Develop Bugs

[answer] [how to] [CDMA/LTE] How To Re-Flash Factory-Image/Recover from Soft-Brick

How To Re-Flash Stock Image
Assuming you have ADB and everything setup already....
1. I just did this for practice. I did not need to do it –but I wanted to do it successfully before I “needed” to do it. I thought I would expand a little on the process and make it a little more noob friendly.
2. Getting started.
a. Read through the entire set of instructions first.
b. I am not responsible if you BORK your phone. I BORKED mine using someone else’s instructions and tried to write a very detailed step-by-step to help others out– but it is completely possible I have also made some small error in the instructions.
3. This will completely wipe your phone – including the SD partition – so transfer any files you need before you do this.
4. This will not re-lock your bootloader. It will remain unlocked.
5. Syntax (spelling, spaces, periods, dashes, CAPITOL, or lower case) matters. There were some spelling errors and file extensions left off the commands – and that will not work.
6.I used the file…
mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tgz
…which is 4.0.2 for the cdma/lte galaxy nexus [code name = toro/mysid]. The file is located here...
http://www.google.co...NiI9yTxKdUyW1tA
7. Unzip the file (I used 7.zip to do this).
Then you will have a .tar file…
mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tar
8. Unzip that file and you should end up with a folder…
mysid-icl53f
Inside that folder you will have five files…
i. bootloader-toro-primekk15.img
ii. flash-all.sh
iii. radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img
iv. radio-toro-i515.ek02.img
v. image-mysid-icl53f.zip
Do not unzip “image-mysid-icl53f.zip”
9. Go ahead and copy and paste all these files to your directory…
/android/platform-tools
(or whatever directory you work from. You do not need the “flash-all.sh” so you do not have to copy it).
10. Open the Command Prompt in the directory where you have placed the necessary files by navigating to the directory, pressing shift, and then right mouse click (normally “C: /android/tools” or C: /android/platform-tools). This will bring up the dialogue box and you can select “open a command window here”.
11. Then enter the command…
adb devices
[…this should return your serial number…]
12. enter the command…
adb reboot-bootloader
[wait for bootloader – you should here 2 alert sounds – not just 1]
13. enter the command…
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primekk15.img
14. enter the command…
fastboot reboot-bootloader
[wait]
15. enter the command…
fastboot flash radio radio-toro-i515.ek02.img
16. enter the command…
fastboot reboot-bootloader
[wait]
17. enter the command…
fastboot flash radio-cdma radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img
18. enter the command…
fastboot reboot-bootloader
19. enter the command…
fastboot -w update image-mysid-icl53f.zip
20. So you know, steps 17 (flashing the cdma radio) and step 19 (flashing the update image) took longer than the rest so don't freak out - just be patient. If you did the steps in the proper order after entering the last command your phone should reboot on its own and be completely “fresh”. If you made mistakes (like I did the first time) and flashed the radios out of order (like I did) or did not wait long enough for an “Okay” dialogue (like I did) then when you reboot you will have no signal and no phone number and you will have to go through the process again and do it right (like I did).
Hope this helps someone.
Credit goes to JW at that other site for the fastboot commands. I just added detail for the write up.

Great guide, but what if the serial number doesn't show up?
Thank you for the excellent walkthrough. I am following it, but when I enter "adb devices" at the command prompt I receive "list of devices attached" but no serial number. Also, my Nexus displays: "Fastboot Command Read Error -2147483647". I did a battery pull after getting stuck in a bootloop, and am trying to recover. I can unlock and relock the bootloader, but that is the only command that is working.

Ominous39061 said:
Thank you for the excellent walkthrough. I am following it, but when I enter "adb devices" at the command prompt I receive "list of devices attached" but no serial number. Also, my Nexus displays: "Fastboot Command Read Error -2147483647". I did a battery pull after getting stuck in a bootloop, and am trying to recover. I can unlock and relock the bootloader, but that is the only command that is working.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if it does not return a serial number than the phone is not being recognized. I believe that there are 2 different sets of drivers that are needed. Let me look for the link and info.
the fact that it returns "list of devices attached" but no number means that it is not finding your device which means it is probably a driver issue. let me see what I can come up with. But I am no expert at any of this.

