Develop Bugs

[Q] Need Assistance, I brick my Galaxy Nexus

Hi, I am afraid I brick my Galaxy Nexus (Rooted)
Cause:
I think I wrongly delete some system files in Clockworkmod.
Symptoms:
1. When the mobile is turn on, only shows 'Google' logo and the 'Unlock' logo, no responds then.
2. Press Volume + and - key, I can successfully enter recovery mode.
3.Press Volume - key, I can successfully enter Download mode.
4. I do not have any Stock Rom file (or other Rom file) in the mobile memory.
Urgently need your expertise and help.
Many Thanks
(I am not an expert, so would you mind teach me step by step if you got the solution)
Thanks!!!!

So you cannot boot the phone at all past the Google splash screen? LTE or GSM?
Or does the phone boot fine, but you just can't get into ClockworkMod Recovery?

cbs2002 said:
Hi, I am afraid I brick my Galaxy Nexus (Rooted)
Cause:
I think I wrongly delete some system files in Clockworkmod.
Symptoms:
1. When the mobile is turn on, only shows 'Google' logo and the 'Unlock' logo, no responds then.
2. Press Volume + and - key, I can successfully enter recovery mode.
3.Press Volume - key, I can successfully enter Download mode.
4. I do not have any Stock Rom file (or other Rom file) in the mobile memory.
Urgently need your expertise and help.
Many Thanks
(I am not an expert, so would you mind teach me step by step if you got the solution)
Thanks!!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The key piece of information for your symptom is in this line:
1. When the mobile is turn on, only shows 'Google' logo and the 'Unlock' logo, no responds then.
The other lines do help provide background as to the other modes such as recovery and download working properly, which indicates the issue is not *serious*.
The symptom you state, where the device does not boot past the boot logo, usually means the device is not able to boot the kernel or boot past the kernel. The boot logo appears while the kernel is being loaded on the device. Generally, after the boot logo and kernel finish loading a boot animation appears which indicates the kernel has usually handed off to the Android OS to continue booting.
My approach would be to load a completely stock ROM in order to restore a working kernel and ROM to the device. I generally perform this step as a baseline to get everything back in working order.
In many instances the ROM is dependent on the kernel. Your situation requires at least a kernel to be loaded and in order to prevent any further issues, it would be best to load a ROM dependent on the kernel being loaded.
A simple way would be to grab the stock factory images from Google's site and load those back onto the device.
Another simple way would be to grab a stock ROM and flash the .zip through CWM in recovery mode.
Hope that helps!

Since you're rooted I'm going to assume you have ADB and the necessary drivers installed.
1.) Download a ROM. It doesn't have to be stock, you can choose any of the ROMs from the development section for your device. Most of the ROMs are packaged with a kernel already.
2.) Save this ROM file to the same folder where you have ADB installed.
3.) Boot your phone into CWM recovery and plug it into your computer.
4.) Use ADB to push the ROM zip file to your phone (/data/media). For example:
Code:
c:\gnex\>adb push rom.zip /data/media/rom.zip
5.) Use CWM to wipe data, cache, and davlik-cache
6.) Install zip from sdcard and flash the rom.zip.

RMarkwald said:
So you cannot boot the phone at all past the Google splash screen? LTE or GSM?
Or does the phone boot fine, but you just can't get into ClockworkMod Recovery?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I am using GSM
2. Whenever I turn on my mobile, the 'Google' and 'Unlock' logo appears and then freeze, with no more respond at all
* I definitely mess up some system files, but don't know how to restore it because my PC do not recognize my mobile.
Thanks

I am seeing more and more of these threads about "bricked" nexus's is this an issue with how new the phone is or people not following instructions properly as they are too eager to root their phones?
All else fails flash back to stock and count yourself lucky.

To silow,
Thanks for your advice, but fail
1. I put adb.exe, adbwinapi.dll and fastboot.exe (3 files) under my PC C drive (i.e. C
2. I also put a stock Rom (rename as rom.zip) under C drive (i.e. C
3. Boot phone into CWM recovery and plug it into computer.
4. Use cmd command and type c:\gnex\>adb push rom.zip /data/media/rom.zip
5. It fails , It say "Access Denied" (in Chinese, but I translate it into English here)
6. How do I use ADB (it is a ADB.exe file, When I double click it, it only flash up a few page very fast and nothing happen)
Please assist!

To Joeykrim,
I agree that
"Another simple way would be to grab a stock ROM and flash the .zip through CWM in recovery mode."
But how? (according to my symptoms)

The command I gave you was just an example. I didn't spell out the exact details because I thought that you would know how to do it considering you rooted the phone.
If you put the adb.exe and AdbWinApi.dll file in your C: drive, make sure you copy the ROM file to your C: drive too. In the follow example I'm going to use "ROM.zip" but use the name of the ROM file that you downloaded. Also I am assuming you are on Windows XP.
1.) Boot your phone into CWM recovery and then plug it in.
2.) Go to your Start Menu and choose Run. Then type in "cmd" without quotes and hit enter to open a command prompt.
3.) Enter:
Code:
cd c:\
4.) Enter the following to make sure ADB can see your phone:
Code:
adb devices
You should see something similiar to this to confirm ADB can see your device:
List of devices attached
019B756F0C018012 device
5.) Enter the following command to copy the ROM file to your phone. Remember to replace ROM.zip with whatever the name of the ROM file is:
Code:
adb push ROM.zip /data/media/ROM.zip
6.) Use CWM to wipe data, cache, and davlik-cache
7.) Install zip from sdcard and flash the rom.zip.

