Develop Bugs

Stuck/freeze (Hero) while downgrade. Not working now at all!!

Helo dear friends!
It started with a wish to put some Hebrew in a Hero.
I have the Orange hero in Spain. Upgraded to official rom- 2.73.61.5, worked fine.
Now i am trying to downgrade it, so i can root it, so i can put some fun stuff in (like Hebrew).
Did the gold card, which i understood is needed if the hero is CID locked (i think it is). Then failed few times with error 140 when tried the 1.76.405.6 and 1.76.405.1... rom links.
Then tried to downgrade to 2.73.405.5 rom as someone suggested here, and the process started happily! downloaded Splash1 ok, system ok, userdata ok, boot ok, bootloader ok, then GOT STUCK ON "radio-V2 - updating" got to 85% then froze! (attached a picture).
This happened few times, sometimes never even started to download, was just froze at the beginning of the process with: "zip header checking..."
So every-time this happened i had to disconnect it, even take out battery, and try again. I also found out that for some-reason things moved forward when restarting windows which by the way is on parallels (mac) ...
(maybe that's part of the problem)
Now the hero is stuck on that screen, picture attached.
Any idea someone? first how do i bring a dead hero back to life?
Then, anything else to move forward...
Thanks in advance! will appreciate your help.

If anything, I'd first check the card!!
As your phone is CID-locked, I gather it might also help if you install the unlocked SPL (there's a separate thread here). After that, you may try a regular upgrade method through the recovery (I think you should wipe first).
Hope it helps!

Thanks avs333...
mmm... i am a bit short on the terms.. so, i just started to read about SPL ... (my eyes.. it burns ...
Anyways I found a this thread, is that what you mean?
What do you mean by "check the card"? the hero is still on that white error screen, waiting for some "food" to come in, it's the only thing coming up, the VM is recognizing the connection, and letting the process of downgrading begin (until it freezes).
Windows is not recognizing it as a card or storage device, so i am not shore i can access the card (if needed) .... or you mean the SPL process is doing that already?
Botom line, what about the card ?
Another friend here suggested i should try with a real PC ...
What is "wipe first"?
Thanks allot appreciate the help... hero too...

Yes, that's the right thread. I'm not 100% sure if it would help, but I'd try that anyway.
By "checking the card" I meant just to pull it out of hero and test it on a real computer (there are many programs to do that, but you need a card reader).
And "wipe" is a procedure which clears the memory regions before you install any updates. Basically, it's not always needed, but sometimes it's critical.
Also, there are ROMs without radio, if it stucks on that stage, you may try them!

Test it how? i have a card reader, the computer recognizes it... now what? (funny i thought it was formatted/deleted completely when i did the gold-card, there is a folder there, of one the apps i think "rosie_scroll"... do you think it's a problem?)...
Should i try do a gold again? is there a way doing it outside of the hero?with the card reader?
YEsterday i try the download twice more it got stuck even on an earlier stage before the Radio... so i am not shore at all what is the problem...
So do i wipe after i do install unlocked SPL?

Anyhow, was trying to access the card again for remake of the gold card. first formatted it with a sd card format program... but could not access the card/device via cmd, looking for adb devices...
Tried the downgrade again, and it fails with error 131, something about not correct ROm.
Finally decided to try going back to ground zero, and tried downloading the official rom i had before, and it came back to life. and with the VM (windows on mac).
Now i wonder what is the best first step i should do to finally free this phone?
I know it's CID locked by now (maybe i am wrong?) so should i do the install unlocked SPL first like you suggested?
Or should i redo the gold-card method? another rom?
Is there a better way to start over, now that i came back to ground zero? do you know who might give me a good second opinion here?
Lots of questions?
Should i stop?
Thanks allot avs333?
Guanarteme?

Guanarteme sorry I had qquite a lot of problems today, of another kind, women you know, sometimes it's a bit more involved...
As I understand, the way is to try some other ROM (they are plenty around here), why cling to that one? I had *a lot* of disasters so far, not of your kind maybe, still disappointing but *never* fatal.
Do make sure you have 100% charged the hero before any procedure! And be terribly cool, that thing is just a bunch of microschemes, it must not put you off, and you'll be victorious!
So my suggestion is to try other ROMs until you succeed. And of course you should not give up before you have a device which is ideal for you. You have already paid a lot of money for that!
The locked/unlocked state is simple, you see S-OFF instead of S-ON when you boot (as for the screenshot you've posted). I cannot overly appreciate the power of this SPL feature because my device was initially unlocked, but for you guys with the locked phones it might be a chance.
Good luck!!

hey you could try the ROMS here
http://android.modaco.com/content/h...-24-11-hero-roms-radios-in-update-zip-format/
they are pre rooted and come without radio.
but i think to use this u may need to have a patched recovery as these are in update.zip format. and i think(not sure) that only RUU works with goldcard.