Ok - so I just did some testing of my own. I ran into the same problem as you. And I know that I have the drivers installed. So what I did was try and "shut down" any thing that could interfere with with ADB/Fastboot.
Any tethering apps that you may have - PDA NET, Easy Tether, etc, could possibly do this. Also - when you plug your phone in - and the Auto Play options pop up for FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - X out of that.
I initially plugged in my phone. Opened the command prompt in my platform-tools folder. typed in...
adb devices
...and I got the same message as you. I then "turned off" everything that could be causing problems with the process. I unplugged the phone and replugged it in (and closed the dialog box again) and then re-opened the command prompt and entered...
adb devices
...and then I got the proper return message.

thepolishguy said:
Ok - so I just did some testing of my own. I ran into the same problem as you. And I know that I have the drivers installed. So what I did was try and "shut down" any thing that could interfere with with ADB/Fastboot.
Any tethering apps that you may have - PDA NET, Easy Tether, etc, could possibly do this. Also - when you plug your phone in - and the Auto Play options pop up for FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - X out of that.
I initially plugged in my phone. Opened the command prompt in my platform-tools folder. typed in...
adb devices
...and I got the same message as you. I then "turned off" everything that could be causing problems with the process. I unplugged the phone and replugged it in (and closed the dialog box again) and then re-opened the command prompt and entered...
adb devices
...and then I got the proper return message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the same problem with mine i dont have anything like pda net installed but nothing i have tried is able to get adb to list my phone

Getting the same issue myself...help!

Thank you so much I'm a total noob with this stuff but your guide was very helpful!

Noev said:
I got the same problem with mine i dont have anything like pda net installed but nothing i have tried is able to get adb to list my phone
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ChuckTu said:
Getting the same issue myself...help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok - so another member posted this...
ADB/Naked Drivers
...and I have heard some people say that it was very helpful. So hopefully this will help you guys to get your devices recognized.
Then there is also this thread and the OP said this...
Code:
On your windows PC. Use the root guide by bman
( [url]http://rootzwiki.com...nlock-and-root/[/url] )
and download the third option for drivers. Extract all
of these tho wherever you have your fast boot
( for me it was c:/users/thatmayh3mguy/) then run
fastboot in the cmd. The adbapi.DLL file will be there
and will make the fast boot work. I didn't have the sdk
installed ( fresh install of win 7 ultimate last week and
don't have it all set up yet) and it worked
thread...
adb help/getting your drivers installed correctly
OK - here is also another method that I found. I have PDA Net installed and I did not have any issues with fastboot. Here are some instructions that say the drivers that PDA Net use are the same drivers that you need for fastboot. So here is a link to the thread and hopefully one of these methods is going to work for you.
Installing PDA Net to solve your fastboot problems

ah ha - just read something else that I should have thought of...
If your phone is already in bootloader - the command...
adb devices
...will not work. so if you are in bootloader you should try the command...
fastboot devices
...instead and see if that returns anything for you.

just wanted to jump back in hear and say i was able to get mine working again. adb was allowing me to lock/unlock the bootloader i toggled that on and off then when i went to boot my phone it took a long time to boot but finally did. Thanks for all the help was in a real jam there for a minute. I used the naked adb drivers posted above not sure if that did anything but it worked for me. Thanks again!

