Develop Bugs

Some Help?

Hey guys,
I have rooted my new evo 4g with the "[GUIDE] How to root Android 2.2 on the EVO 4G" and the first time around i did it all with no trouble (Although it was time consuming) I uploaded a couple of themes, also no problems... Then i tried flashing the Fresh Evo 3.3.0.1 and since i never had any other previous version of Fresh (or any other ROM for that matter) i didn't bother backing up or wiping, and when i rebooted the phone (After i flashed the ROM) it got stuck at the white "HTC EVO 4g" screen and stayed that way, and after about 10 minutes of that i decided to pull the battery and go back into recovery and wipe the drive & cache ect... That also did nothing, once i rebooted i was still getting stuck at that screen, So after that i did some sort of combination of updating the fastboot and then doing the "Clear Storage" option, i was able to at least get the phone to go through that whole startup process again, and i was able to use the phone again. but i ended up in the long run wiping EVERYTHING off my phone in the process, and after i was finally able to get my phone to work again, i promise myself i would NEVER mess with that stuff again... BUT, being as stupid as i am, 2 days later i was back into trying to install stuff again, But everytime i did, i was meant with the same results again. (Startup screen freezing) So after about 5 tries i decided to give up, within the past few days i noticed that HTC had the new 3.29XXX software version up... Now i figured since i can't get the themes and ROM for that matter to work anymore, i just ended up installing the new updates. but yesterday i tried to go into recovery and start messing around with it again, but i can't get to AMON-RA recovery screen anymore, My guess is when i updated the phone, it removed the necessary files for the recovery to work... So last night i deleted all the files i put onto the SD Card (For rooting) and started the full rooting process over again (pushin adb through command prompt ect) and i was able to get the RA recovery back, but when i tried installing a theme, and reboot it takes me through the startup and gets to the "4G Bootscreen" and then it just keeps looping over, and over again. So i had to end up wiping, clear storage ect again to get the phone to work again.
Sorry for the long explanation but i feel the more information there is that better help someone can provide me help with. So i guess my question is does anyone know what i should do to get the recovery to work again to i can start using themes & ROMS again? I'm just pissed off that everything was fine until i tried to flash freshes ROM, I must have done something wrong.
Thanks for all the help in advance, I realize I'm a noob to this site but any help would be greatly appreciated.

Holy crap. If you don't know what you're doing, you need to read hundreds of posts! I probably spent two weeks on these forums before I even considered rooting.
1. First off, regaw's root method is a little outdated. Unrevoked 3.21 is out and fully automated (or nearly). No adb, no command line, etc. Unrevoked is root privileges + nand unlock.
2. Never accept an ota update if you rooted! Ever! Best case is that it breaks root (which is what happened to you).
3. You must have s-off on you're boot loader screen to be able to install custom roms/kernels. This is nand unlock.
4. Always and forever wipe data and dalvik cache when switching between roms or when recommended during upgrade by the rom developer! Boot loops can happen!
5. To install a rom, wipe data cache in recovery then apply the zip of the rom. Phone may take 5 minutes at the boot screen because it's rebuilding the cache you wiped.
6. Always do a nand backup! Always, no excuses!

Greetings,
Everything dom085 said is gospel - really.
For convenience, I'm adding links to the rooting apps mentioned, as it appears
these are the ones you need. Do not forget to follow a successful root
process with Unrevoked forever (S-OFF). You will most assuredly want/require this
for all your rooting and MOD changing activities.
Once S-OFF has been achieved, you will not be required to do it again,
as it's a lower-level (radio) process, and other activities won't affect it.
Unrevoked 3.21 for HTC-EVO(supersonic)
Unrevoked forever for HTC-EVO(supersonic)
If unsure, start here to insure you get the correct
version(s) for your phone.
HTH
--Chris

Chris, thanks for adding the links, I'm not able to do that yet.
However, the newest Unrevoked 3.21 method includes permanent nand-unlock by default. No more separate Unrevoked-forever process. From the Unrevoked 3.21 website:
Does this permanently unlock the NAND flash on my phone?
Yes. The default configuration of this tool disables the phone's security, which also disables the NAND locks placed on the storage by the bootloader. If you choose not to disable security, the /system partition will be read-only after the tool completes

dom085 said:
Chris, thanks for adding the links, I'm not able to do that yet.
However, the newest Unrevoked 3.21 method includes permanent nand-unlock by default. No more separate Unrevoked-forever process. From the Unrevoked 3.21 website:
Does this permanently unlock the NAND flash on my phone?
Yes. The default configuration of this tool disables the phone's security, which also disables the NAND locks placed on the storage by the bootloader. If you choose not to disable security, the /system partition will be read-only after the tool completes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Strange. I rooted with Unrevoked 3.21. Everything went flawlessly. But S-OFF
wasn't indicated. So I downloaded the S-OFF, and performed it. Now S-OFF
shows up.
Strange, because I did it pretty recently (after the "new improved" version was released).
Please note, I'm not arguing with you. Just sharing my own experience.
--Chris