Thanks, i managed to push recovery, without downgrading or gold card. worked fine... then root, then rom then radio... no PC! how cool!
Cheers!

avs333 said:
Guanarteme sorry I had qquite a lot of problems today, of another kind, women you know, sometimes it's a bit more involved...
As I understand, the way is to try some other ROM (they are plenty around here), why cling to that one? I had *a lot* of disasters so far, not of your kind maybe, still disappointing but *never* fatal.
Do make sure you have 100% charged the hero before any procedure! And be terribly cool, that thing is just a bunch of microschemes, it must not put you off, and you'll be victorious!
So my suggestion is to try other ROMs until you succeed. And of course you should not give up before you have a device which is ideal for you. You have already paid a lot of money for that!
The locked/unlocked state is simple, you see S-OFF instead of S-ON when you boot (as for the screenshot you've posted). I cannot overly appreciate the power of this SPL feature because my device was initially unlocked, but for you guys with the locked phones it might be a chance.
Good luck!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
.................
Hey avs333, hope women stuff does not put you down...
The hero stuff... well... it swallow your time, when the women is not around
But here we go, i fixed it. No downgrade, no gold card... just did a format to the card, pushed the latest recovery, and from there all was a beauty, up with fast root, and modaco 3.1, then radio, then hebrew fonts, and vualla! all is fine and kicking, and i did not use PC even (well except to download the ZIP file of the 3.1 rom from the net).
Thanks for your time anyways... take good care!

[Q] Formatted boot/system/etc., Desire will no longer boot or charge. Bricked?

EDIT: PROBLEM SOLVED.
My story of woe:
I rooted my Desire using UnrEVOked and installed LeeDrOiD 2.3b (noA2SD), and everything was great, but things started going wrong when I tried to change to A2SD. I partitioned the SDcard in Rom Manager, but for a while the SD wasn't being recognised (little SD icon with a question mark in notification area), and even though that eventually fixed itself I was thereafter unable to make a Nandroid backup - in ClockworkMod it would just "Error while dumping boot image".
I decided to start from scratch and I very inadvisedly went into mounts and storage and formatted everything. I have a hunch this may be my problem.
I downloaded the RUU and was setting up to try using fastboot when the battery ran down, and now it will not turn on or charge. I've searched and searched, but come up with no solution other than sending it away for repair or more likely replacement.
Complication: it was bought second-hand from a non-reputable shop to start with, warranty is so far out the window it's not funny, and I need to keep the fact that I've bricked the Xmas present she got me from my partner.
Does anyone know of anything that can be done to restore a Desire when it won't even turn on? Or is this the end of my phone and my love life?
I'm really sorry for cluttering up the board with my idiocy, but I've been searching for hours and I really am at my wits' end! Please help if you can.
EDIT: Welp, a day later, on it turns and I am back on stock ROM! No idea what happened there, but thanks for the reassurance anyway, it really helped me stop worrying.
I'll try not to mess around with something until I fully understand it next time!

From what I have read the only way to really brick your phone is by altering the radio version or your HBOOT. I am no genius and I can't help fix your problem but i suspect hope isn't lost for you.
good luck mate

Can you get another battery for your phone? Maybe it will turn on.
Can you also post which Clockwork mod you were using?