Noev said:
just wanted to jump back in hear and say i was able to get mine working again. adb was allowing me to lock/unlock the bootloader i toggled that on and off then when i went to boot my phone it took a long time to boot but finally did. Thanks for all the help was in a real jam there for a minute. I used the naked adb drivers posted above not sure if that did anything but it worked for me. Thanks again!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
cool. glad to hear it.

trying this with a Linux OS
So I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon and I put 4.0.4 (IMM30B) using the Galaxy Nexus ToolKit on Windows. Since then I've had a few issues with performance so I want to go back to stock (ICF53F) then maybe goto latest IMM76K (I think). I've retrieved the zip file from steps above and untar'd the file, but when I try to flash the boot file it just sits there waiting for device. I'm not sure what it's waiting for. I'm in fastboot mode and then plugged in the phone to the usb cord but nothing happens.
Any ideas?
UPDATE:
I figured out the issue. On a linux machine using fastboot requires super user privileges. Maybe an update to the instructions may be in order?

CMD keeps telling me waiting for device.
How long will it takes first time?
this after entering: fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primekk15.img

ladyminnie said:
CMD keeps telling me waiting for device.
How long will it takes first time?
this after entering: fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primekk15.img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Does "fastboot devices" return your device?
If not, you may have a driver issue.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

A mistake I made a while ago, if you are sure that you have already installed ADB drivers, and your device still isn't being recognized by ADB..
Be sure USB Debugging is checked on.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

adb devices returns my number from the phone
adb reboot-bootloader does bring my phone into bootloader
than it stops with the next command. I waited for 45 minutes/
---------- Post added at 07:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 PM ----------
usb debugging was/is still on
The white small led is lightning up every 10 seconds orso

problem solved with:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1766475

[Tut] Preparing Your One X for Custom Roms (For Dummies)

There seems to be a lot of confusion in the air around either how to unlock your bootloader or how to install a new recovery.
I am writing this as a very easy step by step guide to do all the things necessary to get your new HTC One X ready to accept some custom fun so here goes nothing
Unlocking Your Bootloader
Words of warning - unlocking your boot loader will wipe your data partition
Things you have put on your internal memory will be fine but all of your apps etc will be gone.
Before we can even think about doing anything the first port of call is unlocking your bootloader.
As of the time of writing this there is currently no S-OFF method available so this is the only method of flashing a new recovery or boot image.
I'm going to keep this as simple as possible
1. Go Here "http://www.htcdev.com/" and create yourself an account on HTCDEV.
2. Download These Fastboot Files
3. Make a new folder on your C: drive called fastboot.
4. Extract The Zip downloaded in step 2 to the new folder
5. Go Here http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader/ and select "All Other Supported Models" and "then begin unlock bootloader"
6. Yes, Tick both Boxes, Proceed
7. Skip up to step 8 as we have all we need for the first 7 steps
8. Power off your phone by holding the power button down for 10 seconds
9. Power your phone on by holding power and volume down
8. Highlight Fastboot With Volume+or- then press Power
9. plug your phone into your PC and open a Command Prompt.
(windows XP - Click Start > Run > type CMD in box then press OK
(Windows 7 - Click Start > type CMD in search box then press Enter)
10. cd to your folder where we put fastboot files cd c:\fastboot
11. type this into your command prompt window fastboot oem get_identifier_token
12. select & copy the text as per step 9 on the HTCDev website
13. paste your identifier token into the box at the bottom and submit
You Will Very Shortly Receive an email from HTCDev with a link to the second part of the instructions and your "Unlock_code.bin" attached
14. download the "Unlock_code.bin" from the email and save it to the same folder that we extracted fastboot files to in step 2
15. type this into your command prompt window fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin
16. The Display Will change on your phone, press Vol + to accept and power to confirm.
Note you may get an error on screen or on your cmd window (cant remember which now) that says something about too many links. It is nothing to worry about and your bootloader will still unlock
Congratulations You Have Successfully Unlocked Your Bootloader
Now to the good stuff
Installing A Recovery
This one is very simple to do once you have your bootloader unlocked.
A thing to note; at present there is no USB-Mass Storage in recovery so if you are planning to install a custom rom i would get it put on the internal memory of your phone now rather than messing things up later and been unable to install it
(if you have follwed my unlocking guide skip to step 4)
1. Download These Fastboot Files
2. Make a new folder on your C: drive called fastboot.
3. Extract The Zip downloaded in step 1 to the new folder
4. The Official Version of CWM has been released and is now capable of flashing all roms, you can grab it HERE
5. download the custom recovery and save it in the same folder as you did the fastboot files
6. Power Phone Off by Holding power button for 10 secs
7. select Fastboot with volume + or - then press power
8. plug your phone into your PC and open a Command Prompt.
(windows XP - Click Start > Run > type CMD in box then press OK
(Windows 7 - Click Start > type CMD in search box then press Enter)
9. cd to your fastboot files folder cd c:\fastboot
10. type in your command prompt fastboot flash recovery name_of_recovery_image.img
in my case it was fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-5.8.2.7-endeavoru.img
Congratulations you now have a custom recovery
power off the phone by holding power for 10 seconds
power on the phone holding power+volumer down
choose recovery with volume +/- then power to select
You are now on your custom recovery
First Thing - Do A Nandroid Backup Of Your Current Rom In Case anything bad happens
Make sure you already have your new rom on your internal memory as you cannot enable mass storage in the current recovery builds.
Wipe then Flash your new Custom Rom
Or you can download the latest SuperSU binaries from HERE and install them Via Recovery to just root the stock rom
Hope this helps some of you

