Develop Bugs

[Q] Softbrick after discharge /data/media is inaccessible

Hi there!
Got kind of a strange Problem with my Nexus:
I had big troubles last weak after i fully the battery by accident. I was stuck in a bootloop, so first thing i tried was a factory reset and restoring a nandroid backup. Didn't work, it randomly rebooted while restoring the backup. Same with a aokp rom i still had on my sd card.
Fastboot flashing didn't work either, i always got a "too many links" error.
It wasn't the usb cable, because i tried three, and it wasn't the pc, the drivers or the usb ports, cause i tried 3 different pcs, too.
At first i thought maybe the internal sd was corrupted somehow, but that didnt really make sense.
As a last resort i switched too odin, always hated it, didn't use it since the galaxy s first came out.
Guess what: It didn't work! It just got stuck at "sending data" or something like that while trying to flash a stock 4.2 rom.
What finally did the trick was:
After i ****ed up the whole device with odin and got the "phone exclamation mark pc" screen after turning it on, i tried flashing the attached zip with odin to get at least my recovery back, which worked after some tries.
After that i flash the slim rom via adb sideload and my nexus came to life again. Which didn't make sense at all, but i was happy.
UNTIL NOW:
I wanted to re calibrate my battery so i fully discharged the phone. And guess what: Same **** all over again.
I just can't get my head around it. It doesn't make sense at all, for me at least. It has to be some kind of hardware failure, but what?
Is there something like the bios battery on pc motherboards which is broken on my device? But flash storage doesn't need any current to save data, so....
I'm no Linux programmer but i'm no rookie either, so i don't think i commited any severe mistakes while trying to fix it. (well, despite odin being a failure in itself )
So, any ideas? I searched the forums a bit, but i didn't find anything similar, just the usual bootloop stuff.

You should never fully deplete a battery. Batteries have their own OS, which allows them to recalibrate themselves. When the system asks you for juice, give it to him.
a maguro wrote this.

I didn't do a full discharged, sorry for being unclear. I just used it until it turned off (5%), nothing more.
Edit:
Ok, i guess it is a real brick now. When i try flashing a rom via sideload, it gets stuck at "formatting data" and reboots after a while. flashing with odin doesn't work either.

Guess i got a bit closer to the core of the problem.
it seems like i have no /data partition on the sd card.
Rom flashing always gets stuck at formatting data. when i try to adb push a file to /data or data/media, it says "no such file or directory found".
When i try to unmount /data in cwm, nothing happens.
Any ideas?

Try adb pushing to /mnt/sdcard/ or /sdcard/ directly.. I remember an issue when i could not use adb with the data folder at all, unless i ran insecure adb from the android os.
or even /mnt/shell/emulated/0/

bodh said:
Try adb pushing to /mnt/sdcard/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, that worked. But still, i can't access the sd card via cwm, so that didn't really help. it says "couldnt open directory"
flashing with sideload still crashes at "Format and Mount System, Mount Data"
Why doesn't it create /system and /data?
Edit:
CWM Log says:
Can't partition non-vfat: datamedia

Why aren't you using fastboot?

bodh said:
Why aren't you using fastboot?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HansBaer2000 said:
Fastboot flashing didn't work either, i always got a "too many links" error.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That happens when i try to flash system
Seems that just my /data/media folder is gone, at least thats what TWRP tells me
Any way to bring it back? Or are my partitions corrupted?

I guess I missed that. Too bad there's not a manual of common fast boot errors and their causes. I read that the 'too many links error' often relates to bad drivers. I'd try universal naked drivers. Uninstall your current ones, then install. Make sure you're running fast boot as admin. Fast boot erase cache and fast boot format..also, perhaps your data/media got nested by subsequent flashes?

I don't think a low battery should cause any problems to the storage, however if you really have problems with partitions, perhaps try to flash odin with PIT file? (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405327)

bodh said:
I guess I missed that. Too bad there's not a manual of common fast boot errors and their causes. I read that the 'too many links error' often relates to bad drivers. I'd try universal naked drivers. Uninstall your current ones, then install. Make sure you're running fast boot as admin. Fast boot erase cache and fast boot format..also, perhaps your data/media got nested by subsequent flashes?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have tried both, the Samsung usb and the naked drivers before. Maybe i'll try a 4th PC and a 4th cable.
My Gnexi said:
I don't think a low battery should cause any problems to the storage, however if you really have problems with partitions, perhaps try to flash odin with PIT file? (http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1405327)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried that multiple times. Flashing a PIT file only works, it repartitions just fine. Flashing a stock rom however always stops at "write NAND"

