A series of unfortunate events - Kindle Fire Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

About a year and a half ago, I royally screwed up my Kindle. I managed to wipe the entire system and possibly the bootloader (not sure). This was back when the device was still being supported, but activity was waning. I was at the time having trouble with the "battery drained so low, I ain't turnin' on no mo" issue. Fast forward to yesterday. I started fiddling around with it, eventually got it to boot back up to Kindle Fire splash. Nothing past that, just would hang. I then left it plugged in over night (since it seemed a miracle it even powered up) to try some more today. At this point, I tried holding the power button while powering on and it somehow got itself into TWRP! "Woohoo!" I exclaim. I'm set! I can just mount USB, put on a ROM, flash it and we're good to go!
But alas, not so. For when I select "Mount USB" a blank F:\ drive shows up in my computer. No access, can't load a ROM. Still just a well loved brick. ADB also not working (and I got ADB working for my Amazon Fire crap-tab just a few days ago, so I don't think it's that). Good old Online/Unknown shows up.
I've done some digging around, found a person or two out there who's had a similar problem, but most go unsolved. Or the ones that do have no mention of a solution or worse yet, they link to solutions or downloads that are since abandoned.
I'm not looking for anything fancy. This tablet is on it's way (should it survive, that is) to becoming only a study tool for my girlfriend in law school. All it has to do is get online and be able to read pdfs (tragically, the very things it could do before it's life of rooting and roming that did it in).
It's a tale of hubris and neglect, but also of triumph, hopefully. I'm happy to provide any details that may help (TWRP is currently v2.7.1.0, at the boot menu, something in the corner says v2.05). I'm working on a laptop with Windows 10, but I also have one that has 7 and is getting a dual boot for Ubuntu installed as we speak. Anyone willing to help out, I would be forever in your debt. Well, depending on how much you help that is. Maybe just a week in your debt if you're just telling me to give up.
Thanks to anyone who can lend a hand or even just read this whole tale. Thanks.

Related

My phone has passed....

Hello all! I have a sad story and an opportunity.
Sad story: I forgot my Universal on top of my car today and when I came around a bend in the road, it was slung out into a highway. The first car dodged it, and the second car aimed for it. I have taken pics. I think ti would have survived the slinging, and I am testing to see if the mainboard survived being ran over.
Opportunity: I'd like to get a new one. I don't mind parts-ing one together either. I am comfortable buying on eBay, and I don't mind it if I have to pay for international shipping, but I'd prefer to buy from the US for quicker delivery time.
I was just about to start really customizing the ROMS and all that too....
Sigh.
I hafe attached pics of the carnage. The microSD card survived. I did pull all of my data off though. Luckily I had done a hard reset las week, so I had all my numbers backed up. The SIM card survived as well, and I am borrowing a phone I gave a firend for the time being.
Wow those are some scarey images! Sorry for your loss, but that needs to be a closed casket funeral...
I've been considering selling my Uni/JasJar, PM me if you're interested in buying a used device with a bit of wear.
Oh my god............
RIP Uni are you trying to disassemble it for some pics of motherboard?
It looks better than I would have thought after being run over. You may be lucky and Mobo may be ok. You can buy replacement screens and casings.
Was it a compact that ran it over ? Cause I really cant see the Uni being that strong?
There are quite a few Uni's going on the UK Ebay anywhere from $200 USD to $80 USD if you are patient enough.
Good luck with finding another!
2 minutes silence for the Uni please......
Status update
I have purchased a B stock unit from eXpansys (the last one they had) for a decent price. Only problem is with the new unit, all I can do is get into the boot loader to see that it is version 1.00, and give it the hard reboot command. The unit appears to respond to the command but does not initiate the hard reset.
Hard reboot command I used: two soft buttons and the reset button.
Bootloader command I used: power, brightness, and reset button.
The bootloader does recognize that the difference between a USB and !USB connection. However, Windows consistently reports that the USB device has malfunctioned.
At first I thought it was a battery issue because the unit looks like it is brand new. So I waited patiently until I got home and tried all of the batteries I have here at the house. Yes, I was wary sticking the battery that was in the unit that was ran over into it, but I did try it. I have tried 3 chargers and two computers, and NADA. The only response I get from the device is using one of the two commands above.
Other random observations:
I tried inserting an old (disconnected but good) SIM card into it. Nada.
The battery was shipped in the battery compartment.