Thx !
Wasted a lot of time yesterday downloading entire Java, SDK, for a 2 minutes job...
Your package seems great !

fabulous guide buddy
thanks a million

Good idea such guide!
Sent from Samsung Galaxy Nexus

so freakin useful !

luminouche said:
Thx !
Wasted a lot of time yesterday downloading entire Java, SDK, for a 2 minutes job...
Your package seems great !
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
to be fair i dont even think we need the 2 adb files in the package i uploaded as we are only using fastboot however the htcdev website said to have them so may aswell include it, only a small download

thank you
It was exactly what I was searching for... Thanks a lot

Nice tut
Wasted a lot of time yesterday downloading entire Java, SDK, for a 2 minutes job...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No waste at all.....Watch u`ll need it one day
"adb reboot recovery" for start

Thank you you helped me a lot with such
A geest device:thumbup::thumbup:
Sent from my HTC One X using xda premium

nimoi62 said:
It was exactly what I was searching for... Thanks a lot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1!! It's easy once someone spells it out, lol.
Question (and I know it's probably been discussed elsewhere, but clearly I've only just noticed it), with this issue with not being able to enable mass storage...does this mean that once I've chosen a particular ROM, placed it onto SD and unlocked/flashed recovery, I won't be able to flash another different ROM? Can I not just flash through fastboot??

Is it worth collating the oem get_identifier_token calls and responses? As there may be an obvious correlation whereby HTVDev can be bypassed or the process simplified.

777ace said:
+1!! It's easy once someone spells it out, lol.
Question (and I know it's probably been discussed elsewhere, but clearly I've only just noticed it), with this issue with not being able to enable mass storage...does this mean that once I've chosen a particular ROM, placed it onto SD and unlocked/flashed recovery, I won't be able to flash another different ROM? Can I not just flash through fastboot??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the dev has released a set of fastboot images then you can install them through fastboot.
You can change roms as you still have USB mode in the custom Rom you have, the only real problem comes if you format your system partition and then realise you don't have a Rom to install on the sdcard, at this point you can't get to a position where you can put a new zip on so you would have to do the ruu and start from scratch
It's only when in the recovery that USB doesn't work, as soon as you flash your new Rom and boot it you can use USB as normal
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

Excellent
Hi
Thank you for taking the time to put this together.
I think your tutorial will save many people much sweat!!
Plus it will help reduce the "I've bricked my phone" threads also!!
Cheers
Aussie

f4flake said:
Is it worth collating the oem get_identifier_token calls and responses? As there may be an obvious correlation whereby HTVDev can be bypassed or the process simplified.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's highly unlikely that we will be able to learn anything by the identifier tokens, if anything is to be learned it would be finding what link your own identifier token has to the unlock_code.bin that they send you in the email, but we will probably never know
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA

Great set of instructions.
Really looking forward to getting new HOX now ;-)
Sent from my A500 using XDA Premium HD app

I cant download the boot file as modacos website catchpa image isnt working for me... any help here?

aussie1234 said:
Plus it will help reduce the "I've bricked my phone" threads also!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hahahahahahahahaha....nice one!
Wait...you were kidding, yeah??