CTH-EVO said:
Strange. I rooted with Unrevoked 3.21. Everything went flawlessly. But S-OFF
wasn't indicated. So I downloaded the S-OFF, and performed it. Now S-OFF
shows up.
Strange, because I did it pretty recently (after the "new improved" version was released).
Please note, I'm not arguing with you. Just sharing my own experience.
--Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting.
It does say "default configuration of this tool." I didn't see any way to change it though when I was rooting (I've done two phones through Unrevoked 3.21). In fact, I didn't see any menus or options at all. Perhaps you changed the "default configuration" somehow?

[Q] Stuck somewhere between root and unroot..

Hi all.
I'll start by saying I have gotten in way over my head. I rooted my Evo with unrEVOked's one-click method, and then began to experience some problems with my 3g. Thinking I had somehow botched the rooting process, I tried to unroot using the two-step method I also found on xda (cannot post link.. further proof I am a noob ). More problems sprang up, one thing led to another, various fixes were tried (HUGE thanks to everyone in the IRC channel last night that tried to help my sorry ass..) but to no avail.
Here is where my phone is at now: booting using vol down+power shows me S-ON. Trying to flash mtd-eng.zip results in an error, so I am seemingly stuck with S-ON. Normally I would be happy about this (that's one step closer to unrooted, right?) but I notice I still have Superuser in my apps. My 3g is working again for whatever reason (no complaints here! maybe it was a Sprint-side problem in my area.. what timing!) but I'm confused as to whether my phone is rooted or not.
Ideally, I would like to go back to unrooted, since I have made it abundantly clear to myself that I am not yet prepared to embark in rooting. If anyone could guide me in the right direction, I would be very thankful.

You no longer have root access. Nothing you do at this point will allow you to run a .img on your own.
Your best bet would be to try and run one of the RUU programs to get it all back to stock.
I don't know if the Superuser application will be removed by this but you can try it:
Go to Settings>SD & Phone Storage>Factory Data Reset
Your phone should reboot and may have erased the Superuser app.

Jim M said:
You no longer have root access. Nothing you do at this point will allow you to run a .img on your own.
Your best bet would be to try and run one of the RUU programs to get it all back to stock.
I don't know if the Superuser application will be removed by this but you can try it:
Go to Settings>SD & Phone Storage>Factory Data Reset
Your phone should reboot and may have erased the Superuser app.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did this, and my phone is now in RA-evo-v1.8.0 (it rebooted into recovery). Should I reboot the system now? I find it strange that it took me here in the first place.
The current PC36IMG that is flashed to the Evo is one with Amon Ra built into it.
The only RUU program that I am allowed to run (from the list that was given out in one of the unrooting evo threads) gives me the 170 error before anything happens.

You don't have root access, but your phone still has a custom recovery (Amon_RA) right now. No way to get rid of the custom recovery now except through an official update that replaces the recovery file.
Like I said you can try to run one of the RUU Official updates found in the Developer forum.
Don't know your location, but if you post it, someone close to you might try to help you out in person.

Jim M said:
You don't have root access, but your phone still has a custom recovery (Amon_RA) right now. No way to get rid of the custom recovery now except through an official update that replaces the recovery file.
Like I said you can try to run one of the RUU Official updates found in the Developer forum.
Don't know your location, but if you post it, someone close to you might try to help you out in person.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
With a little digging and poking and reading, I found the proper RUU, ran it, and I believe I am now back to fully unrooted. Thank you very much for your help!