To Silow,
You have been very helpful, but I fail.
"You should see something similiar to this to confirm ADB can see your device:
List of devices attached"
There is NO device number shown after the phrase 'List of devices attached'
To recap:
a) Phone is already plugged in my PC, under the Clockworkmod Recovery 5.5.0.2
b) adb.exe and AdbWinApi.dll file are under C: drive directly
c) Also type cmd in 'Run', a black Dos window shown C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe
d) c:\>adb devices
List of devices attached
(But no device number show up, it cannot recognize my mobile)
Pls don't give up on me!
: )

you can't use adb from CWM, you need to enter the bootloader, then try adb or fastboot (edit: wrong!)

Sounds like your ADB USB drivers are not correctly installed. While the phone is under CWM, when you plug it in is your computer attempting to install drivers for a new device?
Download these bare ADB Interface drivers.ADB USB Drivers
Go into Device Manager on your computer and check the device list for any unknown devices or "?" devices. If you need to update those drivers by pointing them to the drivers you downloaded and extracted from that link above.
When the ADB Interface drivers are correctly installed you should see Android Phone listed under under your Device Manager when it's plugged in with CWM recovery loaded.
---------- Post added at 02:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:35 PM ----------
cancerouspete said:
you can't use adb from CWM, you need to enter the bootloader, then try adb or fastboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You CAN use ADB with CWM. That's one of the reasons why CWM is so awesome.

silow said:
You CAN use ADB with CWM. That's one of the reasons why CWM is so awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
edit: i did appear to have one missing driver, my mistake. it was listed in device manager as "unknown - full"
its funny cause i never had to use adb from cwm before, never noticed

cbs2002 said:
d) c:\>adb devices
List of devices attached
(But no device number show up, it cannot recognize my mobile)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This symptom generally occurs from not having loaded the drivers for the hardware. As with the majority of hardware devices when being connected to a Windows machine, the drivers need to be loaded. Sometimes these are automatically loaded and other times they have to be manual loaded.
As an alternative and for future reference, the android-sdk package contains general USB drives which usually work for Google Nexus devices.
Generally, as this providers a *cleaner* install, best practice as recommended by Google is to download the whole android-sdk .zip and then from the installer download/install the pieces needed, such as platform-tools (containing adb) and USB drivers as opposed to extracting out the adb.exe and .dll file and installing manually.
cancerouspete said:
you can't use adb from CWM, you need to enter the bootloader, then try adb or fastboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
silow said:
You CAN use ADB with CWM. That's one of the reasons why CWM is so awesome.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. To add greater clarification so there is no confusion: adb can't be used from the bootloader.
The /sbin/adbd daemon on the device is only loaded while in normal android boot mode or in recovery mode as called by the init.rc (or on some older devices, recovery.rc) file in the boot process.
Bootloader mode will only work with fastboot while it is in fastboot usb mode.
On some devices, the bootloader has a separate menu for fastboot and on other devices, the fastboot mode is directly entered when entering the bootloader.
Hope that helps clarify!

To silow (and all other helpers)
1. I fail
2. The ADB USB drivers in my PC should be fine as in Device Manager , I can see Android Phone with Android Composite ADB Interface. (No exclamation mark)
3. On the other hand, whenever I plug my mobile into PC, I can see "Unknown-Full"
4. In DOS, when I first type "adb devices" it shows
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037*
*daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
(but NO device number shown!)
5. When I enter adb devices second time, it shows
List of devices attached (No device number shown)
Thank you so much , but it is Hong Kong time (my place) at 0511 am , I didn't sleep all night and I am very tired.
If you don't mind (especially big helper Silow), please give me email so that I capture screen picture and show you in detail (hope it may help)
my email is
[email protected]
I need to sleep now, I will check my email and see you guys or come back this Forum later (several hours later, as I really need some sleep right now)
Pls don't give up on me as this is an expensive mobile. I think the hardware is fine, just need to figure out a way to unbrick it.
Thanks, and see you!

What you need to do is right click on "Unknown-Full" and click on "Update Driver...". Then choose "Install from a list or specific location". Make sure "Search for the best driver in these locations." is checked and "Include this location in the search:" is check. Click on the Browse button and browse to where you extracted the driver files from the link I posted above. Click Next and this should install the correct drivers for you. Afterwards try "adb devices" again to see if ADB now reconizes your device.

To Silow,
Fail.
1. Already installed the drivers you gave me (and there is no 'Exclamation' Mark) in Device manager
2. Situation is the same , Cannot recognize my mobile (i.e. no Device No. after entering adb devices)
3. "List of devices attached" shown in DOS video but without any number.
No other method?
My mobile is really 'bricked' to death?

To Silow and all,
Something important
1. When choose 'install zip from sd card' under CWM, a list of old folder names remains
(e..g gameloft, DCIM, Pictures, etc). That means almost all old files, folders are STILL in my mobile!
2. I have already use the funcion 'Wipe data/factory reset', 'wipe cache partition', ' Wipe Dalvik Cache'
Perhaps my CWM has problem?

What happens when you update drivers for Unknown-Full?
Boot into fastboot and see if your computer recognizes the phone by checking device manager. The key here is to get your computer to see the phone either in fastboot or CWM.
Perhaps try another cable, USB port, or new computer.
The goal is to get Android Phone ADB Composite Interface to show up in device manager either in Fastboot or CWM. Without that done you cannot use Fastboot to flash nor ADB to push a zip file to the phone.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA App

Accidentally removed OS in OP3.