When I do the process of unlock from htcdev, I got this error:
Error Code: 122.
Error Reason: Email cannot be sent.
Anyone can help?

Same error Message for me, but it seems to be an error by HTCdevs Email sending like you see, i done same with my Sensation XL before 2 months and it works. Surely HTCdevs have any issues by sending mails from their system! Hope thats not generally when ONE X has Software: 1.26.401.2
But cool TUT! I`m impressed!

I have 1.26.707.4 getting the same 122 error interspersed with site unavailable. I think something is wrong on htcdev at the moment

[Q] HTC Desire HD not recognised - can't install custom ROM's problem with fastboot

So basically i followed this guide - wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_ace
Let's start from the first part wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_ace
I plug in phone, i can see it in my PC as D drive but nothing more, after command "fastboot devices" i get 0 info - just like no devices were connected, but after i write "adb reboot-bootloader" my phone goes into this white screen. After this message about unrecognised device connected to USB appears. From now i can't use command "astboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.img"
I also has question, what does command "fastboot oem get_identifier_token" stands for? After writing this command i get info "waiting for device....".
I've also has question - why I unlock phone? What does it stands for? Does unlock means the same as rooting phone?
My System is Windows 8.1 64 bit.
Maybe i should install some HTC drivers or something like this? I installed HTC Sync, then uninstalled it, so just pure drivers should be left on PC but it still do not help me :/
USB debugging is on.

Fastboot issue on windows 8.1
I'm experiencing exactly the same problem as you. I'm on windows 8.1 and am unable to use the fastboot command. Have you been able to find a solution to it? Or have you been able to root your mobile? The HTC Desire HD community here seems to be not very helpful since your thread is months old and nobody has cared to help you with it.

maciek1o3s said:
So basically i followed this guide - wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_ace
Let's start from the first part wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Install_CM_for_ace
I plug in phone, i can see it in my PC as D drive but nothing more, after command "fastboot devices" i get 0 info - just like no devices were connected, but after i write "adb reboot-bootloader" my phone goes into this white screen. After this message about unrecognised device connected to USB appears. From now i can't use command "astboot flash recovery your_recovery_image.img"
I also has question, what does command "fastboot oem get_identifier_token" stands for? After writing this command i get info "waiting for device....".
I've also has question - why I unlock phone? What does it stands for? Does unlock means the same as rooting phone?
My System is Windows 8.1 64 bit.
Maybe i should install some HTC drivers or something like this? I installed HTC Sync, then uninstalled it, so just pure drivers should be left on PC but it still do not help me :/
USB debugging is on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
make sure you have a working usb cable
1) your phone must be unlocked to flash a new rom
2 )Our phones are locked by HTC to protect the phone from unwanted things
3) HTC official web site helps you to unlock your phone ,follow the instructions as they have mentioned,it is too easy
http://www.htcdev.com/bootloader
every thig is explained here
3) for root try this
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2169515
4) download rom you want and copy it to sd card
shut down your phone ,push power+volume down button
on bootloader screen you must see UNLOCKED
choose fastboot
plug it to PC
you LL see fastboot Usb
On PC ,copy and paste the boot.img file of the rom to fast boot folder (it is in the nameofrom.zip )
open a command windows on this folder
write fastboot devices
fastboot flash boot boot.img
Enter
:good::good::good:here are the some links and videos to help you on flashing boot.img
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5xVl2dBTnmI
http://d-h.st/6LC
4) then go recovery on phone
wipe data factory cache dalvik cache and install zip from sd card
choose the rom
and restart your phone
5) identifier_token is kind a code which HTC sends you , it belongs your phone to unlock your phone
6) Root and Unlock are different things also there is another guy, it name is S-off
7) Windows 8 maybe will have problem , but windows 7 and windows xp are OK
8) make sure close antivrus and firewall
I hope these will help you