redzyklon said:
My story of woe:
I rooted my Desire using UnrEVOked and installed LeeDrOiD 2.3b (noA2SD), and everything was great, but things started going wrong when I tried to change to A2SD. I partitioned the SDcard in Rom Manager, but for a while the SD wasn't being recognised (little SD icon with a question mark in notification area), and even though that eventually fixed itself I was thereafter unable to make a Nandroid backup - in ClockworkMod it would just "Error while dumping boot image".
I decided to start from scratch and I very inadvisedly went into mounts and storage and formatted everything. I have a hunch this may be my problem.
I downloaded the RUU and was setting up to try using fastboot when the battery ran down, and now it will not turn on or charge. I've searched and searched, but come up with no solution other than sending it away for repair or more likely replacement.
Complication: it was bought second-hand from a non-reputable shop to start with, warranty is so far out the window it's not funny, and I need to keep the fact that I've bricked the Xmas present she got me from my partner.
Does anyone know of anything that can be done to restore a Desire when it won't even turn on? Or is this the end of my phone and my love life?
I'm really sorry for cluttering up the board with my idiocy, but I've been searching for hours and I really am at my wits' end! Please help if you can.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The formatting wouldn't be the problem - it is standard practice to format (or wipe) cache/dalvik-cache/ etc. prior to flashing a new ROM. Problem might be the incomplete flash when the battery died. Have you tried putting it on the charger with the battery removed? Any charge light come on??

redzyklon said:
EDIT: PROBLEM SOLVED.
My story of woe:
I rooted my Desire using UnrEVOked and installed LeeDrOiD 2.3b (noA2SD), and everything was great, but things started going wrong when I tried to change to A2SD. I partitioned the SDcard in Rom Manager, but for a while the SD wasn't being recognised (little SD icon with a question mark in notification area), and even though that eventually fixed itself I was thereafter unable to make a Nandroid backup - in ClockworkMod it would just "Error while dumping boot image".
I decided to start from scratch and I very inadvisedly went into mounts and storage and formatted everything. I have a hunch this may be my problem.
I downloaded the RUU and was setting up to try using fastboot when the battery ran down, and now it will not turn on or charge. I've searched and searched, but come up with no solution other than sending it away for repair or more likely replacement.
Complication: it was bought second-hand from a non-reputable shop to start with, warranty is so far out the window it's not funny, and I need to keep the fact that I've bricked the Xmas present she got me from my partner.
Does anyone know of anything that can be done to restore a Desire when it won't even turn on? Or is this the end of my phone and my love life?
I'm really sorry for cluttering up the board with my idiocy, but I've been searching for hours and I really am at my wits' end! Please help if you can.
EDIT: Welp, a day later, on it turns and I am back on stock ROM! No idea what happened there, but thanks for the reassurance anyway, it really helped me stop worrying.
I'll try not to mess around with something until I fully understand it next time!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hej, i hope you are fine and good in health. Same thing happened with my phone and till now it won't start i opened it disassemble then assemble everything but it won't power on even not charge ............ i am still stuck up with it even no idea what more to do
Can you please tell me how it power on ?? or what you have done with it ??
Waiting for your response.
Thanks in advance.

[Q] Evo 4g root help

I'm a nooobie. I tried rooting my phone using the Evo Universal Root, and i didn't read the instructions. I went right to the video and did the same thing the video told me to do. But my phone ended up getting semi bricked. I can access the bootloader, but i don't know what to do from there. I think my SD is also messed up. Someone Please Help!!!!!! What should I do?

If you can still access bootloader, try to get back to stock. Here's an unroot thread with a PC36IMG.zip.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=780141&highlight=Unroot

The first time I tried to root my phone, it corrupted my sdcard and I had to get a new one. Try testing it in another device and see if it can still be read (ideally you have a microsd to sd adapter and a sd port on your computer). If it can be read on a different device, you might just have to reformat it (this erases all the data on the card, so save the data elsewhere if possible/if you care). If it can't be read by multiple devices, it's probably corrupted and you'll have to get a new one.
After you unroot it, if you still want to root your phone, you might want to try the unrevoked method (unrevoked.com). It's super easy and works really well (it's what I used after the first root method I tried failed). They don't provide instructions on the website, but you can find them here. Read the instructions first this time, there are a couple of things you have to do before you begin.

You didnt read the instructions? it took me a week of reading before i was even comfortable enough to try it. i reccomend you read as much as possible on the subject, I mean you see what can happen if you dont!

You'll need to install the version of htc sync that is in the instructions and then restart the script from the screen with the red triangle. It should be able to finish once you do that.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA Premium App

[Q] Random shutdowns & bootloop on all roms!