The backlight does work, as does the screen to some degree.
When I first plugged it into the charger, the battery status LED was red, as I anticipated.
The battery status indicator no longer turns red when the unit is plugged in. It does turn red when the battery is removed and power is applied.
Postulations at this point:
I wonder if I could load a ROM image to it?
I wonder if the battery is really charged.
Any and all help will be much appreciated on the matter.
disection
Win_XP said:
RIP Uni are you trying to disassemble it for some pics of motherboard?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have disassembled it already and done some preliminary testing. The power LED does illuminate RED. I have tried attaching a battery and holding it, but hats not producing anything. But then again the screen is cracked like its cool, so I don't know what to expect.
I'll post pics when I get a chance.
beast0898 said:
Was it a compact that ran it over ? Cause I really cant see the Uni being that strong?
There are quite a few Uni's going on the UK Ebay anywhere from $200 USD to $80 USD if you are patient enough.
Good luck with finding another!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It was one of those KIA/Mercades/lexus lifted CAR SUV things. They AIMED for it.
I looked on ebay, but I never though to check the UK side. Usually eBay does that for em for some reason....
Situation update
I have had a couple of offers and much sympathy. Thanks!
My unit from expansys is up and running. I was up till 3 am saturday morning playing around with it. I stumbled across a few posts that gave instructions on how to deal with a potentially bricked device. As far as I can figure. my phone was shipped to me without an OS. I knew that PCs could do that, but can you just blank the OS on a phone? I can theoretically see how that might be possible, but why would that happen? Do they not get shipped out with OS's? that baffles me.
The specific process of deduction I used:
read the manual (the service manual from HTC). It said to either reload the ROM or the mobo was defective. I started looking on this forum for the procedures and files neccessary.
It seemed that my phone was not booting, so I looked into the ROM upgradeing/reflashing pages.
Links to pages I found useful:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=357
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367448
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Flashing Guide
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Uni_ROM_Upgrade
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...consumption measurements of the HTC Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...y car or USB charger! It just doesn't charge!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298613
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=285435
As you can see, the wiki was quite helpful for me. Thae list above is not inclusive. I thought I had bookmarked all the pages I found helpful, but it did not apepar to be so. I have done much reading on this forum, and I purchased my original Universal over a year ago. I say that to let any newbies know that this is not a simple process and should not be attempted until you have a clear picture of what's going on.
I also tried the set 0 14 procedure, but that sis NOT work in my case.
What finally got me was the imate ROM I have attached to this page. It was able to see my universal, but only when I was in the bootloader. I will say that again because it bears repeating. I put the phone into the bootloader and ONLY THEN could I update the ROM on the device. I found no instructions anywhere on this, I had to figure it out on my own. The way I discovered it though is kinda neat. When I just plugged the phone into my computer, windows would not recognize it and say that it malfunctioned. If I plugged it into my computer with it in the bootloader, I got that nice sound that windows makes when new hardware is found. Also, I tried the Universal RUU and it did not recognize that the phone was attached in either way. Lastly, I first tried the ROM update with the phone not int he bootloader, and the IMATE program didn't see the phone. I tried it with it in the bootloader, and it did its thing.
I have attached a few of the files I found useful. I found these on this site, in some posts.
This is not a formal writeup, so please forgive any grammatical errors or rambling. I just wanted to share what I found.
So I finally just switched the SIM card back into the new phone. I tried to get MMS going, and SAME FRAKKIN thing: small pics. ARGH!!
AllanonMage said:
I have had a couple of offers and much sympathy. Thanks!
My unit from expansys is up and running. I was up till 3 am saturday morning playing around with it. I stumbled across a few posts that gave instructions on how to deal with a potentially bricked device. As far as I can figure. my phone was shipped to me without an OS. I knew that PCs could do that, but can you just blank the OS on a phone? I can theoretically see how that might be possible, but why would that happen? Do they not get shipped out with OS's? that baffles me.
The specific process of deduction I used:
read the manual (the service manual from HTC). It said to either reload the ROM or the mobo was defective. I started looking on this forum for the procedures and files neccessary.
It seemed that my phone was not booting, so I looked into the ROM upgradeing/reflashing pages.