Hi all,
While trying to install custom mod i accidentally deleted my original rom as well as the custom rom from my phone. I can access twrp fast boot but while trying to install zip file its missing from phone. Any way to install any custom rom at this point?
Update : Restarted my phone ( well powered off coz of low battery) . When i charged and switched it on , twrp is not there . Instead when i go to recovery mode , the original one plus recovery mode is appearing.

gamer361 said:
Hi all,
While trying to install custom mod i accidentally deleted my original rom as well as the custom rom from my phone. I can access twrp fast boot but while trying to install zip file its missing from phone. Any way to install any custom rom at this point?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sideloading is the easiest option.
Boot into TWRP, find ADB Sideload mode (I think it's under "Advanced", not sure), connect phone to PC via USB cable and flash ROM directly from PC with "adb sideload rom-name" command.
This is a very short version, if you need me to explain anything in depth just say it
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using Tapatalk

Explorer23 said:
Sideloading is the easiest option.
Boot into TWRP, find ADB Sideload mode (I think it's under "Advanced", not sure), connect phone to PC via USB cable and flash ROM directly from PC with "adb sideload rom-name" command.
This is a very short version, if you need me to explain anything in depth just say it
Sent from my OnePlus 3 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if possible please tell me step by step.

gamer361 said:
if possible please tell me step by step.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry for late reply.
So, first things first, make sure you have working adb/fastboot on your PC (you can get it >>HERE<< if you need it; select Y for all options).
- download latest TWRP recovery >>HERE<<
- download a ROM of your choice
- in case you go for a custom ROM you'll probably also need latest firmware (CLICK), Gapps (CLICK) and possibly Magisk (CLICK)
- open command prompt in folder where you've put all downloaded files - hold Shift and right click in that folder > open command window here.
- boot phone into fastboot mode and connect it to PC
- type fastboot devices in cmd to see if the phone is properly recognized (should say something like "device #serial-number" IIRC)
- flash TWRP by typing fastboot flash recovery recovery-name.img
- reboot device into recovery mode. Fastboot generally doesn't support rebooting into recovery, but our phone makes it easy with that 5 second timeout on boot. Type fastboot reboot and as soon as it displays that warning screen press a volume button and then scroll to recovery with volumpe up/down.
You should be booted into TWRP now. Let's continue to flashing a ROM.
Assuming you're going for a custom ROM, start with firmware:
- select "Advanced" in TWRP
- select "ADB Sideload"
- swipe to start sideload
- type adb devices in cmd - it should recognize that the device is in sideload mode
- type adb sideload firmware.zip and wait for it to finish
- go back to main TWRP screen and repeat the steps to get into sideload mode
- type adb sideload rom-filename.zip
- repeat to flash Gapps and Magisk
If you chose to flash stock ROM rather than custom then you can skip firmware and Gapps and flash just the ROM (and possibly magisk, that's up to you).
Done! Now you can boot into system.

NO RPMB (how to install TWRP, a new ROM and using Magisk)

Hello, I have sent my phone to warranty and after that I received a phone with NO RPMB and after many frustrations I found (with help of many users and forums) how to workaround this..
To start:
Download boot image from here
Download twrp from the official website
Change the name to boot.img and twrp.img and put it in the platform-tools folder
Open the terminal there
Download your favourite rom
Enter fastboot mode on your phone
!!!!After this you will loose all of your data!!!!
Paste this to the terminal
fastboot oem unlock
(select yes on your phone)
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash recovery twrp.img
fastboot format userdata
fastboot format cache
Reboot to recovery (if it doesn't enter at the first time enter download mode again and restart to recovery)
After that you have twrp and can flash every rom.. yay!!!
Wipe everything.
Copy the rom zip to your phone using MTP
Install your fancy new rom
If you want to install magisk:
Install the magisk manager.
On the app select install and select patch image file. (it will create a new boot image already patched)
After that install the new image (patched_boot.img) using twrp
Do a clean instalation of your ROM (recomended) or a Factory Reset first
Reboot to twrp
Select install
Click in install image
Select patched_boot.img
Select install to boot partition
Reboot.
Install magisk manager and do the sugested setup.
You now have magisk working
Thanks to all the users that helped me!!

I had real trouble getting twrp to work the last time I tried this a few months ago. Followed the steps here and am now on pixel experience with magisk. Thanks!

Hello, im in the same situation of NO RPMB. This procedure will permanently lets have bootloader unlocked?
About Magisk, i can install it in usual way once im in the recovery? (I mean download latest stable version for Bullhead and flash via TWRP).
Thanks.

sigibian said:
Hello, im in the same situation of NO RPMB. This procedure will permanently lets have bootloader unlocked?
About Magisk, i can install it in usual way once im in the recovery? (I mean download latest stable version for Bullhead and flash via TWRP).
Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bootloader is still unlocked after following this guide
For Magisk:
-Install your custom ROM and boot it up (without root)
-Then extract the boot.img from the ROM zip file and save it on your phone storage.
-Install the Magisk manager apk
-In Magisk manager, select install Magisk> choose the patch boot image option and -Select the boot.img you previously saved.
Once it's done, reboot into twrp and flash the patched boot.img. When you reboot Magisk will be working.
I've had no issues with my bootloader, even after an ota update for pixel experience.

Thank you, i will try it.
Another question. I never tried dowload mode before, as i read in other post i should Plug USB cable into pc, Hold volume up and power at the same time and plug phone into usb that's already connected to pc, right?
When in download mode i can fire up fastboot commands like im in bootloader mode?
So then after do last command fastboot format cache i can reboot to recovery from terminal using adb reboot recovery or i can / should do it from device?
About twrp it's ok to use the latest 3.2.3.0 official version or the 3.2.1 4core version from here as someone suggested from Reddit? https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/development/recovery-twrp-3-2-1-4-core-t3796656

sigibian said:
Thank you, i will try it.
Another question. I never tried dowload mode before, as i read in other post i should Plug USB cable into pc, Hold volume up and power at the same time and plug phone into usb that's already connected to pc, right?
When in download mode i can fire up fastboot commands like im in bootloader mode?
So then after do last command fastboot format cache i can reboot to recovery from terminal using adb reboot recovery or i can / should do it from device?
About twrp it's ok to use the latest 3.2.3.0 official version or the 3.2.1 4core version from here as someone suggested from Reddit? https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/development/recovery-twrp-3-2-1-4-core-t3796656
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The official twrp works for fine for me, haven't tried the 4 core version but it can't hurt to try if you need it.
Power off your phone then press and hold volume - and power to enter bootloader, then connect to your pc and follow the steps in the OP