Error mounting /data/

I was trying to install a new rom on my Desire Z, following the directions here, but something went wrong somewhere and now I can't mount /data. I don't want to go any further in the rom installation process, as I'm afraid to brick my phone. The same thing happened to me while upgrading my Windows 6.5 phone (unexpected problem during rom install) and I ended up with a brick (corrupt bootloader).
I have found several threads here discussing the same problem. However, all of them use highly technical language and seem to be advice from experts to other experts. There are a lot of terms I don't understand or only understand partially, like nandroid, parted, hboot, and so on. Everyone assumes too much. Can anyone explain the procedure in terms a novice can understand?

gromky said:
I was trying to install a new rom on my Desire Z, following the directions here, but something went wrong somewhere and now I can't mount /data. I don't want to go any further in the rom installation process, as I'm afraid to brick my phone. The same thing happened to me while upgrading my Windows 6.5 phone (unexpected problem during rom install) and I ended up with a brick (corrupt bootloader).
I have found several threads here discussing the same problem. However, all of them use highly technical language and seem to be advice from experts to other experts. There are a lot of terms I don't understand or only understand partially, like nandroid, parted, hboot, and so on. Everyone assumes too much. Can anyone explain the procedure in terms a novice can understand?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"Mount" data to flash a rom? You sure? Looking at the link you provided just says place on sd, wipe, flash. Where exactly are you stuck or am i just missing the obvious.

The /data corruption occurred halfway through the upgrade process. I'm not sure what to do, so I stopped and asked for advice. I kept going the last time I had a problem, and got a bricked phone for my trouble.

The only "data" I see in that guide (Same one I used in fact), is the comment bout doing a "Factory Reset/Wipe Data" which is what it says, says nothing about /data/ partition, just to do a full wipe.
Naturally you do this from recovery, not from within an app or while the phone is still booted into normal usage.

So, wiping the phone will fix everything? And then install cyanogen? Sorry, just want to be totally completely sure.

Aye, indeeed, as KB said, full wipe, then flash new rom.

OK, thanks! I was just reeeealy nervous about the "wipe the phone" part. My phone still sort of works now, most programs not available, but Google Maps and the telephone still work...the most important parts of the phone as I travel a lot.

gromky said:
OK, thanks! I was just reeeealy nervous about the "wipe the phone" part. My phone still sort of works now, most programs not available, but Google Maps and the telephone still work...the most important parts of the phone as I travel a lot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory Reset/Wipe will only clear the internal partitions ( /system /data /cache ) , and additionally if you choose Dalvik Cache, then that as well is usually good to do with a brand new rom.
It will not wipe your radio, hboot, recovery, etc, just the system-related areas for roms.
Generally speaking:
Factory Reset + Wipe Cache/Dalvik Cache
Flash CyanogenMod
Flash the Google Apps Zip specific to that CM version (as CM doesn't come with Google Apps by default)
Reboot
Just remember that doing a backup before doing anything to your phone like above is available, as a factory reset and such will wipe contacts and settings and so forth unless you got a google account setup to restore them (or using something like Titanium Backup on an already rooted phone).

OK, I was following the rooting guide, as that must be done before installing cyanogen. I performed all the steps to "reboot". Md5 #2 & md5 #3 matched. Upon rebooting, I can't use su from the terminal (permission denied). I also tried "cd /sdcard && ./su" and got the same thing. Does this mean the rooting didn't work? Or can I proceed with wiping the device regardless? After I wipe the device I won't be able to perform the rooting steps again...and will likely have a brick...just totally paranoid here.

gromky said:
OK, I was following the rooting guide, as that must be done before installing cyanogen. I performed all the steps to "reboot". Md5 #2 & md5 #3 matched. Upon rebooting, I can't use su from the terminal (permission denied). I also tried "cd /sdcard && ./su" and got the same thing. Does this mean the rooting didn't work? Or can I proceed with wiping the device regardless?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I followed that one as well. And I assume you rebooted after that point.
Did you continue forth and factory-reset/wipe and then install CM7 over your stock install?
Basically the downgrading/etc makes the phone exploitable, and then the rooting portion puts you back up to a engineering hboot and such that is unlocked with S-OFF, from there you either flash a pre-rooted ROM (i.e.: CM7 etc), or you root an existing stock (which would have gotten wiped from the hboot replacement).
If you already flashed CM and can't do su via adb then it's possible that under "Security" or "Development" in your phones system memory that su is restricted to "app only" and you may need to change that to "app and adb".
You shouldn't be running su from /sdcard (since that's not a linux style partition, and /sdcard is a no exec area). The su binary should already be installed to system in CM.
Clarification If you did not yet reboot (i.e.: Step #7 and onward), and then wipe/flash cyanogenmod (or another pre-rooted custom rom), then proceed with the steps, otherwise you're just working with a half-processed phone and naturally nothing would work in that state.

