Develop Bugs

[Q] Did I brick my phone?

Hello,
I was trying to flash a new Rom onto my phone (Superfly) and installed the .zip file from clockwork, however, when I try to boot the phone, it sticks at the Mytouch slide screen.
I cant load into the card nor the phone.
Is there any way to reverse this?
Thanks in advance!

Hopefully you made a backup. You should still be able to boot into recovery and restore your backup or even flash a new rom.

sandpaperback said:
Hopefully you made a backup. You should still be able to boot into recovery and restore your backup or even flash a new rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem the OP and myself are having is that we cant load Clockwork recovery, and I think its cause when we flashed the new rom, it did away with USB debugging mode, and now we cant get back into the OS to select it again. I too am stuck in this loop, and I might just have to bite the bullet and bring it in to tmo and tell em it just stopped working for no reason...

dion20 said:
The problem the OP and myself are having is that we cant load Clockwork recovery, and I think its cause when we flashed the new rom, it did away with USB debugging mode, and now we cant get back into the OS to select it again. I too am stuck in this loop, and I might just have to bite the bullet and bring it in to tmo and tell em it just stopped working for no reason...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The USB debugging option means nothing while booted in to recovery. If you haven't flashed the engineering rom before you will need to redo the loop/ota.zip/update.zip spoof to get back in to clockwork.

I did do a nandroid backup, but the phone magically can not find it now. And It took forever to get to work, but I was finally able to get back into clockwork and tried to install another a different rom (Kanged CM6 ROM) but ended with the same results of sticking on the mytouch slide startup screen. Frustrating, because it probably took about 3 hours to get back into clockwork!
Any other suggestions???

wipe everything on the phone, find the thread that walks you through that

cursexcore said:
I did do a nandroid backup, but the phone magically can not find it now. And It took forever to get to work, but I was finally able to get back into clockwork and tried to install another a different rom (Kanged CM6 ROM) but ended with the same results of sticking on the mytouch slide startup screen. Frustrating, because it probably took about 3 hours to get back into clockwork!
Any other suggestions???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As was noted previously, if you haven't flashed the ESPRIMG rom, you're basically looking at re-rooting your phone every time you want to install a different rom. This means going through the whole process again and again and again.

falken98 said:
The USB debugging option means nothing while booted in to recovery. If you haven't flashed the engineering rom before you will need to redo the loop/ota.zip/update.zip spoof to get back in to clockwork.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thats weird, cause before I could get into clockwork after 2 tries max, not I tried repeatedly for 10 mins and it didnt work, so I should just keep tryin to get into clock work then?

Yes, keep trying. And when you do, please flash the engineering rom and keep the proper update.zip on your card! It will save you a lot of trouble in the long run.

sandpaperback said:
Yes, keep trying. And when you do, please flash the engineering rom and keep the proper update.zip on your card! It will save you a lot of trouble in the long run.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
will do, theres alot of assumptions around here tho, and newbs to android are kinda expected to know things without them being stated in the threads..
Now I know theres something that makes it so I dont have to go thru the pain of rooting to get into clockwork I'm def gna use it..
what method should I use? Ive been doing the following and no luck so far
1 - cd to android sdk tools folder
2 - vol down + power for recovery
3 - highlight recovery
4 - run loop in cmd
5 - plug usb into phone
6 - plug usb into pc, and before it changes to HBOOT from USB i hit power to select recovery
7 - adb devices sees it as an offline device for a few cycles, then it disappears.
after step 7 I've tried running update.zip
unplugging and plugging back in
ctrl+c to stop the script when its offline
unplug when its noticed as an offline device
whats the best way to get into it now?
======
EDIT - finally got it into recovery, i loaded up htc's recover with it plugged it to the pc so it loaded up HBOOT from USB

normally your are not bricked if:
1. you can boot into recovery
2. you can not boot into recovery yet you can boot into bootloader [HOLD (power + volume down) to boot]
Don't worry I got a black/blank screen of death the other day for flashing the wrong boot.img fortunately I was able to boot into bootloader and start from scratch using the ESPRIMG.zip

dion20 said:
will do, theres alot of assumptions around here tho, and newbs to android are kinda expected to know things without them being stated in the threads..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree to an extent, but if you take the time to read through things thoroughly (as in every post in the How To Root or Engineering Build or even Rom Bible thread), you'll be okay. This is my first Android device as well. I put off rooting for a solid couple of weeks while I read through everything I could. I was completely paranoid about bricking my phone. Eventually, I went for it. Even then I had a couple hiccups along the way (including have to re-root two more times), but all the information is here.