Links to pages I found useful:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/announcement.php?f=357
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=367448
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HTC_Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Flashing Guide
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=Uni_ROM_Upgrade
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...consumption measurements of the HTC Universal
http://wiki.xda-developers.com/inde...y car or USB charger! It just doesn't charge!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=298613
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=285435
As you can see, the wiki was quite helpful for me. Thae list above is not inclusive. I thought I had bookmarked all the pages I found helpful, but it did not apepar to be so. I have done much reading on this forum, and I purchased my original Universal over a year ago. I say that to let any newbies know that this is not a simple process and should not be attempted until you have a clear picture of what's going on.
I also tried the set 0 14 procedure, but that sis NOT work in my case.
What finally got me was the imate ROM I have attached to this page. It was able to see my universal, but only when I was in the bootloader. I will say that again because it bears repeating. I put the phone into the bootloader and ONLY THEN could I update the ROM on the device. I found no instructions anywhere on this, I had to figure it out on my own. The way I discovered it though is kinda neat. When I just plugged the phone into my computer, windows would not recognize it and say that it malfunctioned. If I plugged it into my computer with it in the bootloader, I got that nice sound that windows makes when new hardware is found. Also, I tried the Universal RUU and it did not recognize that the phone was attached in either way. Lastly, I first tried the ROM update with the phone not int he bootloader, and the IMATE program didn't see the phone. I tried it with it in the bootloader, and it did its thing.
I have attached a few of the files I found useful. I found these on this site, in some posts.
This is not a formal writeup, so please forgive any grammatical errors or rambling. I just wanted to share what I found.
So I finally just switched the SIM card back into the new phone. I tried to get MMS going, and SAME FRAKKIN thing: small pics. ARGH!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Some of the commands for MTTY are not in the standard bootloader command list, best advice is to supercid your device (this will help in recovery if things go wrong later too) then once supercid is complete, upgrade the Bootloader version and flash a complete Rom to the device, radio, extended and OS in one flash.
All info is in the Wiki mate, if you need any further help, post back to us or PM me.
Glad you got a device back up and running, ca'nt you sue the guy for intentionally hitting your old one................LoL!
Cheers,
Beasty

Is this what a hard brick tastes like? (Not a MM thread)

Well, I'm at wit's end. I'm usually pretty decent at borking and consequently unborking a phone. But I think I'm stumped this time; and am hoping that the community here can help me out. Though, to be fair, I suspect that rolling back to my old phone and eventually buying a new one is my only recourse.
So I imported an H815 Open EU from Handtec UK. No real issues on that front. I eventually unlocked the bootloader, flashed TWRP, and used the KDZ method to (clean) flash my way up to Europe OPEN H81510D initially, and then around two months ago, to Europe OPEN H81510E. I've been running that software without issue since that clean flash. And all this time I've been rooted through the TWRP method.
While this is (was?) my first LG phone, it isn't my first Android experience. So I've been using TiBu to back up my apps nightly, was running Kickoff's lovely hybrid theme, and had a few Xposed modules activated to tweak my experience a bit from stock behavior. I was curious about Marshmallow, but autoprime's warning that it could be non-final test software and the fact that Xposed doesn't work on it kept me from indulging that curiosity.
Everything has been going swimmingly until today. No major issues that I couldn't solve on my own. Certainly nothing that booting into recovery and clearing caches didn't fix. I was out and about engaging in a chat via Hangouts with a friend when my phone suddenly crashed and black-screened. I wasn't plugged into the wall or my PC, and I hadn't performed any kind of major update since the 10E flash a month or two ago. I had not installed any new Xposed modules or any rogue Google Play store apps. I was just using my phone normally and it crashed.
I popped out the battery and played around with it, trying to get it to boot up. I couldn't access recovery or even get beyond the LG logo. It would just hang there and after a few seconds, black-screen. Only popping the battery out and reinserting it would allow me to try again. I eventually left it alone until I got home, at which point I figured I'd try for download mode and reinstall the 10E KDZ via a CSE flash. It's always been a last resort, but a reliable one. I successfully performed the CSE flash of the 10E KDZ.
I thought it did the trick, as I got past the static LG logo for the first time and saw the LG boot animation, but it hung towards the end of the animation and black-screened again. Tried a few more reboots. Recovery mode still not accessible. Download mode was only accessible every third or fourth attempt. Finally got back into download mode and figured I'd try to roll back to 10D (I still had the KDZ I had previously used saved, just in case). Everything seemed to start going fine. Download mode's circle arrow animation on the phone was doing its thing, and then I hear the USB connection drop out. The arrow animation hangs, and the phone black screens. LG Tool 2014 spits out an error I can't read (the software is all question marks for me at this stage). Before it black-screened, it appeared that download mode hadn't progressed beyond 0%.