kbeezie said:
I followed that one as well. And I assume you rebooted after that point.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes.
Did you continue forth and factory-reset/wipe and then install CM7 over your stock install?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You mean hold "down" and boot into recovery, and immediately do these steps? No, I did not. I let the phone boot as normal, to try to run su to verify if the rooting process worked or not.
I suppose my question should be: how can I verify that the rooting process worked, and I'm ready to wipe? The su on /sdcard was pushed there by adb and used during the procedure. From the guide:
adb push su /sdcard/
adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/
Basically the downgrading/etc makes the phone exploitable, and then the rooting portion puts you back up to a engineering hboot and such that is unlocked with S-OFF, from there you either flash a pre-rooted ROM (i.e.: CM7 etc), or you root an existing stock (which would have gotten wiped from the hboot replacement).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I didn't downgrade, I still have my stock rom (phone bought from Hong Kong so it's one of the Asia roms) which temprooted just fine with visionary.

gromky said:
Yes.
You mean hold "down" and boot into recovery, and immediately do these steps? No, I did not. I let the phone boot as normal, to try to run su to verify if the rooting process worked or not.
I suppose my question should be: how can I verify that the rooting process worked, and I'm ready to wipe? The su on /sdcard was pushed there by adb and used during the procedure. From the guide:
adb push su /sdcard/
adb push Superuser.apk /sdcard/
I didn't downgrade, I still have my stock rom (phone bought from Hong Kong so it's one of the Asia roms) which temprooted just fine with visionary.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't use Visionary unless for some strange reason your phone came with Froyo (2.2) on it (it's an outdated method, and has a high brick rate). Given that you may have an asian rom etc, I would just go ahead and do a factory reset /wipe via recovery, and flash CM7 or a pre-rooted stock rom found here on the XDA forum for the best result.
I think even one of the AOKP or Adromudus comes with Pinyin input support already if you need it.

It did have Froyo. I have uninstalled visionary per instructions before performing all these steps. But since I only get one shot at rooting correctly, I want to make absolutely positively sure the process worked before I do something irrevocable like wiping the entire phone, only to discover I can't install a new rom because the phone isn't rooted.
I use third-party programs (GO keyboard) for all of my Chinese needs, and they've worked fine so far.

gromky said:
It did have Froyo. I have uninstalled visionary per instructions before performing all these steps. But since I only get one shot at rooting correctly, I want to make absolutely positively sure the process worked before I do something irrevocable like wiping the entire phone, only to discover I can't install a new rom because the phone isn't rooted.
I use third-party programs (GO keyboard) for all of my Chinese needs, and they've worked fine so far.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Rooting is at the rom/kernel level. But in order to flash a new custom kernel would need an unlocked bootloader which you already did with S-OFF.
So you would either flash a pre rooted rom like almost everything available via the developer section here (via recovery not hboot) or a stock rom then root that.
If you do everything via recovery you are less likely to accidentally lock/unroot the phone since recovery normally deals with the rom/kernel /cache and not hboot.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2

It worked - thanks! I was so concerned about bricking the thing. The whole process was easy...now that I've done it. Cyanogen came up in Chinese...couldn't figure out how to change it to English for a while. I suppose there's some setting in my phone that tells it to default to Chinese. It also appears to be locking up frequently on my phone - but at least I got the software on there, and now I can play with other mods. Thanks again!

gromky said:
It worked - thanks! I was so concerned about bricking the thing. The whole process was easy...now that I've done it. Cyanogen came up in Chinese...couldn't figure out how to change it to English for a while. I suppose there's some setting in my phone that tells it to default to Chinese. It also appears to be locking up frequently on my phone - but at least I got the software on there, and now I can play with other mods. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I had to make a guess, I would probably say you flashed Cyanogenmod onto the phone WITHOUT first doing a factory-reset/wipe, in which case you probably broke it (hence the language and freezing) by merging cyanogenmod on top of the pre-existing rom.

No, I definitely wiped the phone first. I got a few lockups in cyanogen so I went to install another rom. Now I'm getting "E:error in /cache/recovery/log" and "E:can't open /cache/recovery/log". When I install a new rom, it won't take and boots into cyanogen. It was in a reboot loop for a while but now it has booted into cyanogen again. Sigh. This is what I was afraid of.