So an update:
I went to a Tmobile retail store to see if I could do a direct swap and am having a new phone sent out to me. I will definately take all the replies into consideration when starting the root process on my new one! My final question is, since I am afraid Tmobile will not find my phone valid to be replaced under warranty due to it being rooted, is there any way to unroot and go back to stock? I have googled it, but cannot find anything specific for the slide...
Thanks!

cursexcore said:
[blah blah blah....] My final question is, since I am afraid Tmobile will not find my phone valid to be replaced under warranty due to it being rooted, is there any way to unroot and go back to stock? I have googled it, but cannot find anything specific for the slide...
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My question: did u search here?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/forumdisplay.php?f=660
And found items about the champion build and this little file named ESPRIMG.zip?
U can also check out the ROM BIBLE stickie post.
u can try this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=713507
or you can try this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=713507
now if you really searched you would of found your own question:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=744709&highlight=unroot

cursexcore said:
So an update:
I went to a Tmobile retail store to see if I could do a direct swap and am having a new phone sent out to me. I will definately take all the replies into consideration when starting the root process on my new one! My final question is, since I am afraid Tmobile will not find my phone valid to be replaced under warranty due to it being rooted, is there any way to unroot and go back to stock? I have googled it, but cannot find anything specific for the slide...
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem you did, and fixed my phone, so its possible. refer to my post on the first page and then refer to this post and use the mirror that Wes himself posted.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=7001053&postcount=7

[Q] Recovering from unusual boot loop

Let me preface this by saying yes I know there are dozens if not more threads on boot loop problems. I have recovered from boot loops before. This is very different.
I rooted my incredible with unrevokedForever and had cyanogen 6 on it. Everything was fine until yesterday I woke up to it in a boot loop, but not the cyanogen boot animation, the white HTC Incredible screen. I can only get to HBOOT, once I try to enter recovery, use an update.zip, or anything after the HBOOT page it goes into its loop. Should I pursue the RUU and find a windows computer or will that not help me?
I think I may have to bite the bullet and buy a new phone. As obviously they will not replace an S-OFF phone. Any help is appreciated.

jenic said:
Let me preface this by saying yes I know there are dozens if not more threads on boot loop problems. I have recovered from boot loops before. This is very different.
I rooted my incredible with unrevokedForever and had cyanogen 6 on it. Everything was fine until yesterday I woke up to it in a boot loop, but not the cyanogen boot animation, the white HTC Incredible screen. I can only get to HBOOT, once I try to enter recovery, use an update.zip, or anything after the HBOOT page it goes into its loop. Should I pursue the RUU and find a windows computer or will that not help me?
I think I may have to bite the bullet and buy a new phone. As obviously they will not replace an S-OFF phone. Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As long as you can still get into HBOOT and Recovery, you should be okay. Your best bet is to get the RUU and go back to stock/s-on, then re-root/s-off (if you want). I had to do this once, and it's pretty straight forward. Just do a search for Bezerker7's Ultimate Get Back to Stock Thread. It has all the info you'll need on how to do it.

RMarkwald said:
As long as you can still get into HBOOT and Recovery, you should be okay. Your best bet is to get the RUU and go back to stock/s-on, then re-root/s-off (if you want). I had to do this once, and it's pretty straight forward. Just do a search for Bezerker7's Ultimate Get Back to Stock Thread. It has all the info you'll need on how to do it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is I can only get into HBOOT, not recovery. It would be a fairly simple matter if I had access to recovery features. Would RUU work without access to recovery?

jenic said:
The problem is I can only get into HBOOT, not recovery. It would be a fairly simple matter if I had access to recovery features. Would RUU work without access to recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Looks like you'd need recovery to flash back to s-on first. First you could try flashing a recovery image using fastboot, go here for that information. You'd also need to find a 2.5.x.x recovery image, go here for the 2.5.1.2 image. Don't worry about renaming it, you won't have to do that here like the page says to.
Then, you could go here for instructions on using the RUU to flash back to stock.