[Q] Nexus stucked on google logo

Hi I'm a new member so I hope this is the right section. My nexus 7 2013 is stucked at the google logo screen, I can enter in fastboot mode but not in recovery mode, if I try the device reboots and it stucks on google logo again. I've not usb debug activated. Can anyone help me?

Francesco Amato said:
Hi I'm a new member so I hope this is the right section. My nexus 7 2013 is stucked at the google logo screen, I can enter in fastboot mode but not in recovery mode, if I try the device reboots and it stucks on google logo again. I've not usb debug activated. Can anyone help me?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, trust me, I feel your pain! I've been dealing with this issue for a week. I could get into the bootloader, but recovery wouldn't work and no matter what I flashed, I couldn't get past the google logo.
Today, I tried it again and it worked. I was able to get it to reinstall and boot.
Try this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2381582
Just download the file there, boot your nexus into the bootloader, connect it to your computer, and click the "dead_nexus7" file.
That's what worked for me. I have no idea if it'll work for you because I tried the exact same thing probably a dozen times and it never worked until now..
Good luck!

nexusjas said:
Hey, trust me, I feel your pain! I've been dealing with this issue for a week. I could get into the bootloader, but recovery wouldn't work and no matter what I flashed, I couldn't get past the google logo.
Today, I tried it again and it worked. I was able to get it to reinstall and boot.
Try this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2381582
Just download the file there, boot your nexus into the bootloader, connect it to your computer, and click the "dead_nexus7" file.
That's what worked for me. I have no idea if it'll work for you because I tried the exact same thing probably a dozen times and it never worked until now..
Good luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry but I have to follow the guide or only your suggestion?

Francesco Amato said:
Sorry but I have to follow the guide or only your suggestion?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow the guide, but skip step 5 and do 6 instead. Since you can't get into your OS, you can't have debugging enabled, so step 5 won't work. Step 6 is for people who can only get into the bootloader.

nexusjas said:
Follow the guide, but skip step 5 and do 6 instead. Since you can't get into your OS, you can't have debugging enabled, so step 5 won't work. Step 6 is for people who can only get into the bootloader.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It doesn't work, when it sends bootloader it fails and says FAILED <remote:Bootloader is locked.> then it reboot into bootloader and says erasing 'system' but it doesn't do anything... :crying:
:

Francesco Amato said:
It doesn't work, when it sends bootloader it fails and says FAILED <remote:Bootloader is locked.> then it reboot into bootloader and says erasing 'system' but it doesn't do anything... :crying:
:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to unlock the bootloader.
Go to the folder and open a command prompt from there. Usually you can right click and say open command prompt. If that's not an option go to start > run and type cmd. Hit enter. Type "cd <path of folder>" -- mine, for example would be "cd C:\Desktop\Nexus7_2013_KTU84P_Restore" (no quotes) - then hit enter.
Then type: fastboot oem unlock
hit enter.
On your nexus, a screen will pop up. Use the volume key to navigate to the option that says you want to unlock it. Hit the power key once to select that option.
When it's done, go back into the bootloader and open the dead_nexus7 file on your computer.

nexusjas said:
You have to unlock the bootloader.
Go to the folder and open a command prompt from there. Usually you can right click and say open command prompt. If that's not an option go to start > run and type cmd. Hit enter. Type "cd <path of folder>" -- mine, for example would be "cd C:\Desktop\Nexus7_2013_KTU84P_Restore" (no quotes) - then hit enter.
Then type: fastboot oem unlock
hit enter.
On your nexus, a screen will pop up. Use the volume key to navigate to the option that says you want to unlock it. Hit the power key once to select that option.
When it's done, go back into the bootloader and open the dead_nexus7 file on your computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When I press the power button on yes the device stuckes and I can't do anything:crying:

This recently happened to me. I returned it to Asus and they replaced the main board. I've read elsewhere that this isn't terribly uncommon.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Zenfone 2 bricked. Cannot access Recovery Mode.