Boot into boot and write down everything on that screen (power+volume down) just to check all is well, what is your recovery?
Search out two things (just use search function in g2 xda threads)
1 superwipe+ext4.zip
2 elitemod cm7
Boot into recovery and flash the super wipe like you did the from
Now flash elitemod
Is all well at this point?
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Actually the phone seems to be working with cyanogen now. I suspect the internal memory is corrupt somehow, and that's a problem that can't be fixed. I'm going to stop messing with it before I brick it. If any more problems I'll revive the thread. Thanks so much to everyone who helped. I really can't afford a new phone right now and cyanogen seems to have fixed the problems I was having with the stock rom.

gromky said:
Actually the phone seems to be working with cyanogen now. I suspect the internal memory is corrupt somehow, and that's a problem that can't be fixed. I'm going to stop messing with it before I brick it. If any more problems I'll revive the thread. Thanks so much to everyone who helped. I really can't afford a new phone right now and cyanogen seems to have fixed the problems I was having with the stock rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the emmc is faulty then it's going to eventually brick itself, and should probably be sent in for warranty if available.

[Q] Really need your expert help guys! SM-T800

Alright, I'll lay out what happened. My end goal is to just have a rooted tab, but at this point, I'd be willing to just have it back to how it was. Preferably without losing everything on it.
-Looked around on how to root it, and found the following, and use the files it suggested.
- Seemed easy enough, and I had rooted/installed android on my old HP Touchpad, so I dl'd the files, and gave it a shot.
- Couldn't get CWM recovery on it, so I ran verify root and it said it wasn't rooted, even though I has SuperSU. It would even ask to grant apps permission, and I'd grant it.
- I opened SuperSU, and it'd say it needed to update the binaries, but would fail on normal, so I dl'd the newest zip, booted into recovery, and tried to load it like that, but 2 lines would come up red. I think they were just verifying signatures, so I ignored it and let it reboot.
- I opened SuperSU again, and it still said it needed the binaries updated, failed on normal attempt. I decided to try again from scratch, unrooting it and all. So, I went into the SuperSU settings and did it's thing, but it still had the version of SuperSU that initially was on it (it wouldn't let me past the "update binaries" prompt).
- I found that I needed to use Odin to flash a stock firmware back on it, and dl'd both version here.
- I tried the first one, and then it wouldn't get past the "Samsung" screen (the 2nd one with just the word Samsung, if it matters).
- I can still boot into Odin and Recovery, thankfully, so I tried the 2nd stock firmware. Same issue.
- Finally, I tried the rooting process again, hoping to get it to boot, same thing. So, I tried the 2nd stock firmware again, praying something good would happen, and still stuck on the Samsung screen.
I can still boot into Odin and recovery, but I have no idea where to go from here. I still want it rooted if possible, and I'd prefer not to lose all my games and such. I just found "[ROOT][RECOVERY] [ALL IN ONE] Cf-Autoroot-twrp-T800-T805-T-700-T705" thread here, but I didn't want to try it just yet.
It's a SM-T800. I had Lollipop on it. Don't know much else to add, but please help!
Thanks all.

Cypher5235 said:
Alright, I'll lay out what happened. My end goal is to just have a rooted tab, but at this point, I'd be willing to just have it back to how it was. Preferably without losing everything on it.
-Looked around on how to root it, and found the following, and use the files it suggested.
- Seemed easy enough, and I had rooted/installed android on my old HP Touchpad, so I dl'd the files, and gave it a shot.
- Couldn't get CWM recovery on it, so I ran verify root and it said it wasn't rooted, even though I has SuperSU. It would even ask to grant apps permission, and I'd grant it.
- I opened SuperSU, and it'd say it needed to update the binaries, but would fail on normal, so I dl'd the newest zip, booted into recovery, and tried to load it like that, but 2 lines would come up red. I think they were just verifying signatures, so I ignored it and let it reboot.
- I opened SuperSU again, and it still said it needed the binaries updated, failed on normal attempt. I decided to try again from scratch, unrooting it and all. So, I went into the SuperSU settings and did it's thing, but it still had the version of SuperSU that initially was on it (it wouldn't let me past the "update binaries" prompt).
- I found that I needed to use Odin to flash a stock firmware back on it, and dl'd both version here.
- I tried the first one, and then it wouldn't get past the "Samsung" screen (the 2nd one with just the word Samsung, if it matters).
- I can still boot into Odin and Recovery, thankfully, so I tried the 2nd stock firmware. Same issue.
- Finally, I tried the rooting process again, hoping to get it to boot, same thing. So, I tried the 2nd stock firmware again, praying something good would happen, and still stuck on the Samsung screen.
I can still boot into Odin and recovery, but I have no idea where to go from here. I still want it rooted if possible, and I'd prefer not to lose all my games and such. I just found "[ROOT][RECOVERY] [ALL IN ONE] Cf-Autoroot-twrp-T800-T805-T-700-T705" thread here, but I didn't want to try it just yet.
It's a SM-T800. I had Lollipop on it. Don't know much else to add, but please help!
Thanks all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... you said you just updated to lollipop, but in order to not stay stuck at splash screen, you have to factory reset. I saw that you don't want to lose your games and such so you probably only have one option. That option is to flash twrp and make a nandroid of your data. Simply boot into download mode, download the twrp .tar http://twrp.me/devices/samsunggalaxytabs105.html
And now go into Odin, untick autoreboot, now hit the pda/AP button and pick the twrp tar. Hit start and let it do its thing. Now after its done flashing, your gonna have to force reboot. Simply hold power+volume up and down+home button all at the same time. Wait a bit and when the screen turns black, quickly press power+volume up+ home buttons all at the same time and it should boot into twrp.
Now in twrp, hit backup and hit backup data. Hopefully that should save your apps installed. Now after its done, go into wipe and silde factory reset. It should remove installed apps from Google play store and it won't remove pictures and such. It just removes the apps you installed. Then now reboot and wait....
Hopefully this helped
-DUHA