RMarkwald said:
Looks like you'd need recovery to flash back to s-on first. First you could try flashing a recovery image using fastboot, go here for that information. You'd also need to find a 2.5.x.x recovery image, go here for the 2.5.1.2 image. Don't worry about renaming it, you won't have to do that here like the page says to.
Then, you could go here for instructions on using the RUU to flash back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your concise post is most appreciated. I will do as you instruct and post results back here when finished.

RMarkwald said:
Looks like you'd need recovery to flash back to s-on first. First you could try flashing a recovery image using fastboot, go here for that information. You'd also need to find a 2.5.x.x recovery image, go here for the 2.5.1.2 image. Don't worry about renaming it, you won't have to do that here like the page says to.
Then, you could go here for instructions on using the RUU to flash back to stock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hit an unfortunate snag right away. fastboot (nor adb) is detecting the device. Screen is showing XC SHIP S-OFF as it should, it is in FASTBOOT USB mode and my computer detects the USB itself just fine.
dmesg output:
[346853.772041] usb 2-6: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 17
[346853.922917] usb 2-6: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you though that was a great suggestion! (Was very hopeful for a second there

I've never used the fastboot command before, but I seem to recall that sometimes my PC's don't report connection from ADB, but I haven't checked recently... Hmmm...
Just checked and it does report a device using ADB. Did you try typing the fastboot command to flash the recovery image file: fastboot flash recovery /path/to/<recovery.img file> anyways to see what happens? I am assuming if it isn't detecting the connection, it may fail...
EDIT: Did you pull the battery out, put it back in and try to get into recovery again? If you, try doing a user/factory reset + dalvik cache before trying to install a ROM from your SD card.

This may or may not help, but I had a similar issue of not having the phone recognized by fastboot while playing with a friends EVO Shift. I was able to use the program described in this thread to uninstall all HTC drivers. Then, when the phone was recognized and new drivers installed automatically, fastboot worked as expected.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=532719

RMarkwald said:
I've never used the fastboot command before, but I seem to recall that sometimes my PC's don't report connection from ADB, but I haven't checked recently... Hmmm...
Just checked and it does report a device using ADB. Did you try typing the fastboot command to flash the recovery image file: fastboot flash recovery /path/to/<recovery.img file> anyways to see what happens? I am assuming if it isn't detecting the connection, it may fail...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My ADB daemon would always recognize it in the past, when the phone was working. Yes I tried the command anyway, even though fastboot devices did not return anything. It hung there waiting for the device to be connected.
RMarkwald said:
EDIT: Did you pull the battery out, put it back in and try to get into recovery again? If you, try doing a user/factory reset + dalvik cache before trying to install a ROM from your SD card.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, I pulled battery out multiple times, and when installing the rom I factory reset, cleared dalvik and normal cache through Clockwork. Cyanogen was working fine for weeks, this is a freak concurrence that happened without warning. I woke up to find it this way, or rather, it woke me up with its constant rebooting. lol.
cf9182 said:
This may or may not help, but I had a similar issue of not having the phone recognized by fastboot while playing with a friends EVO Shift. I was able to use the program described in this thread to uninstall all HTC drivers. Then, when the phone was recognized and new drivers installed automatically, fastboot worked as expected.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=532719
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I appreciate the help however I am using Linux, and that seems to be a windows issue. I have not had issue detecting the device until this problem arouse. The sentiment is of course appreciated though, please do not feel that I am ungrateful! You have both been very supportive. I think I have just about resigned to dump money on a new phone. This time I will leave it stock for awhile and see if this occurs a third time.