Hello All,
I would like to start by saying that I am a novice when it comes to rooting phones so ANY help received here will be greatly appreciated. I have come across a few people within the various forums who have a very similar issue to the one I am having, but nothing exact. Now to the point.
Phone: Zenfone 2 (Model: ZE551ML-23-4G64GN-BK) came unlocked from amazon.com
Carrier: Metro PCS.
PC used to root: Win 7 64 bit / AV: Avast Free.
Issue: About 1 month ago I rooted my phone. Last night I received a prompt to do an OTA update, and selected install. I realized after that I shouldn't have done that, but it was too late. My phone would not load past the black and white ASUS loading screen.
I then proceeded to do some research online, and try to "unbrick" my phone myself. I figured out how to hold the power button + volume up key, select Recovery Mode with the power key, and press power + volume up again to get into the Recovery Mode. I was following some instructions online that didn't really make sense, which led me to choosing Wipe Cache Partition. This didn't work, so I had to manually reboot the phone (Hold the power key, and turn it back on). From that point forward I have been unable to get back into the Recovery Mode. Once I get to the sleeping android with the red triange I have tried holding power + volume up (which got me into recovery mode the first time), power + volume down, power + both volume up and down, I've rebooted my phone several times to make sure I was doing this as soon as the little android appeared and nothing happens. The android just pulses in and out and nothing happens. This is the first of my many problems as I have never flashed a ROM before, and I am a novice. Also my PC does not recognize my phone at all at this point. I'm using the same cable and port that I always use when transferring files. The port has been tested with a tablet and iPhone, which works. My questions are as follows:
1. Am I screwed? lol.
2. Is there a way/trick to getting into recovery mode again?
3. Can I still unbrick my phone without getting into recovery mode? Is there something I can do with my phone connected to the PC perhaps?
I would also like to mention the following:
1. I've downloaded firmware Version V2.20.40.160 from asus website. Is this the right "image" or 4 files I should be using to flash onto my phone?
2. I've also downloaded ADB, but it doesn't look like the 15 second one, and it does not detect my phone. What tools do I download in order to fix the issues I am having?
Thank you in advance!
Best regards,
Clavin0089

For anyone who may have found this thread I think I found a fix here. I will let you know after I test this if it works:
http:
//valuestuffz.blogspot.com
/2015/10/fix-zenfone-2
-stuck-in-recovery-wipe-cache-partition.html?m=1
Sorry. I had to break up the link in order to post it.

Clavin0089 said:
I would also like to mention the following:
1. I've downloaded firmware Version V2.20.40.160 from asus website. Is this the right "image" or 4 files I should be using to flash onto my phone?
2. I've also downloaded ADB, but it doesn't look like the 15 second one, and it does not detect my phone. What tools do I download in order to fix the issues I am having?
Thank you in advance!
Best regards,
Clavin0089
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i was in same sit with a brick of sorts and used this guid to help me:
> http://www.asus-zenfone.com/2015/12/how-to-downgrade-asus-zenfone-2-firmware.html *** I used this to go from the 168/174 ( 174 didnt fix issue that 168 caused ) back to 160
> http://www.asus-zenfone.com/2015/03/zenfone-2-how-to-enter-recovery-wipe.html *** How to enter recovery if you dont know how
make sure the phone is plugged into a usb2 port and not a 3.0
what got me is when i installed adb, it put adb files in a default directory on my hdd, so i just copied the files to the folder where where i had all files at See below
i used the .160 file to restore my phone and it worked..
now if phone isnt detected yet, you may still need files. have you tried iSocUSB-Driver ?