Now the phone is completely unresponsive. Popping out the battery and reinserting shows no signs of life. No USB sounds from my PC. No static LG logo. No recovery mode or download mode. Not even the lonely flash of an LED.
I've never had a phone hard brick, but I imagine this is what it tastes like.
So I'm probably out of luck, right?
I apologize for the long story. Thanks in advance for sticking around.
Maybe a stupid question but still deserves to be asked, what does pluging the phone in a wall socket gives you?
Sent from my HUAWEI MT7-L09 using Tapatalk
that is strange to happen randomly. The same thing happened to one of my old devices, a 1st gen moto atrix after I dropped it. I can get it to boot up but eventually it acts like the battery is pulled and just reboots. I'm convinced some wires or chip has been damaged inside even though it was only a 2 foot drop on thick carpet... not a whole lot you can do off warranty. Good luck.
Yeah, I figured the phone was toast. Of course the only time I hard brick a phone, it'd be the one time I import one from another country. Alas.
I think I'll return to my Galaxy S4 for now and pick up a Moto X Pure in a week or two, if no other ideas or opportunities present themselves.
As for having the phone plugged in, I just mentioned it in passing in order to rule out a power surge or short or whatever. Just to be completely clear about what I was doing with my phone.
There are already a few other threads on this man. Try to read first and post. Probably it's a motherboard problem. See the date of manufacturing of your device.
I read completely through the first 5 or 6 threads I saw on bricks and was overwhelmed by Marshmallow woes. Mobo, huh? That's a damn shame. Thank you.

Nexus 5x shut off and won't turn on

If I posted this in the incorrect place or there is something related to my issue, I apologize in advance.
I've been searching here and all over the internet and no progress yet so I decided to make a new account here just to see if anyone can help me because I'm out of ideas right now.
This morning my Nexus 5x (Non-rooted Nougat) woke me up like every morning, after dismissing the alarm I left it on my bed and when I came back to grab it later I noticed it shut off.
Here are the facts and what I have tried so far:
- Battery level was almost full
- I tried to turn it on but nothing happened, not even the Google logo
- Connected it to power and no icons or any response at all
- Left it connected for like an hour and tried to get it into recovery mode
- I was able to get into fastboot mode a few times but after electing "start" or "recovery mode" the Google logo comes up and then shuts off again right after.
- Tried getting into recovery mode after leaving it charging for a while again but I couldn't even get into fastboot this time, no signs of life at all.
- Disconnected the battery for a few minutes and tried to get into fastboot mode again, this time it worked but same thing happened. (Google logo then shuts off)
- Tried connecting it to my PC but doesn't show up on Linux nor Windows, on Windows it makes the sound like I connected a peripheral but that's pretty much it.
- I have USB debugging enable but never accessed my stuff through usb connection because I have had this issue before where it is connected but it won't show up or it shows up but won't let me access the files even though the phone is unlocked.
At this point it just won't do anything and I ran out of ideas. I just want to at least recover some pictures and information I have in it that isn't backed up, if anyone can help me I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks in advance
It sounds like you might have encountered the hardware bootloop issue. This is theorized to be caused by bad solder for the eMMC chip or bad eMMC chip. This was an acknowledge problem on a related model LG phone, but hasn't been acknowledged for N5x.
If you are under warranty, you should start the replacement process before it runs out.
If you want to try something that sounds crazy but has worked for some people, put the phone in the freezer for 15 minutes then see if it boots. If it does, quickly back up as much data as you can, then wipe the phone in preparation to RMA exchange.
Just boot to bootloader (fastboot) then unlock it and flash a factory image... u can find many guides to this operation on the XDA
sfhub said:
It sounds like you might have encountered the hardware bootloop issue. This is theorized to be caused by bad solder for the eMMC chip or bad eMMC chip. This was an acknowledge problem on a related model LG phone, but hasn't been acknowledged for N5x.
If you are under warranty, you should start the replacement process before it runs out.
If you want to try something that sounds crazy but has worked for some people, put the phone in the freezer for 15 minutes then see if it boots. If it does, quickly back up as much data as you can, then wipe the phone in preparation to RMA exchange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At this point, I'm willing to try anything. Thanks
driss.sadok said:
Just boot to bootloader (fastboot) then unlock it and flash a factory image... u can find many guides to this operation on the XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If it's a hardware issue like sfhub suggested, I don't think this will fix it.