So i have to enter in bootloader mode? At point 6 of OP there is written to enter in the download mode, this makes me confusing.
Can anyone explain me latest 2 commands why they are needed?
fastboot format userdata
fastboot format cache

sigibian said:
So i have to enter in bootloader mode? At point 6 of OP there is written to enter in the download mode, this makes me confusing.
Can anyone explain me latest 2 commands why they are needed?
fastboot format userdata
fastboot format cache
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This thread is fairly comprehensive;
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/general/moto-nexus-5x-sticky-roll-t3207487
Holding volume - and power takes you to fastboot mode (download mode essentially), theres also an option to reboot into recovery (selectable using the volume keys.)
Formatting user data and cache is necessary prior to installing a new rom (especially if moving from stock). You lose all data (back up first!) But a clean flash is the best place to start.

baddesthad said:
This thread is fairly comprehensive;
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/general/moto-nexus-5x-sticky-roll-t3207487
Holding volume - and power takes you to fastboot mode (download mode essentially), theres also an option to reboot into recovery (selectable using the volume keys.)
Formatting user data and cache is necessary prior to installing a new rom (especially if moving from stock). You lose all data (back up first!) But a clean flash is the best place to start.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the explanation but for installing a new ROM usually you can do factory reset directly in TWRP, plus doing all the wipes, this should be enough.
About fastboot mode and download mode, they are completely different, fastboot mode: vol down + power, download mode for LG: Plug USB cable into pc, Hold volume up and power at the same time and plug phone into usb.
My question is what i can do in download mode? As OP says after entering download mode open terminal and use fastboot commands.

sigibian said:
Thanks for the explanation but for installing a new ROM usually you can do factory reset directly in TWRP, plus doing all the wipes, this should be enough.
About fastboot mode and download mode, they are completely different, fastboot mode: vol down + power, download mode for LG: Plug USB cable into pc, Hold volume up and power at the same time and plug phone into usb.
My question is what i can do in download mode? As OP says after entering download mode open terminal and use fastboot commands.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need to use vol- and power to go into fastboot mode then connect to the pc. As for userdata and cache, if you don't clean them when coming from stock you will have issues (your data will be encrypted if you're on stock?). As I said this guide worked for me. The op was talking about fastboot mode in the 6th option (also there is much more information in the thread I linked above)

sorry for the confusing i wanted to say fastboot mode..
i knew the thread that you are saying but most people doesn't want to search so I made a little thread only with the needed parts..
I use it myself so I have a place to remember all the steps when I need to change the rom to a new one or when I make experiments and brick my phone XD

If anyone know anything else that should be in here just say, I really want to improve the post

Hi. I just went through the whole process several times (I have tried the different modified boot images from the dedicated post) and my device is still locked [emoji24] any suggestions?

fhartane said:
Hi. I just went through the whole process several times (I have tried the different modified boot images from the dedicated post) and my device is still locked [emoji24] any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
your device will always be locked this is a workaround to get twrp, new roms and magisk while it stays locked..
with twrp usable it won't matter if you are locked or not

PedroM.CostaAndrade said:
your device will always be locked this is a workaround to get twrp, new roms and magisk while it stays locked..
with twrp usable it won't matter if you are locked or not
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the answer. You mean that now I have twrp, I can flash custom Roms with my bootloader locked without any issue?
Envoyé de mon ONEPLUS A3003 en utilisant Tapatalk

Yes if you have TWRP you can install custom ROMs, custom Kernel's, magisk, super su, etc..
the locked bootloader only prevents you from using fastboot commands like the one needed for installing custom recovery
Now that you have TWRP you can use it for everything

Hello everyone, I also have a nexus 5x with motherboard that has been replaced under warranty and unfortunately I can't keep the bootloader unlocked.
I tried the procedure you have indicated, but at this point there is the problem, because after inserting the boot.img and twrp.img inside the phone, then when I go to do the unlocking procedure with 'fastboot oem unlock (select yes on your phone) 'in practice the memory is deleted on the phone, so I lose the previously uploaded files, and therefore I can no longer continue with the flash procedure of boot.img and twrp.img because they are no longer present in memory.
I hope I made myself understood, maybe I am wrong, or is there a way to solve this problem?

Fabiojoker said:
Hello everyone, I also have a nexus 5x with motherboard that has been replaced under warranty and unfortunately I can't keep the bootloader unlocked.
I tried the procedure you have indicated, but at this point there is the problem, because after inserting the boot.img and twrp.img inside the phone, then when I go to do the unlocking procedure with 'fastboot oem unlock (select yes on your phone) 'in practice the memory is deleted on the phone, so I lose the previously uploaded files, and therefore I can no longer continue with the flash procedure of boot.img and twrp.img because they are no longer present in memory.
I hope I made myself understood, maybe I am wrong, or is there a way to solve this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fastboot is for the files on your PC not your phone
you need to put the files inside of platform-tools and then open cmd inside it and use the fastboot commands
fastboot will take the files of your PC

Hello, thank you for your information, since I haven't done modding on phones for a long time, I didn't remember exactly the procedure with fastboot and therefore I didn't understand where I had to put the files, but in the end I did it.
Thank you
PedroM.CostaAndrade said:
fastboot is for the files on your PC not your phone
you need to put the files inside of platform-tools and then open cmd inside it and use the fastboot commands
fastboot will take the files of your PC
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Why is a custom boot image needed? I don't want to root.