I followed the steps outlined in the link:
http
://valuestuffz.blogspot.com/2015/10/fix-zenfone-2-stuck-in-recovery-wipe-cache-partition.html?m=1
And everything appeared to have gone smoothly, however, now my phone just loads, and will not enter the home screen. I just have that ASUS IN SEARCH OF INCREDIBLE screen now. I was able to get into the recovery mode, but it doesn't appear to have worked. I also received the "Permission denied" errors mentioned in the link. Any suggestions?
My phone is now detected by the PC for the record.

didn't know of that but it has same steps but one I linkd easier to read and doesn't have wall of text.....
did you push the 3 required files via adb on bootloader screen ?
if so did you push the rom file in recovery once you selected adb sideload from the list ?
remember you have to follow the instruct exactly and be on correct screen when you push the files....
first boot takes some time

Pu$$nBooT$ said:
didn't know of that but it has same steps but one I linkd easier to read and doesn't have wall of text.....
did you push the 3 required files via adb on bootloader screen ?
if so did you push the rom file in recovery once you selected adb sideload from the list ?
remember you have to follow the instruct exactly and be on correct screen when you push the files....
first boot takes some time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did push over 3 files, but when I downloaded the .160, it only had droidboot.img,and boot.img. I tried both .168 (Which may have been totally wrong, but had all 3 files) and .160 from the asus website where you can select firmware. I did the .160 most recently. I put the recovery.img, droidboot.img, and boot.img into the adb folder, and ran the following CMDs:
Fastboot erase cache
fastboot flash fastboot droidboot.img
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
I then used adb sideload CMD to load the .160, and it reached 100% and said successful. I attached a screenshot of what the "permission denied" CMD looks like.

Pu$$nBooT$ said:
didn't know of that but it has same steps but one I linkd easier to read and doesn't have wall of text.....
did you push the 3 required files via adb on bootloader screen ?
if so did you push the rom file in recovery once you selected adb sideload from the list ?
remember you have to follow the instruct exactly and be on correct screen when you push the files....
first boot takes some time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tonight after work I will try the links you suggested to me once more, and let you know the results. I sincerely appreciate all of your help here! Thank you very much!

anytime...
i never seen/encountered that error message before... try adb kill-server command if you run into any issues. when you start again it will load automaticaly... have you tried different usb ports? stay on usb2.0 when connected and try original oem cable that came with the phone. if you dont have it, try different micro-usb cables ( i had issues when i had my lg g3 being on a usb3 port, so i made sure mine was plugged in a 2.0 port )

Currently i am on beanstalk, and want to go back to stock.
I flashed the stock recovery via fastboot, but when i enter into Stock Recovery mode, it gives me Error icon.
The whole process is to flash the stock zip via sideload, but i am not able to enter the stock recovery.
The stock version i am trying to flash is 2.20.40.160.
I flashed all three files, Droidboot.img, recovery.img, boot.img.
And then turned the phone off, and now it is stuck on Asus screen. Urgent Help!!

btw when u see that error icon, nothing is actually wrong.... you have to hit 2 buttons simultaniously to enter recovery.
see > http://www.asus-zenfone.com/2015/03/zenfone-2-how-to-enter-recovery-wipe.html on step 6, this is normnal.. once u do button dance, you will enter step 7 and select flash via adb.. then you flash the rom file

Pu$$nBooT$ said:
btw when u see that error icon, nothing is actually wrong.... you have to hit 2 buttons simultaniously to enter recovery.
see > http://www.asus-zenfone.com/2015/03/zenfone-2-how-to-enter-recovery-wipe.html on step 6, this is normnal.. once u do button dance, you will enter step 7 and select flash via adb.. then you flash the rom file
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, i looked it up, power + volume up. That did it. Thanks!

np...