PennyScissors said:
If it's a hardware issue like sfhub suggested, I don't think this will fix it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same here... cannot enter recovery mode, so flashed new rom stock rom.
The flashing was fine but it didn't help.
guys if u can get to the bootloader, sure it can be fixed.. everything is possible with the fastboot, u can fix any issue. if it's a hardware issue the bootloader wouldn't work as well.
Re Nexus 5X won't turn on - I've had same issue
PennyScissors said:
This morning my Nexus 5x (Non-rooted Nougat) woke me up like every morning, after dismissing the alarm I left it on my bed and when I came back to grab it later I noticed it shut off.
Here are the facts and what I have tried so far:
- Battery level was almost full
- I tried to turn it on but nothing happened, not even the Google logo
- Connected it to power and no icons or any response at all
- Left it connected for like an hour and tried to get it into recovery mode
- I was able to get into fastboot mode a few times but after electing "start" or "recovery mode" the Google logo comes up and then shuts off again right after.
- Tried getting into recovery mode after leaving it charging for a while again but I couldn't even get into fastboot this time, no signs of life at all.
- Disconnected the battery for a few minutes and tried to get into fastboot mode again, this time it worked but same thing happened. (Google logo then shuts off)
- Tried connecting it to my PC but doesn't show up on Linux nor Windows, on Windows it makes the sound like I connected a peripheral but that's pretty much it.
- I have USB debugging enable but never accessed my stuff through usb connection because I have had this issue before where it is connected but it won't show up or it shows up but won't let me access the files even though the phone is unlocked.
At this point it just won't do anything and I ran out of ideas...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've had the same problem with my 5X, except my alarm didn't even go off! I woke up 15 minutes late to see the boot screen "enter your pattern to start Android". I entered my pattern and it looked like it was going to boot up but when I went back to it it was blank. Tried again, got to the Google loading dots and it switched off again and I haven't been able to power it up since. No bootloader, nothing. Tried all the troubleshooting steps on the Nexus Google Support pages (I did post a link but because I'm new it won't show, so just Google "Nexus Support") and nothing worked. I also knew the battery was fully charged because it had been on charge overnight and when I did get to the 'enter your pattern' screen, the battery icon in the notification bar was full.
I requested a call back from Google and nothing happened so I tried the chat and they said it sounded like a hardware issue and are sending me a replacement device within the next 3-5 working days. Good that they're replacing it. Bad that it happened on a device less than a year old and they only offered £10 Play Store credit by way of compensation, when I've had to spend £15+ on a PAYG sim card to use in my old phone in the meantime because the nano sim in my 5X was too small and I've spent over an hour and half this afternoon wasting my time with troubleshooting and waiting for a call back... Not really the customer service I expected from Google for what appears to be a hardware issue. If you bought the phone from Google, my advice would be to get in touch with Google Support and they should replace it under warranty.
danielledowns01 said:
I've had the same problem with my 5X, except my alarm didn't even go off! I woke up 15 minutes late to see the boot screen "enter your pattern to start Android". I entered my pattern and it looked like it was going to boot up but when I went back to it it was blank. Tried again, got to the Google loading dots and it switched off again and I haven't been able to power it up since. No bootloader, nothing. Tried all the troubleshooting steps on the Nexus Google Support pages (I did post a link but because I'm new it won't show, so just Google "Nexus Support") and nothing worked. I also knew the battery was fully charged because it had been on charge overnight and when I did get to the 'enter your pattern' screen, the battery icon in the notification bar was full.
I requested a call back from Google and nothing happened so I tried the chat and they said it sounded like a hardware issue and are sending me a replacement device within the next 3-5 working days. Good that they're replacing it. Bad that it happened on a device less than a year old and they only offered £10 Play Store credit by way of compensation, when I've had to spend £15+ on a PAYG sim card to use in my old phone in the meantime because the nano sim in my 5X was too small and I've spent over an hour and half this afternoon wasting my time with troubleshooting and waiting for a call back... Not really the customer service I expected from Google for what appears to be a hardware issue. If you bought the phone from Google, my advice would be to get in touch with Google Support and they should replace it under warranty.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I contacted Google and they didn't help me at all because my warranty expired last month, they literally just told me to put in a repair request at the LG repair webpage....this sucks
My experience exactly...
