Develop Bugs

[Q] Repair platform.xml?

Hi folks,
I tried to modify the platform.xml file to enable some write permissions. As far as I can tell, the app I used to modify the file didn't write it back correctly, and now my device is what might be called "semi-bricked."
Almost everything force closes, WiFi and write permissions seem to be broken, and I can't seem to get my Galaxy Nexus to communicate with my PC via USB.
I tried booting into CWM and mounting some /system, but I'm not sure how to access it since fastboot/adb don't seem to recognize the device.
I've also booted into some sort of recovery (fastboot?) that looks like the attached image. But I can't get it to do anything except boot up into the normal OS when I click the power button.
Any suggestions on how I can get access back to my device so I can repair/replace the platform.xml file and restore functionality to my phone?
Thank you very much!

Deozaan said:
Hi folks,
I tried to modify the platform.xml file to enable some write permissions. As far as I can tell, the app I used to modify the file didn't write it back correctly, and now my device is what might be called "semi-bricked."
Almost everything force closes, WiFi and write permissions seem to be broken, and I can't seem to get my Galaxy Nexus to communicate with my PC via USB.
I tried booting into CWM and mounting some /system, but I'm not sure how to access it since fastboot/adb don't seem to recognize the device.
I've also booted into some sort of recovery (fastboot?) that looks like the attached image. But I can't get it to do anything except boot up into the normal OS when I click the power button.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No it is not bootloader. to access to the bootloader turn on your device long pressing power, volume up and volume down buttons together (don't use odin).
To access to cwm recovery from bootloader just press volume down button until you see "recovery" option, then press power button and it will boot in recovery.
which rom are you using?
solution: download the zip file of your rom and extract the file you modified, make a zip (if you can't make a flashable zip i'll post an attachment for you) and flash it in recovery

enryea123 said:
No it is not bootloader. to access to the bootloader turn on your device long pressing power, volume up and volume down buttons together (don't use odin).
To access to cwm recovery from bootloader just press volume down button until you see "recovery" option, then press power button and it will boot in recovery.
which rom are you using?
solution: download the zip file of your rom and extract the file you modified, make a zip (if you can't make a flashable zip i'll post an attachment for you) and flash it in recovery
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I actually did manage to get my PC to recognize the device via USB/adb and I copied the file back to the way it should have been. But that didn't fix anything, so I ended up doing a wipe/factory reset. Everything works now but things still seem a bit. . . off. For instance, it takes a while after my phone boots up before the WiFi will actually connect. It used to be connected almost immediately. And it takes a while for the alarm icon to load/show up in the notification area at the top. And I can't find the option in the settings anymore to use USB debugging. There are lots of little things like that, where it works, but it just doesn't quite work like it used to. . .
And to answer your question, I'm using the stock ROM that came with the Galaxy Nexus (from Google Play Store).

Deozaan said:
Thanks for the reply.
I actually did manage to get my PC to recognize the device via USB/adb and I copied the file back to the way it should have been. But that didn't fix anything, so I ended up doing a wipe/factory reset. Everything works now but things still seem a bit. . . off. For instance, it takes a while after my phone boots up before the WiFi will actually connect. It used to be connected almost immediately. And it takes a while for the alarm icon to load/show up in the notification area at the top. And I can't find the option in the settings anymore to use USB debugging. There are lots of little things like that, where it works, but it just doesn't quite work like it used to. . .
And to answer your question, I'm using the stock ROM that came with the Galaxy Nexus (from Google Play Store).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
first: to make the "developer settings" appear go settings/About phone and tap on build number 7 times (google has hidden it in 4.2).
said that, you can:
1) fix permissions in cwm recovery (under advanced menu)
2) download a zip of your rom and flash it in recovery
3) if your bootloader is unlocked (you see a padlock when you boot your phone) you can flash a factory image to return completely stock.
4) if your bootloader is locked you can follow the 3) method but you will lose all your sdcard data.

enryea123 said:
first: to make the "developer settings" appear go settings/About phone and tap on build number 7 times (google has hidden it in 4.2).
said that, you can:
1) fix permissions in cwm recovery (under advanced menu)
2) download a zip of your rom and flash it in recovery
3) if your bootloader is unlocked (you see a padlock when you boot your phone) you can flash a factory image to return completely stock.
4) if your bootloader is locked you can follow the 3) method but you will lose all your sdcard data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for the response.
I got developer settings to appear. Hooray! Fix Permissions is one of the first things I did to try to repair the platform.xml file when things were broken. I ran it again (but from ROM Manager rather than from CWM Recovery) and it didn't seem to have any effect on the weird sluggishness when first booting up.
My bootloader is unlocked. Will I have to root again if I flash one of those factory images? I'm currently backing up the contents of my "SD card" in case I have to completely wipe the entire thing.

Deozaan said:
Thanks again for the response.
I got developer settings to appear. Hooray! Fix Permissions is one of the first things I did to try to repair the platform.xml file when things were broken. I ran it again (but from ROM Manager rather than from CWM Recovery) and it didn't seem to have any effect on the weird sluggishness when first booting up.
My bootloader is unlocked. Will I have to root again if I flash one of those factory images? I'm currently backing up the contents of my "SD card" in case I have to completely wipe the entire thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well, you can firstly try to flash a zip of your rom (search on xda or google), it should fix.
the fastboot flash method is the google method so you won't need root (you just have to go into fastboot and connect your phone to your computer, doesn't matter if you have root, or a different rom/kernel/recovery).
If you don't know you to flash from fastboot try first to flash the rom zip.
having a backup of the sdcard is always a good idea :good:, i have 2 backups of mysdcard on 2 different hard drives of my computer and the pictures i take with the camera are automatically uploaded on my dropbox .

enryea123 said:
well, you can firstly try to flash a zip of your rom (search on xda or google), it should fix.
the fastboot flash method is the google method so you won't need root (you just have to go into fastboot and connect your phone to your computer, doesn't matter if you have root, or a different rom/kernel/recovery).
If you don't know you to flash from fastboot try first to flash the rom zip.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Weird things are happening. I was making a backup of the "SD Card" and partway through, things stopped copying over. And pretty much everything got erased from it. No big deal, since I'd already copied the important stuff first.
But CWM Recovery won't flash the zip file. It keeps telling me the update failed. I verified the hash on the zip I downloaded and it is the same as what is listed on Google's site. But it just won't flash in CWM.