Hi Everyone
I was hoping someone would be able to help me out as I’m a total Noob!
I have an HTC Desire on the Orange network in the UK. I started to get a few problems with my phone shutting down and restarting, my GF’s brother had been recommending that I root and flash a different rom for a while, and seeing as he has a Desire on the T-Mobile network and had never had any trouble with rooting his phone or any of the roms he used I decided to give it a shot.
I followed everything in Linkslovesandroid’s noob thread found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1016084
I first tried CyanogenMod7 on GF’s brother’s recommendation, worked ok for a bit but I had problems with constant shutting down and restarting over and over again, is this called bootlooping? The only way to stop it was to remove the battery, even then it was no guarantee. Other things were going wrong like the screen freezing, certain buttons were unpressable etc.
I gave my phone to him and he couldn’t explain why such weird things were happening as his Desire experienced no problems at all. He suggested I try something different like GingerVillain. GV never loaded or booted up for me, I wiped data / factory reset, wiped cache, wiped dalvik, installed zip from SD, the rom would then install okay but when I rebooted the phone never ever got past the Alpha Rev S-off screen. This happened when I tried to install GV 2.5 and 2.6, I see that 2.7 has just been released but don’t see the point in trying seeing as the other 2 versions wouldn’t work.
I then tried Oxygen, again, worked ok for a while but started giving me random shut downs and restarts. Once I was driving down the motor way using sat nav software and the phone just shut down! I had to find somewhere to pull over to restart the sat nav software and again it restarted itself! Lol!
One day my phone went into an endless bootloop, no matter how many times I took the battery out the phone just wouldn’t stay on, I had to flash a new rom just to get the phone to fully boot up! I went back to CM7 but have the same old problems, so now I’m using MIUI and I’m still getting shutdowns!
What is wrong with my phone? If anyone has any ideas what I might’ve done wrong, or whats causing problems please offer your suggestions! I don’t really like the sense Roms, I’d like to try GingerVillain but I could never get it to install! I just need my phone to be stable enough to know I can send an SMS to someone without it restarting! If you need to know about Kernels or radios or anything please just ask me (and tell me where I can find out!) Like I said, I’m a noob when it comes to phones!

Same kind of problems here. Random restarts (no shutdowns) on various roms, including the original stock froyo. Happens mostly while installing stuff from the market.
Any ideas?

Sounds like the motherboard is faulty/hardware error. Send back to repair. Usually the kernel can cause problems and OCing (restarting), but you said, that it happens randomly on every ROM, so that means it is more likely a hardware problem.

I had this too, same symptoms sent it back to HTC, duff motherboard, back in 14 days and all working fine.
Only thing is it got reset to original contract so had to pay to unlock it and then root etc.
But well worth it!

Hi Guys
Thanks for your replies so far!
So is it likely that my motherboard was faulty all along? I used to get random restarts sometimes when I was on the sense that came pre-installed on the phone, but nowhere near as often as I get now I've rooted and flashed new roms.
Is it possible that I've damaged it in some way? That could get me in some trouble because when I rooted I'd have voided my warranty, if I send it back to Orange as faulty now they'll know and could pretty much tell me tough luck!
I've heard you can unroot and put your phone back to how it was, but they'd still be able to tell wouldn't they?
Has anyone ever sent a phone back for repair through Orange UK?
Thanks again for your responses so far guys!

For me it turned out that the SD card was corrupt in some way. Repartitioned and reformatted it, and this does help for now. Might try that first, before sending into repair.
Good luck!

reynard80 said:
For me it turned out that the SD card was corrupt in some way. Repartitioned and reformatted it, and this does help for now. Might try that first, before sending into repair.
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree. If you have system files on your SD and if the SD gets corrupted you might get the result you've described.

That's interesting, the other night when I had such a severe bootloop that I had to flash a new rom just to get the phone to fully boot up, it only booted after I'd removed the SD card.
To begin with I was very happy because I thought I'd solved the problem and all I'd need was to buy a new SD card, however a short while later it happened again with no SD card inside at all!
I decided to give Ginger Villain another go hoping that removing the SD card after "install zip from SD card > reboot" would allow it to boot up, it didn't. Never got past the alpha rev screen.
How will I know if I have system files on the SD card? Should I maybe try the G-Parted stage of the noob guide again to reformat the card and create the ext-4 partition?
Thanks again for your time and help by the way!