My wife's Nexus 5 exhibited the exact same symptoms this morning. It's been running perfectly for 20 months and today it died, and we're unable to even get into the bootloader screen or power on the phone.
Taking your advice, we put it in the freezer for 15 minutes and were able to perform a factory reset wiping all data from the phone. We are going to take advantage of Google's Christmas 2017 promotion and return the Nexus 5X and buy a Moto 4X. They require you perform a factory reset before returning the phone in order to receive a credit for the returned Nexus 5. Thank you so much for the help!
Dennis
sfhub said:
It sounds like you might have encountered the hardware bootloop issue. This is theorized to be caused by bad solder for the eMMC chip or bad eMMC chip. This was an acknowledge problem on a related model LG phone, but hasn't been acknowledged for N5x.
If you are under warranty, you should start the replacement process before it runs out.
If you want to try something that sounds crazy but has worked for some people, put the phone in the freezer for 15 minutes then see if it boots. If it does, quickly back up as much data as you can, then wipe the phone in preparation to RMA exchange.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-5x/help/help-nexus-5x-lg-off-to-t3729739
I've just posted this thread overlooking yours. I think this is becoming another common issue. Has the freezer trick worked with anybody else?
I am having the same issue described here. My Nexus 5x went into a Bootloop about one month ago, but I was able to get it working again by going into Recovery Mode. About 4 days ago it went into a constant Bootloop, just showing the Google screen, and I couldnt get back in to recovery mode. I ordered a new phone on Tuesday (Pixel 2) and as long as I am able to do a factory reset I should get a $150 credit when I send this phone back. So, in desperation, I took a chance on the 15 minute freezer trick, and it worked! I was able to get into recovery mode (power + volume down, select Recovery Mode, little dude on his back came up, pushed power + volume up once) and cleared the cache and applied the factory reset. Ridiculous that this phone only lasted 18 months, but if I get the $150 credit I will be happy.
Same problem here -- just froze for a few seconds, powered off, and won't turn back on. Not a boot loop issue as there is no response at all from any buttons. Swapping the mainboard from a working phone powered up without a problem, but obviously that's the other phone's emmc.
I tried the freezer thing and it sort of worked- LCD powered on for a couple seconds, but then shut back off again and even that only happened once. That's progress over the usual absolutely no response though... Anyone have insight into why the temperature would matter? something is overheating that this gives a bit of wiggle room since it starts much colder than usual? maybe a more complex analog electronic situation?
I would happily pull the flash chip off and put it in a emmc reader, but I think I'm out of luck because from what I've read the dm-crypt key is generated from some data stored in in the processor's trust zone thing. I know the "password" but if that's only part of what makes the key and the rest isn't on the flash chip I suppose there's no point in going that route.
I don't care about the hardware surviving; mostly just looking to recover my data. Anyone have suggestions? Hardware debugging direction? I'm willing to buy some electronics test equipment (within reason of course; not picking up a 10000USD rework station for some old photos and contact list...)
d_ckhole said:
Same problem here -- just froze for a few seconds, powered off, and won't turn back on. Not a boot loop issue as there is no response at all from any buttons. Swapping the mainboard from a working phone powered up without a problem, but obviously that's the other phone's emmc.
I tried the freezer thing and it sort of worked- LCD powered on for a couple seconds, but then shut back off again and even that only happened once. That's progress over the usual absolutely no response though... Anyone have insight into why the temperature would matter? something is overheating that this gives a bit of wiggle room since it starts much colder than usual? maybe a more complex analog electronic situation?
I would happily pull the flash chip off and put it in a emmc reader, but I think I'm out of luck because from what I've read the dm-crypt key is generated from some data stored in in the processor's trust zone thing. I know the "password" but if that's only part of what makes the key and the rest isn't on the flash chip I suppose there's no point in going that route.
I don't care about the hardware surviving; mostly just looking to recover my data. Anyone have suggestions? Hardware debugging direction? I'm willing to buy some electronics test equipment (within reason of course; not picking up a 10000USD rework station for some old photos and contact list...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way to connect that buddy to PC is to get SoC (CPU) working, so theoretically you can go towards reballing the chip. But I guess it's not an easy thing for such a little chip. Also u will need kinda plate for balls, i think there are no common ones, so u can make it yourself if have a technical education.