Deozaan said:
Weird things are happening. I was making a backup of the "SD Card" and partway through, things stopped copying over. And pretty much everything got erased from it. No big deal, since I'd already copied the important stuff first.
But CWM Recovery won't flash the zip file. It keeps telling me the update failed. I verified the hash on the zip I downloaded and it is the same as what is listed on Google's site. But it just won't flash in CWM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
wait, are you in cwm recovery o just in stock recovery (they are different)? have you previously installed a cwm recovery using fastboot? which zip are you trying to flash?
edit: ok you know what is rom manager so i think that you are in cwm.
edit2: try this zip http://goo.im/devs/bigxie/maguro/bigxie_maguro_OTA_JOP40D-signed.zip

enryea123 said:
wait, are you in cwm recovery o just in stock recovery (they are different)? have you previously installed a cwm recovery using fastboot? which zip are you trying to flash?
edit: ok you know what is rom manager so i think that you are in cwm.
edit2: try this zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was in CWM Recovery. I was using the zip file that I extracted from the link you gave me for Google's stock ROMs (I can't post external links yet):
(Factory Images "takju" for Galaxy Nexus "maguro" (GSM/HSPA+) (with Google Wallet) --> Android 4.2.1 (JOP40D))
Strangely enough, after "failing" to flash the zip, I had to log into my Google account again because I had selected the option to Wipe Data and Cache, and most things seem to be working very well again. One odd thing I'm still noticing, though, is that some things don't seem to be syncing properly. For example, if I archive some of my email in the Gmail app, then log into Gmail on my PC, the mail is still unread in my inbox. My phone downloads the new mail just fine. But the changes I make on my phone (reading, archiving, deleting, etc.) don't seem to be syncing to anywhere else.
I'm downloading the zip you suggested. I'll give that a try. Thanks!

enryea123 said:
edit2: try this zip http://goo.im/devs/bigxie/maguro/bigxie_maguro_OTA_JOP40D-signed.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try this one
Deozaan said:
I was in CWM Recovery. I was using the zip file that I extracted from here the link you gave me (I can't post external links yet):
(Factory Images "takju" for Galaxy Nexus "maguro" (GSM/HSPA+) (with Google Wallet) --> Android 4.2.1 (JOP40D))
Strangely enough, after "failing" to flash the zip, I had to log into my Google account again because I had selected the option to Wipe Data and Cache, and most things seem to be working very well again. One odd thing I'm still noticing, though, is that some things don't seem to be syncing properly. For example, if I archive some of my email in the Gmail app, then log into Gmail on my PC, the mail is still unread in my inbox. My phone downloads the new mail just fine. But the changes I make on my phone (reading, archiving, deleting, etc.) don't seem to be syncing to anywhere else.
I'm downloading the zip you suggested. I'll give that a try. Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not a flashable zip! It is a factory image, it must be flashed via fastboot using a computer.

enryea123 said:
That is not a flashable zip! It is a factory image, it must be flashed via fastboot using a computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just to be sure I explained myself clearly, I downloaded that Google provided factory image (a .tgz file) and inside it I found a zip file named "image-takju-jop40d.zip" which is what I tried to flash.
That said, I've just recently finished downloading the one you just suggested to me and I will give that one a try soon. Thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it.

I got it working again. The ROM you gave me failed signature verification in CWM Recovery, but I told it to install anyway and it worked. Thank you.
The problem I was having with Gmail not syncing was that I used Titanium Backup to restore my data, but because all the data from my "SD card" got erased, Titanium Backup itself lots its settings, so my Device ID was different. I guess Gmail relies on the device ID for syncing.
Thank you so much for your help! I learned a lot from the experience.

Glad i helped you. well this is one of the reasons why i don't restore data with titanium (especially system data).
and by the way:
Deozaan said:
Just to be sure I explained myself clearly, I downloaded that Google provided factory image (a .tgz file) and inside it I found a zip file named "image-takju-jop40d.zip" which is what I tried to flash.
That said, I've just recently finished downloading the one you just suggested to me and I will give that one a try soon. Thank you again for your help. I really appreciate it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To fully reset and install a clean rom using fastboot you have to extract the bootloader-blabla.img and radio-blabla.img files from the tar.gz archive and then extract the 4 .img files inside the zip (that is inside the tar.gz) and flash this 6 .img files connetting your phone in bootloader mode to your computer and using fastboot in terminal (in fact this procedure reinstall the recovery too).

HELP asap please, i've got nothing

Today i decided to download a new rom, something i ain't done in a long time, so everything went well, got the rom and kernal installed on my external.
I then went and wiped everything on the phone but went a bit to far and decided to go into advanced and wipe dalvik cache, cache, system, data, internal storage and external SDcard. so after this was done, i went into the SD card to install the new rom, but nothing is there, the entire folder is clear.
so now when i try to turn my phone off, i get a message come up saying 'no OS installed! are you sure you wish to reboot.
When i connect my phone to my computer so that i can transfer over the files again, my phone aint coming up anymore.
what can i do?
i prey someone knows a way around this.