dellaclearing said:
That's interesting, the other night when I had such a severe bootloop that I had to flash a new rom just to get the phone to fully boot up, it only booted after I'd removed the SD card.
To begin with I was very happy because I thought I'd solved the problem and all I'd need was to buy a new SD card, however a short while later it happened again with no SD card inside at all!
I decided to give Ginger Villain another go hoping that removing the SD card after "install zip from SD card > reboot" would allow it to boot up, it didn't. Never got past the alpha rev screen.
How will I know if I have system files on the SD card? Should I maybe try the G-Parted stage of the noob guide again to reformat the card and create the ext-4 partition?
Thanks again for your time and help by the way!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your rom requires an sd-ext partition than it stores system files on the SD. Try a rom that doesn't require that. I would go as far as bringing the phone to stock just to verify if it's the phone or the SD. Bringing it back to stock is a requirement for you to return it for servicing if you realize that it's a problem with the phone not the SD.

paul.c said:
If your rom requires an sd-ext partition than it stores system files on the SD. Try a rom that doesn't require that. I would go as far as bringing the phone to stock just to verify if it's the phone or the SD. Bringing it back to stock is a requirement for you to return it for servicing if you realize that it's a problem with the phone not the SD.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Paul, is it only stock roms that don't store system files on the SD or can you recommend a rom that doesn't require an ext partition as I'm not too sure what I'm looking for? I realise that I'll have to unroot before I can return the handset but if there's another custom rom out there I can test before unrooting that'd be good!
However, if you fully recommend returning the phone to stock to test then that's what I'll do!

dellaclearing said:
Hi Paul, is it only stock roms that don't store system files on the SD or can you recommend a rom that doesn't require an ext partition as I'm not too sure what I'm looking for? I realise that I'll have to unroot before I can return the handset but if there's another custom rom out there I can test before unrooting that'd be good!
However, if you fully recommend returning the phone to stock to test then that's what I'll do!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=896213 doesn't require SD for system files.

I'd first try the complete stock rom with a completely formatted SD card. You can be completely sure that there isn't a software problem with a custom rom.
If this doesn't work, try replacing the SD card. This did help for me.
If still no succes, send it for repairs.

paul.c said:
This ROM http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=896213 doesn't require SD for system files.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for linking me to that rom.
I did a bit of reading about roms that use ext sd partitions and have so far concluded that its for A2SD so an entire app can be run from the sd card instead of internal memory.
So anyway, I've just installed the Redux rom you linked me to that doesn't store sytem files on the sd, first 2 boots had a sudden shutdown and restart! I'm on the 3rd boot now, it's holding okay but I need to put it through its paces to see how long it can go and what sort of performance it will allow before it starts shutting down on me!

reynard80 said:
I'd first try the complete stock rom with a completely formatted SD card. You can be completely sure that there isn't a software problem with a custom rom.
If this doesn't work, try replacing the SD card. This did help for me.
If still no succes, send it for repairs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Reynard. If the Redux rom I've just flashed (less than 10 minutes ago) doesn't use the sd for system files, then if it keeps rebooting on me would that diagnose a faulty motherboard as reliably as using a stock rom?
I'm gonna unroot and flash a stock rom soon anyway, that way I can be sure before I send it back to Orange for repair, although apparently there isn't an official Orange UK stock rom available so I'm just gonna have to get as close as I can and hope they don't notice!

dellaclearing said:
Hi Reynard. If the Redux rom I've just flashed (less than 10 minutes ago) doesn't use the sd for system files, then if it keeps rebooting on me would that diagnose a faulty motherboard as reliably as using a stock rom?
I'm gonna unroot and flash a stock rom soon anyway, that way I can be sure before I send it back to Orange for repair, although apparently there isn't an official Orange UK stock rom available so I'm just gonna have to get as close as I can and hope they don't notice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably there is a ROM just that it hasn't been leaked so I hope you won't get in trouble.

paul.c said:
Probably there is a ROM just that it hasn't been leaked so I hope you won't get in trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha! Me too!

Dayamn! I didn't have a reboot all day on Redux, got home from work and installed Sygic sat nav software and the phone rebooted 3 times just while downloading the map! I had to remove the battery once as well.
Decided I'd just test Google maps navigation while driving to pick up the Mrs from work and it shut down on me
If I can get hold of another sd card to test I'll see if it makes a difference, but there's not really a lot more I can do now other than unroot and send it back to Orange. The strange thing is that it never used to reboot half as much on the stock rom the phone came with, and it never did it while I was sat nav'ing ever. It just used to happen randomly when I was texting or web browsing. Odd.
Where might be the best place to find the closest to stock rom for Desire Orange UK?