Another way is to connect memory right to PC without a phone but with some connector. IDK if there are any available, but this looks much more simple. I actually got the same happened, and tried to heat the plate, but with particular success.
IMHO
orcgoblinsupply said:
Another way is to connect memory right to PC without a phone but with some connector. IDK if there are any available, but this looks much more simple. I actually got the same happened, and tried to heat the plate, but with particular success.
IMHO
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's the reader
https://www.amazon.com/ALLSOCKET-eMMC169-Programmer-Kingston-Interface/dp/B06Y55DKND/
But I assume the problem is I will not be able to generate the encryption key because part of it is in the processor.
If someone has tried this and it definitely works, I'll give it a go. Just don't want to buy the emmc reader and heat gun this chip off if it's certainly a waste of time.
d_ckhole said:
Here's the reader
https://www.amazon.com/ALLSOCKET-eMMC169-Programmer-Kingston-Interface/dp/B06Y55DKND/
But I assume the problem is I will not be able to generate the encryption key because part of it is in the processor.
If someone has tried this and it definitely works, I'll give it a go. Just don't want to buy the emmc reader and heat gun this chip off if it's certainly a waste of time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've seen a post of a guy who sent his motherboard to china and got reballed it and gained 4gb of ram. Can be wrong, but it was around $50 and a month of time.
---------- Post added at 04:46 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:40 PM ----------
Actually found the post itself: https://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=722679&st=3440#entry68093395 (it's in russian, so u're welcome at translate.google.com) In short - a guy fount a Chinese service and men in the middle who could resend his motherboard to china, it cost him $100

Finally left Windows Phone for Pixel... which let me down a month later.

Keeping this concise. Background:
I've been using Windows Phone devices for 8 years. My original 8yr old Samsung Focus is still kicking.
I figured it was about time to jump to Android and picked up a "used for 3 months" Pixel XL. Originally purchased from the Google Store. (purchaser forwarded his receipt).
Bought first week of November, didn't use for a month as I didn't have a case, then used on WiFi but didn't have a sim in it until December 20th or so.
It had been running great. Now that I think of it, it had shut off twice from ~30% battery but in extreme cold. Thought it was cold related.
Two nights ago I set it down to go to sleep. I woke up, it did not.
At first I thought the screen died. I would get the odd vibration when long-pressing power for example, but never anything on the screen. The power + vol brought up the quickboot/recovery but:
"start" results in a blank screen
""restart bootloader" goes to blank screen
"Recovery mode" flashes a white screen with the Google logo for half a second then blank screen
"Barcodes" displays barcodes
I recently picked up a USB C > USB 3 cable and plugged it into my Win10 PC. It showed "Android Device Ready" but I expected to see some removable drive show up (dunno, had never hooked it up to my PC before to know what the usual behaviour should be).
Today, when trying to start it again it flashed the battery/charge icon for half a second, then blank screen.
I had a chat with a Google support agent who got me to try a remote erase which, I'm guessing, hasn't been received by my phone.
So my Android experience thus far has been: spending more than I've ever spent on a phone for a device that I accessed wifi on for a few weeks, then started to set up as my daily driver for a few weeks, just in time for it to seemingly die. Oh yeah, and of course, it's out of warranty. This world is new to me. Google's suggestion was to send it in to a partner for repairs (who knows how much that will cost). I'm hoping there's something else I can try before resorting to that.
Originally I was hoping to get some data off it. I'm not familiar with what Google backs up within Android (I had those settings checked, but no third party backup apps). I guess my photos should be backed up which would have been the biggest thing. Now I'd just like to recover the device without having to spend more money!
Oh, previous owner had Oreo 8.1 on it.
Any guidance would be most appreciated. Back to my trusty 5+ yr old Lumia 1020 in the interim!
tyyan said:
Keeping this concise. Background:
I've been using Windows Phone devices for 8 years. My original 8yr old Samsung Focus is still kicking.
I figured it was about time to jump to Android and picked up a "used for 3 months" Pixel XL. Originally purchased from the Google Store. (purchaser forwarded his receipt).
Bought first week of November, didn't use for a month as I didn't have a case, then used on WiFi but didn't have a sim in it until December 20th or so.
It had been running great. Now that I think of it, it had shut off twice from ~30% battery but in extreme cold. Thought it was cold related.
Two nights ago I set it down to go to sleep. I woke up, it did not.