jenic said:
My ADB daemon would always recognize it in the past, when the phone was working. Yes I tried the command anyway, even though fastboot devices did not return anything. It hung there waiting for the device to be connected.
Yes, I pulled battery out multiple times, and when installing the rom I factory reset, cleared dalvik and normal cache through Clockwork. Cyanogen was working fine for weeks, this is a freak concurrence that happened without warning. I woke up to find it this way, or rather, it woke me up with its constant rebooting. lol.
I appreciate the help however I am using Linux, and that seems to be a windows issue. I have not had issue detecting the device until this problem arouse. The sentiment is of course appreciated though, please do not feel that I am ungrateful! You have both been very supportive. I think I have just about resigned to dump money on a new phone. This time I will leave it stock for awhile and see if this occurs a third time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This happened to me and many other people. It has nothing to do with the fact that you rooted as my replacement from verizon did the same thing even before I rooted. Finally on my 2nd replacement (my 3rd DINC), it has stopped happening.
You're going to have to take it to the store. The guy who looked at my phone looked right at the HBOOT (where it says s-OFF) and then said "we're going to have to send you another one."
So you may get lucky. Your other option (if you're nervous about the store seeing the s-OFF) is just to call Verizon and ask them to send you a replacement. My experience has been that the folks in the Verizon store have no idea what the f they're doing, and you'll probably be just fine taking it in.

jaba14 said:
This happened to me and many other people. It has nothing to do with the fact that you rooted as my replacement from verizon did the same thing even before I rooted. Finally on my 2nd replacement (my 3rd DINC), it has stopped happening.
You're going to have to take it to the store. The guy who looked at my phone looked right at the HBOOT (where it says s-OFF) and then said "we're going to have to send you another one."
So you may get lucky. Your other option (if you're nervous about the store seeing the s-OFF) is just to call Verizon and ask them to send you a replacement. My experience has been that the folks in the Verizon store have no idea what the f they're doing, and you'll probably be just fine taking it in.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was definitely a laugh. Thank you I will see if I can get it replaced! I've been kinda just ignoring the fact that I do not have a phone all this time... Thankfully I had setup the phone to forward calls to google voice. It has been a lifesaver.

GN not starting

hi,
i need help my GN is not starting after I flashed a theme all i can just get into clock mode recovery even i didn't have any back up or any restore point it just shows google logo when i start. Please helppppppppppppppppppp pleaseeeeeee
thankzzz
now i am stuck on below attachment please help thnkzz so much for all reply till now

since you didn't do a Android your basically screwed so all you data is gone you only hope is to transfer a file through fastboot(can you even do that?) Or boot to Odin mode and flash a stock image
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

GSM or LTE Gnex? What ROM were you running?

Golden rule: Do a backup before doing anything to your phone!
Now all you can do is to download EXACTLY same ROM as you were using by now, wipe cache/dalvik-cache, flash this ROM once again and hope that i'll boot. If it won't you'll have to wipe /data is well.

Sleuth255 said:
GSM or LTE Gnex? What ROM were you running?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HI
its gsm i tried to flashed the same rom but still the same only i can access is to recovery

cordell507 said:
since you didn't do a Android your basically screwed so all you data is gone you only hope is to transfer a file through fastboot(can you even do that?) Or boot to Odin mode and flash a stock image
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tnkz bro but i am new to android please help how to do it with Odin

well since you can boot into recovery try searching in your sdcard folders if youve left a ROM .zip there laying around and if this is the case just flash it and youre back on track

nonione said:
well since you can boot into recovery try searching in your sdcard folders if youve left a ROM .zip there laying around and if this is the case just flash it and youre back on track
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
unfortunatly i delete system file and data file also in recovery i tried to flash the zip update but no result helpppppppppppppppp

salym said:
unfortunatly i delete system file and data file also in recovery i tried to flash the zip update but no result helpppppppppppppppp
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This will help you get back to stock
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392310
Sent from my GNex {GSM} T-Mobile

Change your spark plugs.
Sent from my Nexus in Texas.

spaceman860 said:
This will help you get back to stock
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1392310
Sent from my GNex {GSM} T-Mobile
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi bro i tired with Odin but stops on userdata any help thnkzzzz

salym said:
hi,
i need help my GN is not starting after I flashed a theme all i can just get into clock mode recovery even i didn't have any back up or any restore point it just shows google logo when i start. Please helppppppppppppppppppp pleaseeeeeee
thankzzz
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i am stuck on this now please help

ouch... softbrick.
put your phone down.
take a deep breath or two.
If you are old enough, grab a beer and relax for a bit. Think calming thoughts.
Now, start learning about how to mod your GNex. We can help.
Here's your First assignment:
find out if you still have a bootloader by booting into fastboot mode. Report back with your findings and a screenshot!

