Develop Bugs

Is unlocking the bootloader my only option?

Hi,
I own a Nexus One with CyanogenMod 7 RC1. I've rooted my phone without unlocking my bootloader (with super1click) using ClockworkMod as the Recovery console. The "wonk" was starting to drive me crazy.
Yesterday, for some "strage" reason (probably a bubble to the head!!) I decided to Flash the stock Rom to my phone (I wanted to try the official release of Gingerbread). My mistake was doing it through Rom Manager.
It sorta "semi" briked my nexus.
When I do a normal boot, I see the android X loading, then, the screen goes blank. I know something's going on on the device because my trackball is flashing white. I even get heptic feedback from the four bottom buttons. But the screen is always black!
When I boot into the bootloader menu (power+down) and try going into the Recovery console, my screen is also all black! There again, something must be going on because my computer detect the attached device, but unfortunately, I can't ADB (device not found!!)
Finally, when I boot into the bootloader menu (power+down) and I enable Fastboot USB, I cant "flash" anything onto the device (I get an error at the signature verification). This is probably due to the fact that my bootloader is still locked (I guess).
Here are my questions:
1- Is it a lost cause? Is my nexus forever in this semi bricked state?
2- Is my only option to solve the issue is unlocking the bootloader?
3- Will that work?
I would like (if possible) not to unlock the bootloader but if that's my only option, I'll do it without any issues.
If I unlock the bootloader, what then? Do I "fastboot flash recovery" a working recovery image and then, from the recovery console reflash any good rom?
Thanks for reading this long post and for helping me out!

Have you decided which ROM you want to use yet? When you have found one, extract the contents of the .zip and flash the contents using fastboot. Obviously you'll need to unlock the Bootloader first but what's the point of having that ability if you're not going to use it?
Lot's of info in the WIKI.

Hi Thanks for the reply!
I'll probably go back with CyanogenMod 6.1.1 (Stable release).
So you're telling me that I have no other choice and I'll need to unlock the bootloader?
What If I decide to flash the Stock ROM? I'll still need to unlock it right?
Thanks

From your original post it doesn't sound like there's any other option. Consider it a blessing in disguise though. Fastboot is a terrific feature to have as it makes flashing safe and easy.
THIS would be a good ROM to start with if you want to try out the stock Gingerbread experience.

removing root and locking the bootloader help

right
i am going to have send my a100 back. the touchscreen issue is driving me nuts and i cant keep it in its crrent state. i am shipping it back to the retailer for a full refund rather than pay to ship it back to acer. at the end of the day i cant be doing with the hassle. so i need to know how i go about unrooting it and locking the boot loader back up and basically restoring it to stock.
i will have a read of the forums but with work being all rather busy and a deadline for return i am a little pushed for time so if anyone out there knows and would be kind enough to link me to a thread or simply tell me that would be appreciated.
cheers

You could flash stock boot loader and flash an official ota
sent from your future.

das_webos_transformer said:
You could flash stock boot loader and flash an official ota
sent from your future.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If hes just rooted just run the ota it'll do boot loader too. He didn't mention a custom rom or recovery, but if he does then doing it in that order will lock it up. Stock recovery then stock rom then bootloader last. Basically stock recovery > ota then you're fine.
Tapatalked from my Galaxy S II.

hey guys thanks for the replies.
ok sorry i should have said i have unlocked the boot loader rooted it and instaled twrp recovery. i never got round to putting a rom on it (i have only had it about 6 or 7 days), i removed root by accident when i wiped it but obviously the unlocked bootloader and recovery remained. so with this in mind then exactly what would i do?
flash stock rom>flash stock bootloader?
would that also remove recovery?
edit sorry i didnt remove root when i wiped it i merely lost the superuser app so i am actually still rooted.