At first I thought the screen died. I would get the odd vibration when long-pressing power for example, but never anything on the screen. The power + vol brought up the quickboot/recovery but:
"start" results in a blank screen
""restart bootloader" goes to blank screen
"Recovery mode" flashes a white screen with the Google logo for half a second then blank screen
"Barcodes" displays barcodes
I recently picked up a USB C > USB 3 cable and plugged it into my Win10 PC. It showed "Android Device Ready" but I expected to see some removable drive show up (dunno, had never hooked it up to my PC before to know what the usual behaviour should be).
Today, when trying to start it again it flashed the battery/charge icon for half a second, then blank screen.
I had a chat with a Google support agent who got me to try a remote erase which, I'm guessing, hasn't been received by my phone.
So my Android experience thus far has been: spending more than I've ever spent on a phone for a device that I accessed wifi on for a few weeks, then started to set up as my daily driver for a few weeks, just in time for it to seemingly die. Oh yeah, and of course, it's out of warranty. This world is new to me. Google's suggestion was to send it in to a partner for repairs (who knows how much that will cost). I'm hoping there's something else I can try before resorting to that.
Originally I was hoping to get some data off it. I'm not familiar with what Google backs up within Android (I had those settings checked, but no third party backup apps). I guess my photos should be backed up which would have been the biggest thing. Now I'd just like to recover the device without having to spend more money!
Oh, previous owner had Oreo 8.1 on it.
Any guidance would be most appreciated. Back to my trusty 5+ yr old Lumia 1020 in the interim!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Factory reset.
Sounds like a hardware problem. Most likely a motherboard issue. Try flashing the official 8.0 factory image first though.

Spontaneous bootloop

My Pixel XL just took a crap this morning. It was working as expected early on. A bit later I could not access the internet despite showing a pretty strong lte connection. I didn't think much of that because it's not unheard of for service to not reflect the indicator. I was listening to a podcast and it just died. Went into an endless boot loop. It has had a steady decline in how far it will boot. I once got into TWRP but it crashed shortly after and once got to the login screen, again, crashing before I could login. Now it doesn't get past the google screen.
I have tried flashing the stock image from the bootloader as well as trying to fastboot twrp and neither go well. The flashing "works" but doesn't boot. Fastboot doesn't give an error but the phone just bootloops.
As it sits the bootloader is unlocked (not sure it matters at all).
At this point I have already bought a new phone but am considering trying to fix it to have a backup if I can get an idea of where to start or what it would cost to send in.
Any advice or help would be appreciated.
This sounds really similar to what I had happen after a while with my first Pixel XL. I tried to document everything HERE.
Wiping dalvik cache through TWRP seemed to be a short term fix (daily), but even that eventually stopped working. I ended up being able to jump into an "open enrollment" period for adding insurance for the phone with Verizon and then was able to use their extended warranty system to get a replacement phone (which was confusing since they said it was not an insurance claim since it appeared to be a phone defect out of my control, so I'm not 100% sure I even needed the insurance? Your mileage may vary.) The replacement was a refurb but has worked perfectly ever since I got it. They still had them in stock at the time or else I'd have tried to push for a 2 (or maybe now push for a 3 or 3a?). Good luck!
just went through the same thing. research shows it was most likely a known motherboard issue. its out of warranty so i bought a used one on swappa for 80 bucks and then sold my non functioning one at an ecoATM for 30 bucks. so im only net -50.
tgumina said:
My Pixel XL just took a crap this morning. It was working as expected early on. A bit later I could not access the internet despite showing a pretty strong lte connection. I didn't think much of that because it's not unheard of for service to not reflect the indicator. I was listening to a podcast and it just died. Went into an endless boot loop. It has had a steady decline in how far it will boot. I once got into TWRP but it crashed shortly after and once got to the login screen, again, crashing before I could login. Now it doesn't get past the google screen.
I have tried flashing the stock image from the bootloader as well as trying to fastboot twrp and neither go well. The flashing "works" but doesn't boot. Fastboot doesn't give an error but the phone just bootloops.
As it sits the bootloader is unlocked (not sure it matters at all).
At this point I have already bought a new phone but am considering trying to fix it to have a backup if I can get an idea of where to start or what it would cost to send in.
Any advice or help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
https://mirrors.lolinet.com/firmware/gsi/Pixel/Pixel-AB-11-20200909-ErfanGSI.img-0125.7z
↑extract and fastboot flash this

Categories

Resources