[GUIDE] Root and unbrick steps for ASUS ZenPad C 7.0 (P10Z - Z170C)

Hi all! It took me a lot of time to finally being able to root this tablet. It's old, slow and practically unusable, but with some tricks it can be made much, much better. I'm going to explain what you need to do to root this tablet, and in case of brick (which happened to me many, many times) how to unbrick it. I even got to a point where I could not even boot into recovery mode, and only fastboot was working, that was scary, but I managed to get out. Every single file I will use will be bundled in a ZIP you can download, and I'll try to make sure this link stays up, because there's nothing more frustrating than wanting to make these things in the future only to find out the link is dead, along with all your hopes. Before we begin, a little disclaimer:
Code:
#You, and only you are responsible for everything that you do or happens to your tablet.
#If you screw up, I have a number of backups to help you recover, but if that's not enough don't point a finger at me.
#I will not be babysitting anybody to help restore their tablet or recover lost data.
#This process WILL wipe all of your data, do a backup before beggining.
#YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
1. ENABLING USB DEBUGGING
This is a very basic step, but it's needed if you want to even begin to do this. You'll need to go to "Settings -> About Phone". There, look for a line that says "Compilation Number" (or something like that) and tap it multiple times. You will see a message pop up saying "You are now a developer" (I wish it was that easy). Go back to the settings screen, you will see a new option appeared called "USB Debugging". Enable it, and make sure "Developer Options" are enabled too at the very top of the screen. Now, connect the tablet to your computer. You will see a message pop up asking for permission, tap "Always allow from this computer" and press "Allow".
That's it for this step.
2. SETTING UP ADB TOOLS AND MAKING SURE THEY WORK
Now that we have USB debugging enabled, and we have allowed our PC to access the tablet, we can begin setting up ADB. The required files are attached in the zip.
Extract the "platform-tools" folder and move it somewhere nice. Then open it, hold shift and right click in a white space and select the option "Open command window here". CMD will pop up, now type:
Code:
adb devices
It will probably say something about a server followed by a list of attached devices. If you see a serial number there, then great! ADB is working as it should. If not, make sure the tablet is connected, that USB Debugging is on, and if all else fails, try with another cable.
Now for the juicy part.
3. UNLOCKING THE BOOTLOADER
We will have to unlock the bootloader if we want to do anything here. Here's what to do. Type:
Code:
adb reboot fastboot
Wait until the tablet reboots into fastboot. Once there type:
Code:
fastboot oem unlock
fastboot oem unlock confirm
This should unlock the bootloader.
NOTE: This method of unlocking is reported to not work anymore, but I listed it anyway just in case, as it doesn't hurt to try. If this is not working for you, don't panic, it's normal, use the following code instead:
Code:
fastboot oem asus-go
fastboot oem asus-go confirm
This should work, and the bootloader should be unlocked now.
4. INSTALLING THE REQUIRED FIRMWARE
Now, your tablet may or may not have the required firmware for the procedure, but just in case we will flash one that's sure to work. If you followed along, you should be in fastboot mode right now. Type:
Code:
fastboot reboot
Your tablet should boot as normal, without any changes (unless the first bootloader unlock method worked for you, in which case it probably wiped all of your data). Now we can access ADB once again, so type:
Code:
adb reboot recovery
The tablet will reboot into recovery mode and you should see an image of wasted android with an open belly (if you don't see this it doesn't matter). You should see a list of options with blue text, you must use the volume keys to navigate this menu. If you don't see any options, press any volume key and they should appear. If instead of getting into recovery mode, the tablet just turned off, then go to the "Fixing recovery" section.
In this menu, you must select "Wipe data/factory reset". This will, obviously, wipe all of your data. Once that finishes, select the "Install update through ADB" option. Once that's done, make sure the "updated_firmware.zip" file is in the same directory as the "adb.exe" file, then type:
Code:
adb sideload updated_firmware.zip
This will install the firmware, it will take about 20 mins. Once finished, reboot the device. You may think it got bricked at this point, fear not, the first boot really takes this long (about 10 mins).
Once everything is done, the device should boot up and everything should be exactly as it was when you took it out of the box, meaning, it doesn't even remember your wifi password. Do a quick (but proper) set up and enable USB Debugging again, make sure to allow the PC again (and check the "always allow" box). Also, scroll down a bit more in the developer options section and look for one that says "Verify apps installed through USB" or something of that kind. Make sure it's unchecked. Now, we gotta install root.
5. ROOTING
The all holy root, finally here. Type this into the terminal:
Code:
adb reboot fastboot
You should be familiar with this process by now. Once in fastboot mode, type:
Code:
fastboot boot root.img
Once finished, reboot. You should boot up as a rooted user, hooray! Only one final step, we gotta give ourselves some means to control this new power, that's where the SuperSU app comes into play.
6. INSTALLING SUPERSU
Apparently, not every single SuperSU apk file works... but lucky for you, I managed to scout and bundle one that does, so use that one. Make sure the apk file is in the same folder as "adb.exe" (as with all of the previous files) and type:
Code:
adb install supersu-2-82.apk
Leave it a few mins, and you should see a "success!" message when it's finished. Open the SuperSU app and it will tell you that you need to update the binaries. Say yes to that, and when asked wether to do a "Normal" update or "TWRP" update, select normal. It should be successful and prompt you to reboot, do so.
That's about it, you now have root access in the ASUS ZenPad C 7.0.
NOTE: Every single attempt I made to make the SuperSU app a system app resulted in the app crashing and I needed to reinstall it again, do as you please.
Why would you even want to do this you might ask? Well, I personally used this to make a few tweaks with Kernel Auditor and L Speed, two apps that will let you customize the performance of the machine to its maximum... sacrificing battery of course. You can search online for the best configuration for you for these apps. With the right tweaks, it transforms from **** to usable, and you need root for all of this.
As a quick note, you might notice that the SuperSU pop up that prompts you wether to grant or deny root access to an app is delayed, that's just how life is with this machine, it's slow. As a tip, when an app is trying to acquire root access, go back to the home screen and open the SuperSU app, then go back to the app you were trying to give it access to, it should appear quicked that way. Sometimes it's so slow that the app says I don't have root, only to have the pop up appear 10 seconds later. Now... to a final chapter.
7. UNBRICKING
This would be the end of the story if nothing went wrong, you have a rooted tablet and you can now do whatever you want with it, but that's not how life is. **** happens, things can go wrong, and when they do, you better have a backup plan. I don't know how to get back your ex, but I know how you can unbrick your tablet if that should happen. Follow these steps if you want to recover this machine...
Code:
#This process will wipe all data, but you shouldn't care about that since you can't access it anyway.
So, if the tablet doesn't turn on and gets stuck at the boot up screen, what can we do? Well, let it sit at the boot up screen for a few mins, and then type in the terminal:
Code:
adb devices
If it's recognized, then type:
Code:
adb reboot recovery
If it's not recognized, press the power button and the volume down key until the tablet turns off. Once that happens, press the power button and the volume down key, when the logo appears, let go of the power button and keep the volume down key pressed, that should boot the tablet into recovery mode. If you got into recovery mode, skip to 7.2
7.1 FIXING RECOVERY MODE
Sometimes, (it happened to me), recovery mode is broken.... it just doesn't appear, no matter what you do you can't get into it. To fix this, we gotta flash it again. We gotta enter fastboot mode. One option is to boot up the device until it gets stucked and wait a few mins, then adb should be able to recognize it and you type:
Code:
adb reboot fastboot
If that's not the case, turn the tablet off and press power and volume up, that should get you to fastboot. Once there type:
Code:
fastboot devices
And the tablet should appear there, if it doesn't... well it better do. I don't really know what to do if it doesn't appear there, but there shouldn't be a reason for it not to. I guess you can try to enter fastboot once again, with the tabler connected from the beggining or something like that, let's just assume it does, and if it doesn't then I'm sorry to tell you that's homework you will have to do.
Once here, we must format the cache and the data partition, for that type the following:
Code:
fastboot format cache
fastboot format userdata
Now, we need to get the recovery files, grab them from the zip I gave you. The files in question are "recovery.bin" and "vrl.bin". We will start with vrl. Once the two formats are finished, type:
Code:
fastboot flash vrl vrl.bin
Followed by:
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.bin
Once that's done, press the power button and volume down keys until the tablet turns off. Then, press them again until the logo appears, and when that happens let go of the power button, that should get you (finally) into recovery.
7.2 UNBRICKING (FOR REAL THIS TIME)
Well, now that everybody is on the same page, and we could get to recovery mode, it's time to repeat some steps really... Follow the procedure from step 4 onwards (from the part that tells you to go to recovery). So, wipe data and apply that damn zip with sideload, the tablet should work now.
That's all I have to offer guys. I'm not a developer, I'm just a guy with a bunch of free time on his hands, so I was able to gather all of this information and (most importantly) files so you can root and fix this god damn tablet. Until the next one!
FINAL NOTE: In the files I included, there's a TWRP.img file. This is the TWRP custom recovery. As far as I know, this version should work with this tablet, but I was unable to flash it and make it work. IF YOU WANT TO TRY THIS DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK, IT'S HIGHLY PROBABLE THAT THIS WILL RESULT IN BRICKING YOUR TABLET AND BREAKING THE STOCK RECOVERY, IN WICH CASE YOU WILL NEED TO FOLLOW THE STEPS STATED IN THIS GUIDE.
I couldn't upload the files as an attachment directly... sorry.
The "updated_firmware.zip" file is added as a separate download because it's a bigger file, and I prefer to let people decide if they even want it in the first place.
updated_firmware.zip
Everything else