MrLarner said:
Today i decided to download a new rom, something i ain't done in a long time, so everything went well, got the rom and kernal installed on my external.
I then went and wiped everything on the phone but went a bit to far and decided to go into advanced and wipe dalvik cache, cache, system, data, internal storage and external SDcard. so after this was done, i went into the SD card to install the new rom, but nothing is there, the entire folder is clear.
so now when i try to turn my phone off, i get a message come up saying 'no OS installed! are you sure you wish to reboot.
When i connect my phone to my computer so that i can transfer over the files again, my phone aint coming up anymore.
what can i do?
i prey someone knows a way around this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, those actions did not delete the recovery you flashed so you should be able to enter it. If yes you can:
A) take the sdcard out and copy the data to it on your PC (home/work/friend/cafe?)
B) connect the phone to PC using USB cable:
- on PC start Command Prompt (cmd.exe)
- navigate to the directory where you have the new ROM stored
- enter "adb sideload ROM_filename"
- while at the same time in your recovery enter flashing menu and select Sideload
- you will be able to flash rom
C) enter "Download Mode" (power+home+vol_down) also called Odin Download Mode and use PC Odin to flash some recovery - search for Philz custom recovery, he has versions named something.md5 that are usable to Odin.

mat9v said:
Well, those actions did not delete the recovery you flashed so you should be able to enter it. If yes you can:
A) take the sdcard out and copy the data to it on your PC (home/work/friend/cafe?)
B) connect the phone to PC using USB cable:
- on PC start Command Prompt (cmd.exe)
- navigate to the directory where you have the new ROM stored
- enter "adb sideload ROM_filename"
- while at the same time in your recovery enter flashing menu and select Sideload
- you will be able to flash rom
C) enter "Download Mode" (power+home+vol_down) also called Odin Download Mode and use PC Odin to flash some recovery - search for Philz custom recovery, he has versions named something.md5 that are usable to Odin.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My SD Card is a tiny little card, and there is nowhere on my computer to put it. how am i ment to copy the stuff across?

Need to give a HUGE thank you to mat9v on here who spent around 2 hours helping me solve all my problems on my phone.
can't thank him enough. :good::good::good:

[Q] Stuck trying to restore to stock

Hi guys,
I've been running custom AOKP rom and decided to return back to stock.
I have the rogers version of the M8, and intended to flash a stock TWRP backup of someone's rogers save.
I made the poor decision of relocking and unlocking the bootloader again, leaving me without a functional OS and with only fastboot and TWRP recovery available to me. As a result, I can't get the rogers backup folder onto my phone ( I don't have a miscro SD), and the only other option I see is to manually push each file in the stock TWRP recovery with ADB to my phone, but I'm horrible with anything that involves command lines.
Any suggestions to get me out of this situation would be great. My end goal is to get the stock ROM / kernel running so I can get OTA's.
Edit: Solved by doing an advanced wipe and format in TWRP, and I flashed a stock Rogers nandroid

Just adb push or adb sideload a stock rooted ROM to your phone. Just a single command line.
If you want OTAs, you will also need stock recovery. But my recommendation is that OTAs have no place on a modded device.

redpoint73 said:
Just adb push or adb sideload a stock rooted ROM to your phone. Just a single command line.
If you want OTAs, you will also need stock recovery. But my recommendation is that OTAs have no place on a modded device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried flashing a ROM and unfortunately I get stuck on the boot animation.
Attempting to wipe my phone through TWRP before the zip install yields a failure:
E: Unable to mount '/data'
E: Unable to mount internal storage
Those two lines are repeated a couple times in the error screen.
It looks like I need to flash some form of backup but am not sure which one will hard reset my phone to stock from this scenario.

Flashnova said:
I've tried flashing a ROM and unfortunately I get stuck on the boot animation.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which ROM? How did you try to flash it (how did you get it on the phone, did you adb sideload?)/
Flashnova said:
Attempting to wipe my phone through TWRP before the zip install yields a failure:
E: Unable to mount '/data'
E: Unable to mount internal storage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Select "Mount" in TWRP main screen and make sure data is checked (cache should also e checked by default). If so, and still getting this error, di you by chance try to factory reset in bootloader (not TWRP)?

redpoint73 said:
Which ROM? How did you try to flash it (how did you get it on the phone, did you adb sideload?)/
Select "Mount" in TWRP main screen and make sure data is checked (cache should also e checked by default). If so, and still getting this error, di you by chance try to factory reset in bootloader (not TWRP)?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I flashed dirty unicorns 4.4.4. I had a 2gb SD card which managed to get it to the phone (the 2gb isn't enough to move the system backup).
I can't check Mount in the settings and it remains unchecked, and yes, I did hit the factory reset in the bootloader thinking that it would help me (I assume this was another bad decision).

Flashnova said:
I can't check Mount in the settings and it remains unchecked, and yes, I did hit the factory reset in the bootloader thinking that it would help me (I assume this was another bad decision).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, that was a bad decision. But probably not one that you could have known about. Doing a factory reset in bootloader on a modded M8 corrupts the internal memory. This is your main problem right there.
If you have a Windows PC, connect the phone, go to Device Manager and find the phone. Then select the option to format the memory.
In the future only do a factory reset within the OS (in Settings) or in recovery, not in bootloader.