As said you will have to factory reset, this will wipe data and cache.
You can use the link you posted above to install TWRP and root.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-tab-s/development/root-cf-autoroot-twrp-t800-t3079488
Lollipop changes the data partition so even if you back it up and then restore it with twrp In kitkat it likely won't boot afterwards.
All you can do is wipe it and take the hit.

Alright, I have TWRP running. The size of my "data" is just over 16 gig, and my space on the sdcard is 14.9 gig, so I've been trying to delete data to knock it down. I still have 1.3 gig to go. Everything I'm deleting, in the data folder, is barely making an impact.
I see what you're saying that I probably won't be able to restore it and have it work, but I still will try. I can always factory reset it again later. Once I wipe it, though, and update back to lollipop, couldn't I restore that data backup?
I gotta take a break and knock out some real work, lol, then I'll continue, and update here. If nothing else, maybe it'll help some other poor soul like me in the future!
Once I have it booting all the way again, do I just use TWRP to install SuperSU and it's rooted? Thanks again. I appreciate it!

Not sure what youre trying to do here. Just wipe the data partition with twrp,
Sent from my SM-T805 using XDA Free mobile app

Ashyx, I was just trying to save my game data, while ending up with a rooted tab. And you were right, of course! I tried to restore the back up to no avail, haha....well, I wiped it again, and it booted up just fine, and it is rooted to boot. I can't believe it was that easy with TWRP to root it.
I'm betting this isn't going to work out, but is there anyway to extract my game data from that backup I made, and transfer just that back to my tablet? If it is possible, it'll probably be beyond my ability, I bet, but I'm just curious.
One other question. With TWRP, can I get Lollipop back on it? Or do I need something else on it first?
Now, it's off to figure out how to get my Impulse Controller to work with it so I can play my games with it!
Thanks for helping me out, regardless. I truly thought I had bricked my $600 tablet. My wife would've killed me for wasting that much money, lol!

There is an app called nandroid manager that will allow you to extract data from nandroids, you could extract your game data with that.
The better way would be to make a system and data backup of your current system, reflash lollipop then restore your lollipop data backup. Then back up your game data with titanium backup.
Restore your kitkat backup then restore your game data with tb.

[Solved] Help with possibly bricked SGH-T889 Samsung Galaxy Note 2

Long story short, I haven't done any of this stuff for a long time.
I did stuff here: .teamandroid.com/2016/03/08/update-tmobile-galaxy-note-2-t889-android-601-resurrection-remix-marshmallow-custom-rom/2/
I followed the instructions but I think where my hiccup happened was for whatever reason, CWM didn't install it's custom recovery system even though it said it had. So I'm stuck at 3e restore. However, in my stupidity and haste, I already wiped the data because I thought I was already in the CWM menu and didn't realize the 3e system would look so similar to the screen shots. Now I can't install the custom roms because they're not signatured, and I can't install a way to bypass the signature because that stuff is also not signatured. The only access I currently have to my phone is now through an ADB Sideload functionality using my PC.
Trying to at least get back to square one, or is there a way I can flash the CWM recovery system from this location?
Thanks for any help, not sure how to proceed from here (phone has no OS on it)

Nevermind, it restored the old OS
EDIT: For future reference and for those wondering what happened, the root didn't take correctly the first time so the CWM didn't flash properly. After verifying the root and updating SuperSU to kill knox, it was no problem. Flashed 100% perfect like it should have the first time. Dumb user error on my part.