Sleuth255 said:
ouch... softbrick.
put your phone down.
take a deep breath or two.
If you are old enough, grab a beer and relax for a bit. Think calming thoughts.
Now, start learning about how to mod your GNex. We can help.
Here's your First assignment:
find out if you still have a bootloader by booting into fastboot mode. Report back with your findings and a screenshot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Still have a bootloader? Are you serious? You need to learn how to use an android device as well.
To the OP: Do a factory reset in Clockwork and go to mounts
and format /system. Flash the ROM zip. Profit.

Absolutely serious. Have you been reading this thread? The OP needs to start at ground zero and stop just trying every tool he/she sees. My purpose was to get this person to do some research and I was establishing a knowledge baseline. One plan I was considering was to help the OP install the GNex toolkit then locate stock images and obtain a working build. Your cryptic one liner bit should prove vastly more useful to this guy though. I'll let you have at it and go back to my dev work. lol at least this post was a good way to make sure gapps/root capabilities are properly cooked into my latest test build ....
Sent from my Full AOSP on Toro using xda premium

Sleuth255 said:
ouch... softbrick.
put your phone down.
take a deep breath or two.
If you are old enough, grab a beer and relax for a bit. Think calming thoughts.
Now, start learning about how to mod your GNex. We can help.
Here's your First assignment:
find out if you still have a bootloader by booting into fastboot mode. Report back with your findings and a screenshot!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
U r right i am not good in android but i tried to be and this happens, meanwhile nothing shows after i start the device it shows the !!!! mark with device the PC logo,this happens due to ODin actually the SUMSUNG ADB interface shows ! mark because i cant debug from device even no bootloader works any more thnkz for replying

*facepalm*
OP, you are holding it wrong.
I can think of at least 2 ways to recover from a situation like this. Both are well described in these forums (search works 99% of the time).
....
Oh come on, you don't have the zip of the last rom you flashed, get another one, hey, its free right? **** we dont know nothing about but we'll flash it anyways!
Man...If you have cwm recovery, you're safe. No need to go messing with fastboot (forget odin) just yet. Now stop wasting everybody's time and learn to help yourself.
Here's a few tags to get you started:
cwm, recovery, adb, bootloader, fastboot

bk201doesntexist said:
*facepalm*
OP, you are holding it wrong.
I can think of at least 2 ways to recover from a situation like this. Both are well described in these forums (search works 99% of the time).
....
Oh come on, you don't have the zip of the last rom you flashed, get another one, hey, its free right? **** we dont know nothing about but we'll flash it anyways!
Man...If you have cwm recovery, you're safe. No need to go messing with fastboot (forget odin) just yet. Now stop wasting everybody's time and learn to help yourself.
Here's a few tags to get you started:
cwm, recovery, adb, bootloader, fastboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i tried more than one day on this issue its only starts with !!! mark on it nothing else, i have attached the pic i cant access any bootloader or any cwm or any thing all i did with Odin and stuck to attached pic even i start the device its shows the same pic.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdM2M8Nz6QQ this I used on Odin
thnkzz

As I suspected earlier, it appears that the OP may have trashed his bootloader partition when he tried using Odin to flash the 4.0.2 factory image (which includes a bootloader). At one point he had CWM but not any more since he can't boot to the recovery partition.
Another possibility is that the Odin tool itself places the device in this mode and it can't be manually reverted by starting up in fastboot mode. Looking at the picture, it literally appears that the phone is saying that a flashing operation is half finished but the phone has lost the PC connection... This would be a lot like what I've experienced with iPhones.
In either case, I can deduce that Odin is the tool to use to clear this softbrick.
Hopefully, it'll be flame-off now Sdobron. Perhaps you might want to help out here since I'm not up to speed on the Odin tool myself and would like to learn more about it.
@salym: I know this may be redundant but I need to establish your problem baseline empirically. Once again, can you verify that when you hold vol down/vol up then press power that you get the image you posted?