If you've gone through this much, I'd highly recommend getting comfy with a few command line commands. These may very well save you some time and additional headache (speaking from experience).
After recently running into issues with my newly purchased Roger's M8, I needed to restore to stock as well. Honestly, I followed these instructions to the T and it got me out scrape-free.
But, note Step #6 may require you to "adb push" your unzipped folder. And that's it.
Once you've ADB'd the massive nandroid backup, you should be out of the woods (in TWRP, Restore, Select the pushed backup file).
Good luck, and as long as you've got recovery/hboot looking back at you, you should be fine.

redpoint73 said:
If you have a Windows PC, connect the phone, go to Device Manager and find the phone. Then select the option to format the memory.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not too sure where that option is located, would you know how to get there?
esuohe said:
But, note Step #6 may require you to "adb push" your unzipped folder. And that's it.
Once you've ADB'd the massive nandroid backup, you should be out of the woods
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After pushing the folder to my device I receive "protocol failure", so the push isn't working unfortunately.

Flashnova said:
I'm not too sure where that option is located, would you know how to get there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On Win7, go to Start Menu, use the search function at the bottom that says "Search programs and files" and type "Device Manager".
Or go to Start Menu>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound; and under "Devices and printers" you will see Device Manager.
Flashnova said:
After pushing the folder to my device I receive "protocol failure", so the push isn't working unfortunately.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You aren't going to be able to write to the memory when its still corrupt.

redpoint73 said:
On Win7, go to Start Menu, use the search function at the bottom that says "Search programs and files" and type "Device Manager".
Or go to Start Menu>Control Panel>Hardware and Sound; and under "Devices and printers" you will see Device Manager.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Device manager does not provide a format option. Perhaps you mean disk manager? If I do format it will I have to somehow reinstall the android system?

Flashnova said:
Device manager does not provide a format option. Perhaps you mean disk manager? If I do format it will I have to somehow reinstall the android system?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've often read it described as Device Manager. Can't personally say from experience as I've never actually had to do it myself, but seen this described on XDA quite a few times. If the option comes up in Disk Management, that should be fine, too.
Formatting internal storage should not affect the Android OS, as its a separate partition (note how Windows is only reading the internal storage as around 25 GB of the total 32 GB). But you have to re-install a ROM anyway, as you presently do not have one installed.

[Q] phone crashed last night, now says it needs to be activated, wont activate

Hoping someone here can give me some help. Sometime last night my phone crashed - had an error message on the screen asking me if i wanted to restart - basically the android version of a blue screen.
I rebooted and when it started up it tried to activate but failed. Tried it a few times, never activated. I called sprint and they had me type in 2 different codes:
##72786# which didn't get an error but didn't help anything
They had me try a 2nd 6 digit number, which I'm not sure if it's unique to my phone or not so I wont post it here but that did nothing at all - typed in the ##______# and nothing happened. They claimed it was because the phone is rooted, but the phone is ONLY rooted. I haven't installed a new OS it's the stock rom as far as i can tell.
Anyone have any ideas whats going wrong here or how to fix it?
thanks
edit: and apparently now I wiped the OS from the phone since it wont go past the LG logo. Is there some way for me to either copy a rom onto the phone from TWRP or copy a backup onto the phone? I've got a couple of TWRP backups saved on my pc, but since the phone wont start up I don't have any way of copying them onto the phone - damn non-user removable sd cards.

merkk said:
Hoping someone here can give me some help. Sometime last night my phone crashed - had an error message on the screen asking me if i wanted to restart - basically the android version of a blue screen.
I rebooted and when it started up it tried to activate but failed. Tried it a few times, never activated. I called sprint and they had me type in 2 different codes:
##72786# which didn't get an error but didn't help anything
They had me try a 2nd 6 digit number, which I'm not sure if it's unique to my phone or not so I wont post it here but that did nothing at all - typed in the ##______# and nothing happened. They claimed it was because the phone is rooted, but the phone is ONLY rooted. I haven't installed a new OS it's the stock rom as far as i can tell.
Anyone have any ideas whats going wrong here or how to fix it?
thanks
edit: and apparently now I wiped the OS from the phone since it wont go past the LG logo. Is there some way for me to either copy a rom onto the phone from TWRP or copy a backup onto the phone? I've got a couple of TWRP backups saved on my pc, but since the phone wont start up I don't have any way of copying them onto the phone - damn non-user removable sd cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you boot to recovery?
If you can, then flash a newer TWRP build, they have MTP support, you can mount it while connected to your PC, copy a ROM zip over (there is a stock on in these threads somewhere), flash it from recovery, wipe everything first. Then you should be able to boot into a working device.

Yes I can boot into twrp, but I'm not sure how to copy files that way. I tried using adb but it couldnt find the phone. Can you give me some tips on how to copy a new ROM or twrp backup to the phone?
Thanks

merkk said:
Yes I can boot into twrp, but I'm not sure how to copy files that way. I tried using adb but it couldnt find the phone. Can you give me some tips on how to copy a new ROM or twrp backup to the phone?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, first thing is to flash this.
http://cubegamemc.de/kevinjoa/lollipop/recovery-geehrc/twrp/
You can flash it through fastboot.
follow these steps:
1. Download and place the file on your PC.
2. Reboot your device into Fastboot Mode. To do that, simply hold down the Volume DOWN+Power buttons together.
3. Once inside the Fastboot mode, connect your device to your PC via USB cable.
4. Launch a Command Prompt Window in the folder you saved the recovery image to. You can do that by holding down the Shift button on your keyboard and right-click on any blank area on the screen, then select Open command window here.
4. Enter the following command into the Command Prompt Window. You need to replace recoveryfilename.img with the actual name of the Recovery Image you downloaded.
Code:
fastboot flash recovery recoveryfilename.img
5. Once it is done, reboot your device
Code:
adb reboot recovery
should do it. If not, just hold down the power button, and get back to recovery.
at that point you should have the newest recovery. This recovery has MTP enabled so you can transfer files just like you can if you had a running device.
Once it shows up on you PC you can transfer a ROM zip or a backup to the internal SD. From there you I am sure you know how to flash a zip or restore a backup. It is the same as an older version. MTP should be under the "MOUNT" section of TWRP. I don't remember because I have a different device now.
Good luck!
If this doesn't work, follow the thread here: You would need the super big full bin file if you do though because you do not have a working ROM or zip currently on your internal SD card and this contains a very old recovery, but it does work.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2230106
edit: I altered the directions from the source here for the att version. Don't worry, I changed them to suit your current need.
http://theunlockr.com/2013/03/26/how-to-install-twrp-recovery-on-the-lg-optimus-g-att/