rockmonkey1973 said:
hey guys thanks for the replies.
ok sorry i should have said i have unlocked the boot loader rooted it and instaled twrp recovery. i never got round to putting a rom on it (i have only had it about 6 or 7 days), i removed root by accident when i wiped it but obviously the unlocked bootloader and recovery remained. so with this in mind then exactly what would i do?
flash stock rom>flash stock bootloader?
would that also remove recovery?
edit sorry i didnt remove root when i wiped it i merely lost the superuser app so i am actually still rooted.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Root occurs in system, which isn't affected by wipes, so yeah SU is still there, just the app to control it is gone, which you discovered already.
As you have twrp, unlocked a200 bootloader but stock rom, the process is pretty simple.
Get the ics ota, name it update.zip place it on the root of the external sd card, no folders.
Power on holding volume - (closes to lock switch) and press power for 3 seconds, once the text starts up in the upper left corner, let everything go.
Should install stock rom, which will do the following:
1 wipe cache
2 flash new rom system
3 "flash" a100 bootloader
4 reboot into android
5 flash over twrp and place stock recovery in place
This will all occur on it's own once you get it loading up update.zip
5 only happens if it boots and is completely stock with /system/etc/install-recovery.sh intact.
3 can happen as long as it uses the update.zip
2 can fail, if it does but proceeds to flash bootloader twrp will be locked out, however a stock rooted rom as you have will still boot, and we can cover replacing the recovery with stock at that point if needed.
1 always happens, regardless of any other steps being met or finished.

mate thanks for helping here. i had to fix my phone which died after a bad flash of a back up in cwm... long story wont go into it... but it did eat up a good one or two days. so i havent gotten round to sorting anything out here with the tablet.
now i am going to try to flash the build prop and install one or two roms. flex reapers and cm10 all look good and i am hoping that that combination with maybe with over clocked kernal will be enough to fix the screen problem.
now i know it is unlikely if it is a hardware fault but i need to try because i would like to keep this tablet and the place i got it from havent got any more. it was pretty inexpensive at 127 pounds and i will be unlikely to find any other store that has stock at that price so if it goes back it goes back for good. hence me wanting to try to keep it.
so i am gonna flash the roms and the build prop now. if it doesnt fix it then i will be back for a little help in reverting it back to stock. by the way where can i find the ota ics release?
i will have a look on the forum i am sure it has to be here somewhere but just in case!!!
edit: got them edit no i havent i cant download them? the site is offline... anywhere else they can be gotten from? maybe acers website? will check now. just realised i have the stock rom installed! will make a back up now.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1307046
so you reckon it could be as simple as simply flashing the official rom to take the tablet all the way back to stock including the locking of the bootloader and removing the recovery? that would be nice and simple and easy which will be a real welcome change from the norm. fingers crossed that is all that is needed.

To go stock that is all that's needed. In vaches thread there is one decrypted on a drop box, that's our only one unless vache brings his stuff back online.
Well there is the service ROM which will be stock, but not what is supposed to be there. At first glance its stock though. Wouldn't suggest it for a return.
Tapatalked from my Galaxy S II.

ok this post was confusing. i am running stock ics at the moment. the bootlaoder is unlocked i have root and the recovery is twrp.
so i have downloaded the update found in the drop box folder here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1307046
it was already called update and it has a zip extension. so it is update.zip.
i have put it in both mnt/external_sd/ and also /sdcard/ none of them work.
all i get when i hold the volume and power button is taken into twrp recovery.
i thought it flashed automatically? can i flash it through recovery? bit worried about doing that because if it removes recovery while it is flashing i will be screwed.
will wait here now until someone can confirm what i am doing wrong because i cant afford to brick it.
i can be a bit to smart for my own good at times.
could the problem be that i am already running the latest ics official release? should i flash a custom rom? just throwing out some ideas here because i aint got a clue why it hasnt worked.

anyone know? i need to ship this back to the retaler tomorrow and i would prefer not to do it with an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery.
things is i am stumped because i thought i had done all that should be needed to flash the update and the only thing i can think of is because the firmware is up to date (possibly even newer than the update.zip) it wont update.