Use Fastboot!
Dude, it looks like your problem is with crappy boot sector.
While turning on your phone, hold both volume up and volume down buttons, and long press power button untill you feel single vibrate feedback.
Then connect your phone to the computer via USB, and if it doesn't detect drivers, google "samsung android usb driver". Additionally you can install PDANet application (X64 or x86 depending on you system).
THen download Fastboot - there are plenty of instructions how to flash it, and flash stock images (that come with radio, boot sector, rom itself, etc) - there are also plenty of discussions about how to do it. PM if you have any other questions!

Flashed System Partition with Boot Image - Help I'm Stupid

I would be so greatful if someone could help me, I think I have really messed up.
Coles Notes: I flashed the 4.0.4 image to my System partition which I am pretty sure should have gone to the boot partition now... Holy **** I'm dumb.
Anyways now my phone is just stuck saying Google. Anyone who can point me in the right direction of even a System image I can flash over top I would be so greatful.

Ok. I'm a dumb newbie, but what happens if you pull the battery, put it back in, then hold down the Up/Down buttons and turn the phone on?

Moleculor said:
Ok. I'm a dumb newbie, but what happens if you pull the battery, put it back in, then hold down the Up/Down buttons and turn the phone on?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a dumb newbie, checking if bootloader still works is a good idea
@OP: If you can get in the bootloader, your best bet would be unlocking, installing CWM and then flash a ROM through it.
You can also flash the stock ROM via the GNex toolkit.
Just read the guides and information here in the forums, it seems confusing at first but is really simple once you get used to it.
Good luck!

Thank-you for your quick response. I have CWM installed and can get into the bootloader. the problem now seems to be I cant get the device to show up in windows I always get <waiting for device> when going to flash it. Any ideas? I have been searching the forums trying to find an answer but nothing so far seems to have worked.

Another dumb newbie thing, but when you plug the phone in to the USB port on your computer, does your computer show the phone as having connected (ala the ADB driver in your Device Manager in Windows)?
If not, double check to make sure your ADB drivers are installed. I doubt they aren't, seeing as how you were flashing stuff earlier (from your computer, right?), but it's a wild guess anyway.

Thanks to everyone for the advise. Yes I could see the drivers and they were working perfectly according to device manager. However I guess it was stuck outside of debug mode?
Anyways from the boot menu the program was able to detect it, flash 4.0.4 to the phone, and then I was able to install the canadian radio without issue (hence the reason why I did this in the first place, we are stuck on yakjuux with 4.0.1).
Thanks again to everyone, great learning experience.

Sure thing!
Glad it worked
As a future reference, the "Boot Menu" is actually where you need to be for flashing via PC. The commands won't come through if you're in recovery.
Make sure to make an Android right now!
You enter CWM Recovery, go to backup and restore and then hit backup.
In case your phone ever messes up while you're not close to a computer, you can just boot into CWM and hit "restore", it's as easy as that.
I always have 2 recoveries on my phone just in case.

[Q] S-off vs Unlocked bootloader

So I am new here and want to root my EVO. Ive spent a few hours now reading and have hit a roadblock (I think.) I went to the READ FIRST thread and found out that since my hboot version is 2.18 I need to unlock the bootloader via HTC. that is done. the next step appears to be following a link to another site to get my phone to S-off. However the first readme section of that post says I dont need s-off just to get sprints bloatware off of my phone, which is a big reason I'm here in the first place. I went back to the origional thread here and the next step appears to be a nandroid backup - but my phone wont run it. I get a red triangle, which google claims is because the phone isnt s-off...
3 questions
1) do i need a backup of the stock setup before I go forward, and if so how do I get it to work?
2) do I need s-off. All I want is to flash a ROM without sprints software. At least for now.
3) If i skip the stock backup, what happens when I need to take the phone back to sprint?
I'm sure this has been asked a gazillion times, and I'm sorry. Just seem to be in a loop of need backup first, but need to flash a rom to be able to backup...
The phone is already unlocked, and the HTC unlock wipes it, so im not concerned about data - its already gone.