None of the 8 drivers from Intel or Google detect the device in fastboot mode. I tried fixing this tablet years ago and had the fastboot drivers. As far as I know I have the same ones. These all loaded with no problem, but I could never get ADB Device to detect it in fastboot mode
Google: Android ADB Interface | Android Bootloader Interface | Android Composite ADB Interface
Intel: Android ADB Interface | Android Bootloader Interface | Intel AndroidADB Interface | Intel Android Bootloader Interface | Intel Android Composite ADB Interface

neghvar said:
None of the 8 drivers from Intel or Google detect the device in fastboot mode. I tried fixing this tablet years ago and had the fastboot drivers. As far as I know I have the same ones. These all loaded with no problem, but I could never get ADB Device to detect it in fastboot mode
Google: Android ADB Interface | Android Bootloader Interface | Android Composite ADB Interface
Intel: Android ADB Interface | Android Bootloader Interface | Intel AndroidADB Interface | Intel Android Bootloader Interface | Intel Android Composite ADB Interface
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Make sure you enable usb debugging, no driver will work without that enabled.

tralph3 said:
Make sure you enable usb debugging, no driver will work without that enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not possible. This hangs during boot up or I can enter fast boot mode. It has been like this for years. Basically a soft brick. I tried to fix this years ago as stated above, but having seen this latest post about it, I decided to try again. But this time, I cannot find a fastboot driver that shows the device as attached when I run ADB devices

neghvar said:
Not possible. This hangs during boot up or I can enter fast boot mode. It has been like this for years. Basically a soft brick. I tried to fix this years ago as stated above, but having seen this latest post about it, I decided to try again. But this time, I cannot find a fastboot driver that shows the device as attached when I run ADB devices
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be aware that when in fastboot mode, adb devices never lists anything, you must use "fastboot devices"

tralph3 said:
Be aware that when in fastboot mode, adb devices never lists anything, you must use "fastboot devices"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep! That's where I was messing up. Thank you.
And the tablet is now working. Thank you very much.
One last question though. I tried to install the twrp.img file included in the pack
fastboot flash recovery TWRP.img
Here is what I got
Sending 'recovery' (26588 KB) (bootloader) Ready to receive: 0x019f7000 size of data
OKAY [ 0.741s]
Writing 'recovery' (bootloader) Flashing partition: recovery
FAILED (remote: ' Download image size is large than partition size')
fastboot: error: Command failed
How do I get around this if the image file is too large?