rockmonkey1973 said:
anyone know? i need to ship this back to the retaler tomorrow and i would prefer not to do it with an unlocked bootloader and custom recovery.
things is i am stumped because i thought i had done all that should be needed to flash the update and the only thing i can think of is because the firmware is up to date (possibly even newer than the update.zip) it wont update.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
In that case flash the stock recovery and run the bootloader for a100 that came in the unlock boot loader zip. Run the a100 script instead of the a200 script, that will lock it. Do this after stock recovery flashing.
Or, put back install-recovery.sh and reboot, that will replace the stock recovery then run the a100 boot loader script. You'll still be rooted but try update.zip again after stock recovery and boot loader are done.
Tapatalked from my Galaxy S II.

pio_masaki said:
In that case flash the stock recovery and run the bootloader for a100 that came in the unlock boot loader zip. Run the a100 script instead of the a200 script, that will lock it. Do this after stock recovery flashing.
Or, put back install-recovery.sh and reboot, that will replace the stock recovery then run the a100 boot loader script. You'll still be rooted but try update.zip again after stock recovery and boot loader are done.
Tapatalked from my Galaxy S II.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
mate you have been incredibly helpful. i mean seriously.
i will do as you suggest however i have a question how am i supposed to flash these files? do i do it through recovery? please dont say adb because i have never used that program dont know why i just tended to stay away from it zips and nandroids always seemed so much easier.
i have edited this post due to being slightly confused and thought it best to save the gushing praise until after the tab is stock! sorry mate i hate being a pain and i am reading all i can on locking the bootloader but there doesnt seem to be any guide i can follow. most of the threads i have found are for bricks and my tab is certainly not beicked... and i want it to stay that way.

rockmonkey1973 said:
mate you have been incredibly helpful. i mean seriously.
i will do as you suggest however i have a question how am i supposed to flash these files? do i do it through recovery? please dont say adb because i have never used that program dont know why i just tended to stay away from it zips and nandroids always seemed so much easier.
i have edited this post due to being slightly confused and thought it best to save the gushing praise until after the tab is stock! sorry mate i hate being a pain and i am reading all i can on locking the bootloader but there doesnt seem to be any guide i can follow. most of the threads i have found are for bricks and my tab is certainly not beicked... and i want it to stay that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well....adb. You used it before with the scripts to unlock the boot loader.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=23868002
Right above the download it mentions running the a100 script to revert to locked a100 boot loader.
Only do this with a stock ROM installed!
After that it'll be manually installing the recovery with fast boot or replace the stock /system/etc/install-recovry.sh
If it was just renamed, then name it back. If it was deleted it'll need replaced, it will revert to stock recovery on its own after booting with it in place.
Tapatalked from my Kindle Fire - Jellytime AOSP

thanks again my friend. funny i never realised i was flashing stuff with adb when i was doing things like that!
i always thought adb was a command line interface like say ssh and that you needed to use some sort of software like putty.
anyways just to bring this to a close. i never got time to flash it back to stock. i simply left the official ota on and reset it. have already received the refund so all is good. shame i am unlucky with tablets. i had a faulty archos 80 g9 and then this. guess i will hold off for a while maybe until i feel my luck has changed for the better.
cheers again mate.

[Q] Change Boot Logo? (without Logo Me)

Hey, I've done some reading up around here, and I'm looking to change my boot logo (Boot logo. Not the animation). So far, it doesn't look like anyone other than the developer of Logo Me has any method to do so.
From what I understand, "fastboot flash logo.bin logo.bin" doesn't work as it does on most other devices.
Now, I'm no professional, but I've got some of what many don't have: time and dedication.
It boils down to this: To change the boot logo, I'd need (1) a way to get the boot.img off of the phone, (2) a way to reliably edit the boot.img without corrupting it or messing with the format, (3) a way to figure out which file is the boot logo, and (4) a way to get the modified boot.img back onto the phone (again without messing it up in the process).
I'm fairly sure (4) is solved with "fastboot flash boot.img boot.img", but the others, not so easily dismissed.
When I make a nandroid backup in TWRP, the boot backup is an 8MB "boot.emmc.win". I'm fairly sure that this might be of some use, even if it's only for opening and exploring the contents of the partition.
I'm not sure if anybody has any remarkable leads that they've kept to themselves, but I'd figure this would be a good place to start.