My phone seems to behave a little differently than what you describe. Holding down the volume down and power button just turns it on. Holding vol up and power puts me into a screen with the android bot on it with the option to restart bootloader, go into recovery, or power off. and at the bottom there's some text indicating fastboot mode is on.
I was able to use the fastboot command to load the newer recovery. But for some reason, none of the adb commands work on my phone.
I'm copying a twrp backup to the phone now and i'll restore that. Hopefully that'll fix the issue of the phone not booting and if i am really lucky, fix the issue of the phone not being activated, but I'm not too hopeful about that.
Thanks again for all your help

hey - just wanted to say thank. Got my phone to boot back up again. Unfortunately the backup restore doesnt seem to have fixed my initial problem. Phone is back to saying it needs to be activated. Any ideas about that? It's also showing zero bars - not sure if that's what it's supposed to show when it's not activated.
Thanks again for your help

merkk said:
hey - just wanted to say thank. Got my phone to boot back up again. Unfortunately the backup restore doesnt seem to have fixed my initial problem. Phone is back to saying it needs to be activated. Any ideas about that? It's also showing zero bars - not sure if that's what it's supposed to show when it's not activated.
Thanks again for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT:: TRY THIS FIRST<
Do a full wipe of the system and data, not internal. GO to recovery, select wipe, then factory reset. Then boot your phone. You will have to setup everything again but it might help. If it does not, you can always restore your backup again.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Interesting that your phone was the opposite for the buttons. Maybe I had it backwards, or maybe my source did. Either way I am glad you have a device that boots now.
Check this...
Go to the about section and see if your imei and other information are blank or have 0's. I am almost certain that there are 0000's.
If that's the case then you lost your EFS some how. and there is a way to recover that as long as you have a backup somewhere. You should have one somewhere if you used freegee to unlock your phone in the beginning. If not, perhaps an earlier backup you had of your device. A lot of the recoveries for this device make a backup of the EFS.

well i just dropped the phone off at a sprint repair store to see if they could do anything with it now that it actually boots. If they can't fix it, I'll try what you suggested. Although i already tried a factory reset and that didn't help.

well you are right about the esn/meid/IMEI - they are all zeros
I did a restore and then used freegee to restore the efs. Will free tell you if there is no backup of the EFS? Because i restored it, it finished pretty much instantly, and then i restarted the phone just be safe. Unfortunately it didn't fix it.
Phone still says searching for service, and now there's a little red x over the bars. Before the bars were blank but there was no red x. Not sure if that makes any difference.
Also, something else weird is going on now. I just tried copying a newer backup to the phone to try and restore the newer one. I don't seem to be able to copy files now. When i drag the folder windows , it says the device has stopped responding. If i try and copy each individual file in the backup folder, it starts to copy, and then just sits there like it froze, or like it's copying so slowly it might as well be frozen. I had to reflash twrp to the newer version and then I'm able to copy files.
Reloaded the efs backup again but still can't activate/have all zeros.

[Q] Wifi Model, Stuck on Google Boot Up Screen, No OS Installed says TWRP, help?

Hey all,
So, my smart self was attempting to flash Marshmallow 6.0 from 4.3 (rooted)...I did the same thing that was here on this THREAD and now my tab can only go into TWRP, but there's no OS installed because I wiped (and didn't make a darn backup....), but there are a few differences from the thread I referred to:
- I can get into my Bootloader
- I can get into TWRP
- I have the current TWRP 2.8.7
- I've tried the Nexus Toolkit from HERE, my device serial is recognized, but it states that I'm offline
- Because I'm offline, I can't push any files to my device through the tool
- When I'm in TWRP, my computer will recognize my tablet and I can actually get into folders and what not, but I can't copy/paste any files to flash within TWRP and I get an error
- Anytime I power down or reboot within TWRP, it tells me that I have No OS installed
- I can't use ADB (as far as I know) because my device shows that it's offline
Is there any hope that I can recover even back to 4.3?
Any guidance would really be appreciated. I have to step away because I'm frustrated and am angry at myself that I didn't make a nandroid.
Thanks in advance.

kevs888 said:
Hey all,
So, my smart self was attempting to flash Marshmallow 6.0 from 4.3 (rooted)...I did the same thing that was here on this THREAD and now my tab can only go into TWRP, but there's no OS installed because I wiped (and didn't make a darn backup....), but there are a few differences from the thread I referred to:
- I can get into my Bootloader
- I can get into TWRP
- I have the current TWRP 2.8.7
- I've tried the Nexus Toolkit from HERE, my device serial is recognized, but it states that I'm offline
- Because I'm offline, I can't push any files to my device through the tool
- When I'm in TWRP, my computer will recognize my tablet and I can actually get into folders and what not, but I can't copy/paste any files to flash within TWRP and I get an error
- Anytime I power down or reboot within TWRP, it tells me that I have No OS installed
- I can't use ADB (as far as I know) because my device shows that it's offline
Is there any hope that I can recover even back to 4.3?
Any guidance would really be appreciated. I have to step away because I'm frustrated and am angry at myself that I didn't make a nandroid.
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you using stock rom? Because if you are, I wouldn't even try. What with the widespread knowledge that stock might brick, some people insist on it. Otherwise, if you can get to the bootloader:
(1) Make sure it's unlocked (if you're not familiar, connect tab to PC, make sure fastboot works, then enter "fastboot oem unlocked" without the quotes then follow instructions on your tab);
(2) Flash bootloader 4.05 if you haven't already;
(3) Get a USB OTG thumb drive (you might need an OTG adapter for this); and download a Marshmallow-based custom rom in the Android Development section;
(4) Get into TWRP and mount USB OTG. You should see all the files on your thumb drive;
(5) Copy all data you care about to your PC;
(6) Wipe everything except USB OTG twice. Then go to Format and do it twice too. If yours is 32GB, it will take a while (30 Mins average depending on how much data);
(7) Flash rom, then Gapps.
You should be able to boot after that. Good luck.
(4)