neghvar said:
Yep! That's where I was messing up. Thank you.
And the tablet is now working. Thank you very much.
One last question though. I tried to install the twrp.img file included in the pack
fastboot flash recovery TWRP.img
Here is what I got
Sending 'recovery' (26588 KB) (bootloader) Ready to receive: 0x019f7000 size of data
OKAY [ 0.741s]
Writing 'recovery' (bootloader) Flashing partition: recovery
FAILED (remote: ' Download image size is large than partition size')
fastboot: error: Command failed
How do I get around this if the image file is too large?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah I never could get around it either. I never could install a custom recovery on this tablet, it just wasn't made for it. But hey, root is cool.

Work?
Still working?

jerryspring said:
Still working?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why wouldn't it? This tablet ain't gonna change. Everything should work no problem.

Hi, any custom rom for this device to make it useful ?
It is in my drawer for more than 2 years and I just do not know what with it
Also how to play with settings in root mode so I can make it faster ?

Hey folks,
I recently followed this guide and a couple of issues.
First, I had expected all my data to be gone, which is fine. But it wasn't. I seemed to have gotten all the way through without it being reformatted, and this makes me suspect I never really achieved all the goals.
One thing I should note, in recovery boot, I had to use the volume button to select a source. No big deal, but it had not worked until I guessed I needed to do that.
Oh, and another thing is I had to install the driver package, and then after, once it was rebooted into fastboot, manually guide the device manager to select from list.
It seems after complete shutdown and then a fresh bootup, my SuperSU software was gone. So, is this only a tethered root boot? Is there a completely untethered?
After rebooting again, it seems my device will not complete booting, but I will give it some more time. I may have bricked it, though I have no idea how lol. All I did was enable USB debugging again and issued the reboot command.
I know this is an old guide, and probably long forgotten by most participants, but I recently got one of these tablets online, open box but new or like new, for around $20, and I would like to get it rooted because otherwise, it is extremely sluggish and the battery drains very fast. I read online it is google play services at fault, but I do not know for sure.
Anyway, if anyone has any updated info or alternative method to achieve full root access untethered, please advise. Unless this guide is that, in which case I just need to try again. Just out of curiosity, what is the TWRP.img for?

Recovering data on a DEAD Redmi Note 8 PRO

Hello,
I hope this is the right section for this post.
I've been using a Note 8 Pro with zero issues until one week ago when I accidentally dropped the phone in the water.
After a few seconds submerged the display turned off and I felt an intense heat coming from the zone of the battery.
Having no chance to recover the phone (tried with Isopropyl Alcohol too) I decided to open it and manually dry/clean each component, having seen the situation inside gave me the phone is dead but I still want to recover some pictures/data from it.
Before opening the open Minitool was not detecting any device on my Windows Laptop, after cleaning each component Minitool is instead detecting the phone via USB, but I still can't extract any data because the "Usb debugging" option is not tuned on (and no the device is not rooted).
Is there any option to extract data from the phone? There's a way to turn on USB Debugging via ADB on a non-rooted phone?
Thanks,
Andrea.

how about trying your luck with a service ? most of the time they do have access to special programs, which have a better functionality than adb.

Thanks for the hint, but I am not happy with the idea of someone playing with my data

1. Try reboot phone to recovery
2. Connect it to your computer (download Platform-tools)
3. In the folder with Platform-tools open cmd
4. In cmd - adb shell
5. cd storage/emulated/0
6. ls
7. Now, using the commands, drag files from your phone to your PC

Thanks for your hint.
No luck so far, I think because the phone is not in recovery mode.
I can hear the phone starting up several times (hear the jingle) so I think it's in a reboot loop and I don't know how to boot it into recovery mode wo a working display (tried with power/volume up combination with no luck).
From the windows taskbar I can see that the phone is recognized for a few seconds before it restarts.
EDIT: trying to switch the phone on with the combination "power/volume down" brings to a kind of stable state and I can now see the phone in the windows taskbar recognized as a generic "android device". Still no luck when trying to access the phone as there's no device in windows and no device obtained through "adb devices" command.
EDIT1: I think that the phone is in "FASTBOOT" mode. If I type "fastboot devices" I can see it detected but still can't access it.

Any idea? Should I give up?

If it's popping up and down you need something to keep track.
You can try my UsbLog.exe (in the sig), it just sits there and shows what devices appear (if they have a driver) and disappear.
Try these to see if anything is working:
Code:
C:\>fastboot devices
C:\>fastboot getvar all
C:\>fastboot oem device-info

Yes it's popping up and down when it's booted in recovery mode whilst is stably connected when in fastboot mode but in this case I can't access the internal memory of the device.
I didn't get the purpose of logging the devices connecting to the USB as I can see the device connected for a while and correctly recognized as Redmi Note 8 pro but as it keeps popping out windows have no time to show it's folder.
As for the code you wrote: i will try asap but already tried with "fastboot devices" and I get the phone correctly listed but still can't access its memory as told.

Renate said:
If it's popping up and down you need something to keep track.
You can try my UsbLog.exe (in the sig), it just sits there and shows what devices appear (if they have a driver) and disappear.
Try these to see if anything is working:
Code:
C:\>fastboot devices
C:\>fastboot getvar all
C:\>fastboot oem device-info
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After rebooting the phone in fastboot mode I can see it recognized as a generic android device from windows (still can't access the storage folder of the device).
fastboot devices----> I get the device listed with a series of numbers/letters
fastboot getvar all---> I get a list of information on token/token version/partition type and size/baseband/bootloader etc.
fastboot oem device-info----> FAILED (remote: unknown command)
So I think it's clear that the device is in Fastboot mode and instead is in a boot loop when started in revocery mode.
Is there a way to extract data from fastboot mode?
Thanks,
Andrea.