Boot.img = ramdisk+kernel
Nothing to do with boot splash
sent from my i9250

the image that youre looking for is somehow connected to the bootloader. so far only ezekeel has figured out a way to do it safely. key word is safely. it appears as its very easy to brick the device if a mistake is made. now, that said, ezekeel isnt your ordinary app developer. hes also one of the smartest, most creative kernel developers that the android has(that doesnt work for google). youve probably even used one of his many kernel mods in one or more custom roms/kernels that youve tried, across varying devices.

Re: Custom boot splash?
Deleted

Re: Custom boot splash?
Deleted

[GUIDE]How not to brick your device

Everyday I see posts about people Bricking( Soft bricking/Hard Bricking) their Xperia S, Ion,AcroS or any other Xperia.Most of the times it is because people know that they have to flash or root or to unlock bootloader but do not have a clear information about what it actually means
I am creating this thread in order to tell you what the terminologies actually mean and how to avoid these bricks
First things you should know:
What is Android??
Android is basically a linux based kernel Operating System for your phones(We probably have heard it a gazillion times)
What it actually means?
Android is an operating system for phones built on a linux kernel. Linux is nothing but a clone of Unix Operating System which is another operating system like Windows. One main feature of Linux is that it is open source unlike windows.
Example of Linux kernel based OS for computer includes Ubuntu
What is kernel?
Kernel is nothing but a bridge between your hardware and Software
What it actually means?
Kernel controls your software according to your systems hardware.So on a computer if you press a key(eg:a) on keyboard. Kernel tells the OS that the key a has been pressed and to interpret it accordingly.So on a phone if you touch the home button,The kernel tells your OS that home button has been pressed and to take action accordingly.
So now comes the question.What if you flash an incompatible kernel?
Simple. Think of your computer having nothing but the monitor and without any working hardware.(I have a keyboard with a defective 'm' key,irritates the hell out of me)...Same happens to your phone. Even the booting process needs the kernel and hence you get the dreaded Soft-Brick...
What is bootloader?
Bootloader is a partition on your device that tells the phone with OS to load
What it actually means?
In Windows you see C:,D: etc..one of them contain your windows folder. In linux,it is different in name,not the concept. In linux based OS like Ubuntu, the partitions are /boot,/home,/root,/system,/recovery.....just like c:,d:,e: etc....
in android stock, you will have /boot,/system,/root.../boot is nothing but the bootloader...and in our sony phones this /boot aka bootloader is locked
What does bootloader contain?
bootloader as the name suggests tells your phone which os to boot..in our case it is the stock rom or custom or whatever os u have on the phone. Pretty self explanatory.
What is Flashmode and fastboot?
Flashmode as the name suggests is a mode which allows you to flash stuff(ROM's,kernel etc) on your phone
Fastboot mode: fastboot mode is another mode on your phone that allows you to flash stuff as well as debug it
What it actually means?
Flashmode: Pretty self explanatory
fastboot: It is used by both flashtool as well as ADB. fastboot allows you to test your kernel or whatever you are flashing..
command: fastboot boot boot.img
This command will boot boot.img(containing kernel/recovery or both and ramdisk) on your phone but wont flash it i.e. a test run. If boot.img doesnt boot,you can just disconnect and restart
command: fastboot flash boot boot.img
This command will flash the boot.img on your phone and then start it with the new boot.img.
Now fastboot wont work with a locked bootloader.So you cannot flash anything on your phone that requires a fastboot flash if your bootloader or /boot partition on your phone is locked
What is flashtool?
Flashtool is a tool developed and maintained by Androxyde, Bin4ry ,Doomlord. This tool lets you do a lot of things to your phone but its main usage is to flash stock Roms, kernels or anything that comes in an ftf package on your phone
What it means to you?
If anything goes wrong. The first thing you would need is this tool to revert back to Stock ROM. So keep this tool ready in case you are entering into the world of flashing custom firmware