Just wanted to update you all.
I found my original SD card that came with the phone, I fully formatted it and then did a completely fresh install of Redux and performed the same tests and got the same results. Still crashed and rebooted! So that tells me it's the phone and not the card!
I'll be restoring to stock and calling Orange tomorrow to get a replacement / repair.
Thanks to everyone who helped me out along the way, your time and effort is very much appreciated!

Hi guys,
I made a goldcard and tried installing the stock ruu, it seemed to work but when I hold vol down and power on it still says:
AlphaRev
BRAVO PVT1 SHIP S-OFF
HBOOT 6.93.1002
I read on the Alpharev website that recent versions of Alpharev aren't overwritten by stock ruu's hboot so it must first be downgraded. I used android flasher to flash the Alpharev downgrader, then it just froze at the "why so serious" screen. I was advised to flash the stock bravo hboot found on the alpharev website, which I did and then I was finally able to install the ruu. Obviously I've done something wrong and I'm guessing its flashing the stock bravo hboot...
Would it be okay to use android flasher again to run just the downgrader image, and then using fastboot flash the ruu again?
Any ideas? I don't want to risk sending my phone back for repair still saying S-Off!

Okay, I kept reading through XDA and found a post by Dzumagos advising someone to do exactly what I just asked, use Android Flasher to run the Alpharev downgrader image and then reflash stock ruu, so I grew a set and tried it myself!
Bravo PVT1 SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-0.93.001
Voila! I'm now back to S-ON, so now I feel I'm ready to call Orange and tell them about the constant shutdowns and restarts, which have still been happening on stock btw, the phone also feels really hot too!
I just hope the replacement they send me is issue free!
Thanks again to everyone who helped out in this thread and in the orange uk ruu thread!
Cheers everyone!

[Q] eMMC issues - how do i tell if i have a bricked Desire Z?

Not sure how to start this...
first off, i'm pretty sure my phone now has a fried eMMC chip, but in reality, i don't really know...
the reason i say i think it's fried is because no matter what method i try to flash anything to my phone with...it simply won't do it...most fastboot commands will not work anymore, my computer won't load the devise anymore so no adb commands, bootloader fails everything when trying to flash a stock rom and gets hung up updating the radio_v2....i've tried running official RUU's but it keeps telling me my phone has less then 30% battery life, wich is simply false. and i can't get into my recovery without it crashing the phone and not letting me turn it back on (till battery pull).
i went onto the #g2root and #xda-devs channels on the freenode server in mIRC, and had talked to a couple people there who also think i probably fried the eMMC chip (making it impossible to write or read anything from the phone), but again...i'm really going on word of mouth rather then first hand knowledge here.
but again today, i ran into yet another possible solution and i just want to know if i should bother trying or if i have a chance.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1314629 is the thread, but i think this is for a desire s, so i suppose my question would be...would this method still work if i just used the right files or, again, am i screwed?
i have an HTC Desire Z that i got from Bell in Canada. it has gotten an OTA firmware update, and does not have root or s-off
if i remember right, everything is still stock, completely. minus the now possibly fried eMMC chip lol
thank you in advance and i will try to edit this post as neccessary so as to update any needed info.
please ask me questions as to what i have done and i will try my best to let you know. i know i had followed probably too many guides for rooting with too many methods lol next time, xda-dev's wiki guide, and that's it!
[edit:] i just found this too...lemme know if this helps..... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1284196
[edit:] i do know that when i go into my recovery, it does say those things (e: can't mount cache, blah blah) but it crash's out and doesn't actually get me into the recovery console. if so i would be able to envoke some adb commands and just finish this, but that's adding to the issue really...not being able to get into my recovery.

i feel with you.
it happend for me just today morning.
got my desire z on thursday, installed usual apps.
it started to freeze in random app installations. the last softreset threw it into a boot loop with the same problems you stated above.
you can get pre formated desire z emmc's for around 30 - 40 euro i think. but soldering them on your own requires some skill and tools since their contacs are below and not on the side.
this accident threw me back to my old htc touch diamond (with windows mobile 6.1 D: )