WiFi and data access to back anything up -- so locked behind that endless boot sequence is a lot of irreplaceable images and video.
What are my options to pull the user data out of there before a factory reset? Is it possible on a (stock, non-root, Google sourced) phone to flash the Pie update? Would that restore functionality?
Can I get to the data somehow through ADB without the phone booting up and unlocked?
Maybe something crazy, like a take a full image of the phone that I then shove on the replacement Pixel 2 that Google is sending us?
Any guidance would be much appreciated!

You could try booting to TWRP with "fastboot boot <filename here>". Then copy the files from there. I'm not sure if this will work if she had the screen locked beforehand though. You could also try flashing the latest factory image but make sure your remove the "-w" from the flash-all.bat file before running the script so it will not wipe user data. Both of these options might not be possible though if you do not have the boot-loader unlocked.

cynnican said:
Hi All,
First, thanks for clicking into my question! This is my first post, but I've been lurking here since I used to flash new roms on my original Nexus on a frequent basis, and a Gen1 Kindle Fire before that.
My fiancee is in a bind with her Pixel 2, so I'm hoping you all can help me out.
Her Pixel 2 threw a bunch of app errors over the course of two days, so she opted to reboot -- unfortunately it now locks up at the loading screen, with the Google 'G' and a loader bar (she's running the latest 8.1, pre-Pie) and hangs there, overheating until the battery runs out and we shut it down. We can get into the Recovery menu, but none of the reboot options there seem to help, and there is only the Factory Reset option remaining that we haven't tried.
This happened in the middle of a huge camping excursion as her Bachelorette, so there was limited WiFi and data access to back anything up -- so locked behind that endless boot sequence is a lot of irreplaceable images and video.
What are my options to pull the user data out of there before a factory reset? Is it possible on a (stock, non-root, Google sourced) phone to flash the Pie update? Would that restore functionality?
Can I get to the data somehow through ADB without the phone booting up and unlocked?
Maybe something crazy, like a take a full image of the phone that I then shove on the replacement Pixel 2 that Google is sending us?
Any guidance would be much appreciated!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ADB sideload the latest OTA zip in stock recovery, that should get you up and running again without needing a wipe

crixley said:
ADB sideload the latest OTA zip in stock recovery, that should get you up and running again without needing a wipe
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you! I'll be giving this a try as soon as she's home on Monday.
Does recovery mode automatically enable the USB Debugging that ADB uses?

cynnican said:
Thank you! I'll be giving this a try as soon as she's home on Monday.
Does recovery mode automatically enable the USB Debugging that ADB uses?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep you can sideload without needing it toggled in developer mode

crixley said:
Yep you can sideload without needing it toggled in developer mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This worked perfectly, thank you!

cynnican said:
This worked perfectly, thank you!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad to hear! Nothing worse than having to wipe and losing important things you can't get back. I've had that happen a few times. Happy to help.

I'm not very technical - please keep this in mind with my query below.
I have a Pixel 2 which overnight stopped working - my guess is that it rebooted due to an automated software update.
I now only get the page with the robot on it's back.
Options in green on this page are Barcodes, Power Off, and Start.
After reading a lot online I've tried all the usual key press combinations to no avail.
I've also downloaded ADB and FASTBOOT to my Mac.
ADB doesn't see the phone when plugged in via USB (ie. ADB DEVICES doesn't return anything)
FASTBOOT DEVICES does, however, show the serial number as listed on the page with the robot on it's back (and the -l option adds "usb:" plus an 8 digit number and the letter "X"
FASTBOOT REBOOT restarts the phone and brings me back to the robot on it's back page.
Other information on the Robot on it's back page include -
Product Revision: walleye MP1
Boot-slot: b
Console: DISABLED
Secure Boot: yes (PRODUCTION)
Device State: locked
Advice online suggests I need to unlock the phone, so I've tried FASTBOOT FLASHING UNLOCK, and FASTBOOT OEM UNLOCK but neither work.
When I try these I get "FAILED (remote: Flashing Unlock is not allowed)"
An article on Android Police suggests this may have been a bug on the Pixel 2 originally and that it's now resolved.
Unfortunately, my cat 22 situation seems to be that I need to do a factory reset, but the steps I've found as to how to do a factory reset all lead back to the Robot on it's back page, so I can't see how to move forward to with recovering my phone?
Can anyone help please?
Really frustrated that my new phone can put itself into this state without me having done anything and that it's seemingly impossible to recover from this state now that it's in it.
At very least I'd like to wipe all data from the phone so I can send it off for repair.
Thanks in advance.