What all can go wrong?
Frankly a lot of things(including power cuts,battery going dead)..
What you can avoid?
First thing,read read and read...A custom ROM would have a list of compatible devices..Go through the post and see if your device is listed. If your device
is listed and compatible then you can proceed. Flashing an incompatible ROM will result in a soft brick or hard,depending upon what you are flashing
>Next check if ROM requires a locked bootloader or unlocked(Important)
>Next if you are planning on unlocking bootloader, its better to flash CWM first on your phone and then flash ROM through CWM
What is CWM?
CWM aka Clockworkmod is a custom recovery that allows you to do a host of stuff including flashing of ROMs or zip packages
What it means to you?
Every phone has a recovery partition just like i told in the partition section. However, Latest Sony phones including Xperia S,ION,Acro S do not have one. Now most phones have a stock recovery system which allows users to reset their phones if something goes wrong. But, just like Custom ROMs, We have Custom Recoveries like CWM aka ClockworkMod developed by Koush that has many more options like flashing packages,taking a backup.
So basically CWM would be used by you to take a backup of your current system first and then flash the ROM. Now if anything goes wrong and you get a softbrick, you can just go to CWM and restore your backup and voila!!your phone will be back to normal again
Key Points:
1. CWM needs root
2. Recovery partition is not included in Sony.So, CWM is incorporated into the kernel itself by the kernel developer. What this means to us is that we would need an unlocked bootloader for installing CWM as we would have to flash the CWM included kernel to the boot partition
>Next, Always double check the requirements of the ROM you are going to install(Important)
Ohh before i forget...What is this ROOT everyone talks about?
ROOT is nothing but administrative access to sensitive parts of your OS
What it means to you?
It is nothing but getting admin rights to your system,in our case its our phones. you wont have root access on your phones by default. one major reason for this is safety. So that people don't delete a system file by mistake and what not
With root you can do everything with your phone. Thanks to our devs, we have loads of methods available to root your phone. Good place to search would be the search button
Why are we talking about root??
Because it might be a prerequisite for your custom ROM or a part of another prerequisite for installing your ROM.
>Now double check requirements again. And don't skip any step
>Once you have met all the requirements. Lets start flashing.
Ok now what can go wrong. First low battery..phone went dead while flashing..solution: Please charge it atleast while you finish the other requirements
Laptop crashes(Very Bad luck)..Solution: Always prefer to have the ROM installed through CWM and a backup ready. If you are lucky enough, you will be able to boot into CWM to restore backup and start again.
If you are flashing through any other method, then dont worry, have flashtool ready and your stock firmware..(Check firmware before installing if its for your phone:Very Important)
Check Exclude TA partition in flashtool unless absolutely necessary
Note: If your phone is bricked, it is always better to flash your kernel first(personal opinion), Once that is done, you can easily flash the full firmware
And please wipe cache and dalvik cache after flashing a ROM through CWM: Half the people wont perform this step and then try to find solutions for the bootloop. You can do this either through the CWM or ADB. For ADB method, just search the forum
One last thing and very very important. For Phones running stock firmware with unlocked bootloader or custom FW based on stock kernel with unlocked bootloader. Don't do an OTA update as this will hardbrick your device. Better download an stock FTF of that firmware version and flash it via flashtools
If still your phone bricks then there is a very nice thread here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1849170 by Toledo_JAB on bricked phone recovery
In the next post i will add some more information like TA partition backup, some more info about Android..etc.....
In case i have forgotten anything or have given the wrong info, please let me know so that i can add/edit the OP

Reserved

Last one

may i recomend mesaging a mod or admin to pin this thread or are you already on that
Sent From The ACP HQ