graphdarnell said:
Are you using stock rom? Because if you are, I wouldn't even try. What with the widespread knowledge that stock might brick, some people insist on it. Otherwise, if you can get to the bootloader:
(1) Make sure it's unlocked (if you're not familiar, connect tab to PC, make sure fastboot works, then enter "fastboot oem unlocked" without the quotes then follow instructions on your tab);
(2) Flash bootloader 4.05 if you haven't already;
(3) Get a USB OTG thumb drive (you might need an OTG adapter for this); and download a Marshmallow-based custom rom in the Android Development section;
(4) Get into TWRP and mount USB OTG. You should see all the files on your thumb drive;
(5) Copy all data you care about to your PC;
(6) Wipe everything except USB OTG twice. Then go to Format and do it twice too. If yours is 32GB, it will take a while (30 Mins average depending on how much data);
(7) Flash rom, then Gapps.
You should be able to boot after that. Good luck.
(4)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this! A few questions...
- Before I wiped my OS, I was running the Smooth ROM. Does this make a difference? - Regarding fastboot, how do I get into it? I can't use adb because it lists my tablet as Offline when I type in "adb devices"...
- My lock icon is unlocked at the Google screen, but it stops there since I currently have no OS
- Would I be able to skip to your Step 4 just use the USB OTG and mount the original 4.3 OS through TWRP?
- Should I just flash the OEM 4.3? Or should I load the Smooth ROM or whatever other ROM instead of the OEM 4.3?
Thanks for your continued help!

kevs888 said:
Thanks for this! A few questions...
- Before I wiped my OS, I was running the Smooth ROM. Does this make a difference? - Regarding fastboot, how do I get into it? I can't use adb because it lists my tablet as Offline when I type in "adb devices"...
- My lock icon is unlocked at the Google screen, but it stops there since I currently have no OS
- Would I be able to skip to your Step 4 just use the USB OTG and mount the original 4.3 OS through TWRP?
- Should I just flash the OEM 4.3? Or should I load the Smooth ROM or whatever other ROM instead of the OEM 4.3?
Thanks for your continued help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It shouldn't make a difference what rom you flash now so long as you wipe and format everything inside TWRP. But you must make sure you have bootloader 4.05. 4.02 will not allow you to flash LL or MM successfully, and the system does not upgrade on its own no matter what rom you're flashing now.
Since you said you couldn't get TWRP to copy anything, I suggested that you use a thumb drive. Basically, if you turn the tab totally off, hold power + volume down for a few seconds, it should take you to the fastboot page (pic). Look to see what bootloader version you have there.
From here, you can basically flash anything. I recommended that you wipe and format first with TWRP because it happened to me a few times when for some reason, wiping alone still left some residual data that interfered with flashing newer roms.
Stay away from anything stock for the moment. God knows it has bricked more than a few devices. Download SkipsoftToolKit and flash from the fastboot page if you want an automated process. It has worked wonderfully in my experience. Ask if you have more questions. Have fun.

kevs888 said:
Thanks for this! A few questions...
- Before I wiped my OS, I was running the Smooth ROM. Does this make a difference? - Regarding fastboot, how do I get into it? I can't use adb because it lists my tablet as Offline when I type in "adb devices"...
- My lock icon is unlocked at the Google screen, but it stops there since I currently have no OS
- Would I be able to skip to your Step 4 just use the USB OTG and mount the original 4.3 OS through TWRP?
- Should I just flash the OEM 4.3? Or should I load the Smooth ROM or whatever other ROM instead of the OEM 4.3?
Thanks for your continued help!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Fastboot page