Sounds like u need to flash a recovery first. I recommend smelkusmod amonra. Just look for it in the dev section. If u want to flash it being unlocked s on, u will need to download flash image GUI from the play store.
Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2

koker93 said:
So I am new here and want to root my EVO. Ive spent a few hours now reading and have hit a roadblock (I think.) I went to the READ FIRST thread and found out that since my hboot version is 2.18 I need to unlock the bootloader via HTC. that is done. the next step appears to be following a link to another site to get my phone to S-off. However the first readme section of that post says I dont need s-off just to get sprints bloatware off of my phone, which is a big reason I'm here in the first place. I went back to the origional thread here and the next step appears to be a nandroid backup - but my phone wont run it. I get a red triangle, which google claims is because the phone isnt s-off...
3 questions
1) do i need a backup of the stock setup before I go forward, and if so how do I get it to work?
2) do I need s-off. All I want is to flash a ROM without sprints software. At least for now.
3) If i skip the stock backup, what happens when I need to take the phone back to sprint?
I'm sure this has been asked a gazillion times, and I'm sorry. Just seem to be in a loop of need backup first, but need to flash a rom to be able to backup...
The phone is already unlocked, and the HTC unlock wipes it, so im not concerned about data - its already gone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't need S-OFF, but what you do need is a custom recovery. That's how you flash Superuser and get root user access.
That thread you speak of gives you a couple of methods for flashing a custom recovery. Try those, or search around for a few guides that give you the specifics.
If you need any additional help, feel free to ask.

How do I know if I am rooted?
Go into Bootloader. If you see S-OFF at the top, you are fully rooted.
I am rooted now. What can I do?
FIRST MAKE A NANDROID BACKUP! ALWAYS DO THIS BEFORE YOU FLASH SOMETHING. THESE ARE BIG FILES SO TRANSFER THEM TO YOUR COMPUTER TO SAVE SPACE ON YOUR SD!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thats from the read first thread. Thats where I'm stuck. According to what I've read I am rooted and should now make a backup. But the backup wont run. So if I skip the stock backup (or run it later and I'm just not understanding) can I still get the phone back to where it is now? I read a couple years ago about rooting that you needed a backup of YOUR phone to revert to stock and take in the phone, not just a backup of any phone.

koker93 said:
Thats from the read first thread. Thats where I'm stuck. According to what I've read I am rooted and should now make a backup. But the backup wont run. So if I skip the stock backup (or run it later and I'm just not understanding) can I still get the phone back to where it is now? I read a couple years ago about rooting that you needed a backup of YOUR phone to revert to stock and take in the phone, not just a backup of any phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you trying to back up from recovery?

Yes, but without flashing anything yet.
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koker93 said:
Yes, but without flashing anything yet.
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Click to collapse
Then I don't understand why you wouldn't be able to make a nandroid. You have an SD card in the device, correct? What error message are you getting?

Yes, there is an SD card in. It shows a phone with a green sync and then after a few seconds that changes to a phone with a red triangle and an explanation point. If i hit power, vol up, and vol down at the same time twice it goes into recovery but says it could not create some e drive folder and backup is not listed as an option. I can get the exact directory its upset about, but ill obviously have to reboot a few times, I'm not at home right now.
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koker93 said:
Yes, there is an SD card in. It shows a phone with a green sync and then after a few seconds that changes to a phone with a red triangle and an explanation point. If i hit power, vol up, and vol down at the same time twice it goes into recovery but says it could not create some e drive folder and backup is not listed as an option. I can get the exact directory its upset about, but ill obviously have to reboot a few times, I'm not at home right now.
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Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the stock recovery. Again, as was said earlier, you need to flash a custom recovery in order to perform the next step in your process.

So i went and downloaded Amand ra's custom recovery. No dice. bootloader says
Main version is older
Update Failed
Do you want to reboot device?

Try reopening the command prompt from the folder where you unlocked the bootloader from on your computer. Download and place the attachment inside that folder. Connect your phone to your computer. Boot into your bootloader, then click on FASTBOOT, not RECOVERY. The bootloader should now read FASTBOOT USB in red. Then type the command:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
then reboot the phone and see if you can get into RECOVERY.

That appears to have done the trick. doing the much talked about nandroid backup now. I'll be back when i have 20 questions about the eventual ROM install

Thanks for the help guys. I successfully backed up my phone, flashed nitrous, repartitioned my SD card, flashed it again, and am having a fun time fooling around. And then realized much later that the backup was only on the SD card. The SD card I wiped so I could partition it...oops
Looks like there are stock Roms anyway so I'm not too worried about future Sprint support.
Thanks again.
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