Envious_Data said:
may i recomend mesaging a mod or admin to pin this thread or are you already on that
Sent From The ACP HQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No bro.this is my first thread so don't know how to get it stocked

Dark Wraith said:
No bro.this is my first thread so don't know how to get it stocked
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
just PM a mod with a kind message (mod names can be found above the threads in a section)
( i dont realy know how but thats what people talk of so i assume asking a mod is the only way to pin a thread
not to hard to miss ;D
Sent From The ACP HQ

Envious_Data said:
just PM a mod with a kind message (mod names can be found above the threads in a section)
( i dont realy know how but thats what people talk of so i assume asking a mod is the only way to pin a thread
not to hard to miss ;D
Sent From The ACP HQ
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha.. I'll ask if people read the thread mate and benefit from it..till now no such enthusiasm so we'll see

nice
nice

Add: -Don't clear emmc under clockworkmod. ;D
-SnowKatana ^_^~

Good
very easy to understand, Nicely explained...
I just want to know what is hard brick?

Question Soft brick no backup

Hi all!
Long story short, I beefed it...
I tried flashing the unofficial twrp and accidentally did format all on spflashtool.
I'm two months in and for the life of me I can't fix my phone... I've even tried to learn how to write a custom OS myself to fix it but I'm definitely not smart enough.
So, here's where I'm at right now:
When I flash the engineering ROM, the phone boots normally and all that seems to work, but flashing the official MIUI causes a bootloop to the stock recovery.
In there, there's the message "NV data is corrupted".
I'm 2 months in now, so I've seen almost all google pages, so yes, I've tried flashing using the official tool, flashed vbmeta with --disable-verity and --disable-verification.
It's my phone and I have the box here, so I have both IMEI numbers which I managed to flash in the engineering ROM, but flashing the normal MIUI somehow deletes the IMEI numbers again.
I can get into fastboot so the bootloader is unlocked, but I can't boot into the system so I can't enable dev options.
please, if you can help I'm more than happy to answer any other questions and being called an idiot :')
help me, XDA, you're my only hope

check the link
BootLoop not letting me access fastboot
Okay so when I flashed Magisk boot image my device activated boot problems. And when I tried to access recovery mode via adb (from Android Studio), my phone entered a bootloop from which I cannot exit. Vol down + power buttons does not work...
forum.xda-developers.com

I'm in the same exact boat as you...That guide was absolute trash and I can't find anything.

historypm said:
I'm in the same exact boat as you...That guide was absolute trash and I can't find anything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hold tight, I'm very close to fixing it!
Got everything working except mobile network. As soon as I figure that out, I'll post a fix here

RadixMalum said:
Hi all!
Long story short, I beefed it...
I tried flashing the unofficial twrp and accidentally did format all on spflashtool.
I'm two months in and for the life of me I can't fix my phone... I've even tried to learn how to write a custom OS myself to fix it but I'm definitely not smart enough.
So, here's where I'm at right now:
When I flash the engineering ROM, the phone boots normally and all that seems to work, but flashing the official MIUI causes a bootloop to the stock recovery.
In there, there's the message "NV data is corrupted".
I'm 2 months in now, so I've seen almost all google pages, so yes, I've tried flashing using the official tool, flashed vbmeta with --disable-verity and --disable-verification.
It's my phone and I have the box here, so I have both IMEI numbers which I managed to flash in the engineering ROM, but flashing the normal MIUI somehow deletes the IMEI numbers again.
I can get into fastboot so the bootloader is unlocked, but I can't boot into the system so I can't enable dev options.
please, if you can help I'm more than happy to answer any other questions and being called an idiot :')
help me, XDA, you're my only hope
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Good evening, sorry for my bad English, but I have the same problem when this happened, I had miui V13.0.7.0 there, I got bootlop, I loaded V12.5.2.0 there and the phone worked everything except the network, try and let me know

You have to download the firmware and paste it into the platform tools folder and click flash all.bat