graphdarnell said:
It shouldn't make a difference what rom you flash now so long as you wipe and format everything inside TWRP. But you must make sure you have bootloader 4.05. 4.02 will not allow you to flash LL or MM successfully, and the system does not upgrade on its own no matter what rom you're flashing now.
Since you said you couldn't get TWRP to copy anything, I suggested that you use a thumb drive. Basically, if you turn the tab totally off, hold power + volume down for a few seconds, it should take you to the fastboot page (pic). Look to see what bootloader version you have there.
From here, you can basically flash anything. I recommended that you wipe and format first with TWRP because it happened to me a few times when for some reason, wiping alone still left some residual data that interfered with flashing newer roms.
Stay away from anything stock for the moment. God knows it has bricked more than a few devices. Download SkipsoftToolKit and flash from the fastboot page if you want an automated process. It has worked wonderfully in my experience. Ask if you have more questions. Have fun.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is really helpful...I think I'm almost there.
I'm on a super old Bootloader (see attachment) so I'll need to update. I downloaded the update from this XDA Thread
More questions:
- Would I be able to push the 4.05 bootloader update and custom whatever Marshmallow ROM via the toolkit instead of from a USB OTG?
- If I was rooted on 4.3, am I still rooted so that I would be able to flash the custom ROM? I don't want to risk doing further damage, lol.
- I'm not home at the moment, so I can't test this out -- I'm thinking I couldn't put anything into my tablet last night because it was running TWRP and I didn't have it on the Fastboot screen. Would being in the Fastboot screen possibly allow me to copy/paste the zip files into my tablet?
- If there's nothing I need to copy from the tablet, would I still need the USB OTG? Or could I just use the Toolkit to push everything into my tablet and flash via TWRP?
Based on your answers to the above would this be the correct order:
1. Push 4.05 bootloader update and custom ROM via toolkit to my tablet
2. Flash 4.05 bootloader update within TWRP
3. *Per your earlier advice* Wipe everything except USB OTG twice. Is this cache, dalvik, system, and data? Or literally there's an option for "wipe everything" (I don't remember what I saw)?
4. Then go to Format and do it twice, too. I have a 32GB, so I'm expecting it to take awhile for the format
5. Flash ROM, then Gapps. I don't have any apps I need to put back so much as I need an OS to load, so I can add later.
Thanks again for everything!
EDIT:
Okay, so I came home and was able to use the Toolkit to recognize the device in fastboot mode. However, I wasn't able to push anything into the phone because the Toolkit said that I needed to be booted into Android.
The last thing I saw when I was in TWRP poking around was that I saw that I could install .zip files from USB OTG. Are either of these alright for me to connect my flash drive to and be recognized inside TWRP?
Example 1
Example 2

kevs888 said:
This is really helpful...I think I'm almost there.
I'm on a super old Bootloader (see attachment) so I'll need to update. I downloaded the update from this XDA Thread
More questions:
- Would I be able to push the 4.05 bootloader update and custom whatever Marshmallow ROM via the toolkit instead of from a USB OTG?
- If I was rooted on 4.3, am I still rooted so that I would be able to flash the custom ROM? I don't want to risk doing further damage, lol.
- I'm not home at the moment, so I can't test this out -- I'm thinking I couldn't put anything into my tablet last night because it was running TWRP and I didn't have it on the Fastboot screen. Would being in the Fastboot screen possibly allow me to copy/paste the zip files into my tablet?
- If there's nothing I need to copy from the tablet, would I still need the USB OTG? Or could I just use the Toolkit to push everything into my tablet and flash via TWRP?
Based on your answers to the above would this be the correct order:
1. Push 4.05 bootloader update and custom ROM via toolkit to my tablet
2. Flash 4.05 bootloader update within TWRP
3. *Per your earlier advice* Wipe everything except USB OTG twice. Is this cache, dalvik, system, and data? Or literally there's an option for "wipe everything" (I don't remember what I saw)?
4. Then go to Format and do it twice, too. I have a 32GB, so I'm expecting it to take awhile for the format
5. Flash ROM, then Gapps. I don't have any apps I need to put back so much as I need an OS to load, so I can add later.
Thanks again for everything!
EDIT:
Okay, so I came home and was able to use the Toolkit to recognize the device in fastboot mode. However, I wasn't able to push anything into the phone because the Toolkit said that I needed to be booted into Android.
The last thing I saw when I was in TWRP poking around was that I saw that I could install .zip files from USB OTG. Are either of these alright for me to connect my flash drive to and be recognized inside TWRP?
Example 1
Example 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're comfortable using the ToolKit, you don't need an OTG cable. Connect your tab to PC, fire up ToolKit, complete all the prelim BS, then flash the bootloader from TK. Do not use TWRP for this. To do this, open the ToolKit folder in drive C:, locate the folder therein for zips, place the zip files (4.05 bootloader; TWRP; or custom roms) in there, and start to install. I am talking off the top of my head. But give me a few minutes to check the Kit again, and I'll give specific instructions. Bear with me, as I'm on Linux at the moment and therefore cannot start ToolKit (which is in Windows).

Things to do in order:
1. Download bootloader 4.05 (flashable zip HERE); and custom rom of your choice (zip format)
2. Locate the Unified Android ToolKit on drive C: on your PC and open it;
3. Locate the folder “put zip file to sideload here” → “Nexus 7 2013” then paste
bootloader zip and Rom zip in there;
4. Fire up Toolkit with tab connected; complete all the prelim questions;
5. Follow all the steps to install TWR 2870 (pic 8, choice 6);
6. Go to TWRP, wipe and format.
7. Go back to TWRP main page → “Advanced” → “ADB sideload”;
8 Go to ToolKit (pic 8) enter choice 16 (Look at the pics that follow for the correct choices) to
sideload Bootloader;
9. Flash Bootloader.
10. Go back to TWRP main page → Reboot → Bootloader. Once there check bootloader version 4.05;
11. Get into TWRP to sideload Rom; flash it.

graphdarnell said:
Things to do in order:
1. Download bootloader 4.05 (flashable zip HERE); and custom rom of your choice (zip format)
2. Locate the Unified Android ToolKit on drive C: on your PC and open it;
3. Locate the folder “put zip file to sideload here” → “Nexus 7 2013” then paste
bootloader zip and Rom zip in there;
4. Fire up Toolkit with tab connected; complete all the prelim questions;
5. Follow all the steps to install TWR 2870 (pic 8, choice 6);
6. Go to TWRP, wipe and format.
7. Go back to TWRP main page → “Advanced” → “ADB sideload”;
8 Go to ToolKit (pic 8) enter choice 16 (Look at the pics that follow for the correct choices) to
sideload Bootloader;
9. Flash Bootloader.
10. Go back to TWRP main page → Reboot → Bootloader. Once there check bootloader version 4.05;
11. Get into TWRP to sideload Rom; flash it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Wow, this is awesome. Thank you so much.
I had already flashed TWRP 2870 before I wiped the OS, but I figured I'd try again using the Toolkit, but I got an error. I stopped here just in case.
Earlier, I tried flashing the zip for the bootloader the same way you just instructed, but my serial number turned into question marks?
Please see attachments. My pics are on the right side of the comparisons and I blacked out some of my serial number just in case for the TWRP pic.
Thanks again for the continued support!