If you put a custom recovery on it in the first place you can try reflashing recovery from fastboot.
Fastboot doesn't allow you to read anything.
oem device-info is obviously an oem command that might not be on any device.
You've got a Mediatek processor. That has some low level equivalent to Qualcomm EDL, but I have no experience with that.
If you can get there you can download the user data partition, but it's probably encrypted. Also no experience with that.
The easiest is if you can get the system to mount/decrypt the partition.
You've tried the normal system too?
Is this A/B? Have you tried changing slots?
How much time does it stay up in recovery? Do you have ADB? Maybe try:
Code:
# stop recovery
Does that prevent it from looping?

So I should try to flash a custom recovery like TWRP for example?
What you mean with "normal system too"?
Changing slots you mean changing usb port?
It stays in recovery less than one second so I can't give any command via ADB.
EDIT: cant' flash any custom recovery because the bootloader is locked.
If I Try to unlock the bootloader via MiUnlock I get a warning saying that all data will be erased.
Any idea on how to unlock the bootloader wo wiping all the data?

Sephiroth79 said:
So I should try to flash a custom recovery like TWRP for example?
What you mean with "normal system too"?
Changing slots you mean changing usb port?
It stays in recovery less than one second so I can't give any command via ADB.
EDIT: cant' flash any custom recovery because the bootloader is locked.
If I Try to unlock the bootloader via MiUnlock I get a warning saying that all data will be erased.
Any idea on how to unlock the bootloader wo wiping all the data?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is a mediatek bootloader unlocked you just have to boot in Brom mode and it'll unlock it please follow this
PS: press all buttons

MysticNoOb said:
There is a mediatek bootloader unlocked you just have to boot in Brom mode and it'll unlock it please follow this
PS: press all buttons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My bootloader is unlocked!
Thank you very much.
Now I am going to try to flash a custom recovery mode via fastboot in order to access the internal memory of the phone.
EDIT: I've just flashed twrp-3.6.2_9-0-begonia.img but still can't boot into recovery mode.
Any hint on how to extract data from the system now?

You really want to boot the normal system because that's the best way to get decrypted data.
I realized that you don't have ADB enabled there.
You should look at B. Kerler's https://github.com/bkerler/mtkclient/
If you can pull the boot image off your device then I might be able to fix it so that you have ADB.
You'd have to flash it back in fastboot or mtkclient.
You can also pull a copy of userdata off the device with mtkclient.
As far as booting into recovery, there's a way.
Here's how, if you don't have A/B (that is you flashed TWRP into recovery and not recovery_a or recovery_b)
then you can fastboot flash a special file into the misc partition and it wil boot into recovery next reboot.
To return things to normal you have to flash the empty file to the misc partition.
Code:
C:\>fastboot flash misc misc-rec.img
C:\>fastboot reboot
Only do this if you don't have partitions that end in _a or _b

I really don't know if I have partitions A and B as you mentioned and I think there's no way to check actually.
I confirm I don't have "USB Debugging" active on the phone.
So if I understand correctly I should do the following:
- Flash misc-reg.img via Fastboot
- Boot into recovery just rebooting the system after flashing the above file;
- use MTKclient to dump userdata or boot image to enable ADB on (I will need help with mtkclient I suppose).
Is it correct?
EDIT: flashed TWRP first and misc-rec then rebooted via Fastboot/Reboot but nothing happens.

Sephiroth79 said:
My bootloader is unlocked!
Thank you very much.
Now I am going to try to flash a custom recovery mode via fastboot in order to access the internal memory of the phone.
EDIT: I've just flashed twrp-3.6.2_9-0-begonia.img but still can't boot into recovery mode.
Any hint on how to extract data from the system now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TWRP cant boot because you used wrong one. Search again in that unlock bootloader channel and use suitable one.

Kirasu2080 said:
TWRP cant boot because you used wrong one. Search again in that unlock bootloader channel and use suitable one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, I am almost sure that the TWRP I've flashed was listed under Redmi Note 8 pro page. Can you please indicate more precisely where should I sera
EDIT: I think I've downloaded and flashed the correct TWRP file.
@Renate can you please detail your method so I can try to extract data from the phone?

Sephiroth79 said:
Hmmm, I am almost sure that the TWRP I've flashed was listed under Redmi Note 8 pro page. Can you please indicate more precisely where should I sera
EDIT: I think I've downloaded and flashed the correct TWRP file.
@Renate can you please detail your method so I can try to extract data from the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1/Yeah it's official. You "flashed correct TWRP." Downgrade to Miui Android 9 (_9 in it's name) to boot into that TWRP and lose your data.
2/In unlock bootloader video above, search other video in his channel playlist and find TWRP video suitable for your Miui version.

Kirasu2080 said:
1/Yeah it's official. You "flashed correct TWRP." Downgrade to Miui Android 9 (_9 in it's name) to boot into that TWRP and lose your data.
2/In unlock bootloader video above, search other video in his channel playlist and find TWRP video suitable for your Miui version.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't find the right video, can you kindly send me a link (I am on the latest Miui version and I am in Europe)?
In all the videos I've seen on his page he is using the device to install TWRP etc.
I think I just need the correct TWRP version for my MIUI release and then I'll flash TWRP and misc-reg.img. Is it right?

Sephiroth79 said:
Can't find the right video, can you kindly send me a link (I am on the latest Miui version and I am in Europe)?
In all the videos I've seen on his page he is using the device to install TWRP etc.
I think I just need the correct TWRP version for my MIUI release and then I'll flash TWRP and misc-reg.img. Is it right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Use brp 3.5.2 v3.1 or V3.6 to decrypt Miui 12.5