kevs888 said:
Wow, this is awesome. Thank you so much.
I had already flashed TWRP 2870 before I wiped the OS, but I figured I'd try again using the Toolkit, but I got an error. I stopped here just in case.
Earlier, I tried flashing the zip for the bootloader the same way you just instructed, but my serial number turned into question marks?
Please see attachments. My pics are on the right side of the comparisons and I blacked out some of my serial number just in case for the TWRP pic.
Thanks again for the continued support!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. One step at a time. Since you don't have an OS installed, ToolKit cannot complete the process of sideloading because it normally would have to use ADB from within the OS (which is absent) to restart the tab into recovery mode (TWRP). But if you're already in sideload mode within TWRP, it would detect it and transfer the file over to your tab. Let's go back.
(1) Fire up ToolKit (TK), go to sideload step, type the file name and stop. Get to fastboot page on your tab. Go back to TK and hit enter. TK should detect fastboot mode, download TWRP 2.7.1.1, take the tab into TWRP, tell you to go to sideload mode. Thereafter, it should detect this mode and transfer the file over. Then TWRP would flash the bootloader 4.05 automatically. If successful, sideload the rom the same way to flash it. Then upgrade TWRP back to 2870 with TK.
(2) Failing the above (because TWRP somehow doesn't function correctly), put the tab in fastboot mode, go to TK and follow the steps to flash TWRP anew. TK should detect fastboot and begin to flash the recovery. That done, go back and restart (1) above.
(3) If that still doesn't work, we have to resort to fastboot.exe and do it by command lines. But that's far ahead. Try the above first. We'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
I can send you an automated package that would upgrade the bootloader to 4.04 that I downloaded a year ago from Scott's Roms (thanks to him). It's good enough for Lollipop 5.1. The file is about 4MB and I'm not sure how we can do this through XDA. But if we ever get there, I'm certain we'll find a way. And smile, it's only a lousy tab.

graphdarnell said:
Ok. One step at a time. Since you don't have an OS installed, ToolKit cannot complete the process of sideloading because it normally would have to use ADB from within the OS (which is absent) to restart the tab into recovery mode (TWRP). But if you're already in sideload mode within TWRP, it would detect it and transfer the file over to your tab. Let's go back.
(1) Fire up ToolKit (TK), go to sideload step, type the file name and stop. Get to fastboot page on your tab. Go back to TK and hit enter. TK should detect fastboot mode, download TWRP 2.7.1.1, take the tab into TWRP, tell you to go to sideload mode. Thereafter, it should detect this mode and transfer the file over. Then TWRP would flash the bootloader 4.05 automatically. If successful, sideload the rom the same way to flash it. Then upgrade TWRP back to 2870 with TK.
(2) Failing the above (because TWRP somehow doesn't function correctly), put the tab in fastboot mode, go to TK and follow the steps to flash TWRP anew. TK should detect fastboot and begin to flash the recovery. That done, go back and restart (1) above.
(3) If that still doesn't work, we have to resort to fastboot.exe and do it by command lines. But that's far ahead. Try the above first. We'll cross that bridge if we get to it.
I can send you an automated package that would upgrade the bootloader to 4.04 that I downloaded a year ago from Scott's Roms (thanks to him). It's good enough for Lollipop 5.1. The file is about 4MB and I'm not sure how we can do this through XDA. But if we ever get there, I'm certain we'll find a way. And smile, it's only a lousy tab.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Let me just say, I'm so thankful for your help in all of this. Seriously. Thank you.
I kept on tinkering with the ToolKit and Fastboot kept on stopping everytime I switched to TWRP. I got to the point where TWRP showed 2.7.1 but the ADB Sideload kept getting stuck at the "Starting Sideload" prompt.
I went out and bought a $3 OTB USG cable and figured I'd give it a go since this sounded easier (theoretically). At first, I couldn't understand why the OTG wasn't recognized within TWRP. Then, I realized I needed to mount it within TWRP.
Once it mounted, I wiped and flashed the 4.05 bootloader zip. Success.
I went back into the Fastboot screen to verify 4.05. Success.
Went back into TWRP 2.8.7 and flashed a 6.0 ROM from these boards. Success.
Flashed Gapps. Success.
Rebooted. I'm now running a custom Marshmallow ROM and it runs so smoothly now.
Seriously. Thank you.

kevs888 said:
Let me just say, I'm so thankful for your help in all of this. Seriously. Thank you.
I kept on tinkering with the ToolKit and Fastboot kept on stopping everytime I switched to TWRP. I got to the point where TWRP showed 2.7.1 but the ADB Sideload kept getting stuck at the "Starting Sideload" prompt.
I went out and bought a $3 OTB USG cable and figured I'd give it a go since this sounded easier (theoretically). At first, I couldn't understand why the OTG wasn't recognized within TWRP. Then, I realized I needed to mount it within TWRP.
Once it mounted, I wiped and flashed the 4.05 bootloader zip. Success.
I went back into the Fastboot screen to verify 4.05. Success.
Went back into TWRP 2.8.7 and flashed a 6.0 ROM from these boards. Success.
Flashed Gapps. Success.
Rebooted. I'm now running a custom Marshmallow ROM and it runs so smoothly now.
Seriously. Thank you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm glad you got it working again. Sorry you had to make a trip to the store. You should've waited for KT to switch the tab to TWRP 2711 for you. But it was not a waste of time anyway.