Are you using USB 2 ports? Try USB 3?
a maguro wrote this.

i would try, but my usb 3 doesn't recognize the phone in fastboot or adb mode, can't say why

[Q] Wildfire S [Marvelc] Stuck on opening update package

Hello all, for the past few days I have been trying to install android 4.0 ICS on my HTC Wildfire S CDMA phone, currently connected to youtube. on one instance I accidently formatted my backup so at this point im prettty scared.
I have already tried full resets, clearing memory, batttery, cache etc. I am stuck using CWM because TWRP touch screen doesnt seem to work at all. All help will be greatly appreciated. thank you.
I have also tried most of what is on other forums such as kernel update, redownloading.
I also find that if while installing, the phone restarts on its own. at first I thought the installation was done but to my dismay, it wasnt....

I'm not sure I can help but I would suggest you try to clarify what you are asking and trying to do. You state that you're doing an install of ICS 4.0 on your WFSc. I don't think any WFS, gsm or cdma got the ICS update unless you mean as Cyanogen Mod 9 or some other ROM? You also said something about being connected to You Tube now...that doesn't make sense.
That being said, if you meant you were trying to install the ICS theme then you might get a quicker more focused response if you posted in this forum:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1504935

Clarification
I got a second wildfire s from my cousin. exact same model and was bought the exact time as my current one and it successfully installed the cynanogen 9 with the only failure being that the touchscreen is inoperable but I will work on that another time. also when I said connected to youtube, I meant I tried to look on youtube for fixes but never found one. anyway the main problem is that my phone stops midway through the "installin updates" to either freeze or restart to a blank operating system "meaning its stuck on the htc logo". I hope this clarifies what I was trying to convey in the previous post and I promise to keep a closer eye for any other messages. I also thank you for answering.

Instead of potentially aggravating you with 20 questions, I'll just briefly run thru the steps, FWIW. I see you mention CWM.
-So, you probably unlocked the booloader at HTC dev and are S-on.
-Installed CWM, so you have the adb files and htc sync on your computer.
-Rooted, although flashing CM will root.
-Battery charged.
-Downloaded the correct CM9 for your WFS, i.e., gsm or cdma, and moved it to your sd card after extracting the boot.img file and putting it into the folder on your computer with the adb, fastboot, etc. files for later.
-Booted into CWM and wiped the cache, dalvik-cache, and data/factory reset.
-Selected the CM9 file on your zip, and started the install.
I'm a little unsure what you are saying happens next, but normally you would:
-after CM9 is flashed go to fastboot in the bootloader or reboot into recovery>fastboot.
-Attach the USB cable from the computer to the phone and with the command prompt at that folder where you have those adb files type:
fastboot flash boot boot.img and press enter
-Then reboot and CM9 should load...unless now both of us have missed something ::yikes!::
For some reason most guides seem to skip that part about extracting the boot.img file and flashing it after the ROM install, which is needed if the phone is still S-on. Typically seen when stuck on the HTC logo after flashing the ROM and rebooting, and you mentioned being stuck on the HTC logo. If the phone is S-off, the boot.img gets flashed from within the ROM during the install.
Hope I found the missing step and that it installs successfully.

romemo two
MiCeltic said:
Instead of potentially aggravating you with 20 questions, I'll just briefly run thru the steps, FWIW. I see you mention CWM.
-So, you probably unlocked the booloader at HTC dev and are S-on.
-Installed CWM, so you have the adb files and htc sync on your computer.
-Rooted, although flashing CM will root.
-Battery charged.
-Downloaded the correct CM9 for your WFS, i.e., gsm or cdma, and moved it to your sd card after extracting the boot.img file and putting it into the folder on your computer with the adb, fastboot, etc. files for later.
-Booted into CWM and wiped the cache, dalvik-cache, and data/factory reset.
-Selected the CM9 file on your zip, and started the install.
I'm a little unsure what you are saying happens next, but normally you would:
-after CM9 is flashed go to fastboot in the bootloader or reboot into recovery>fastboot.
-Attach the USB cable from the computer to the phone and with the command prompt at that folder where you have those adb files type:
fastboot flash boot boot.img and press enter
-Then reboot and CM9 should load...unless now both of us have missed something ::yikes!::
For some reason most guides seem to skip that part about extracting the boot.img file and flashing it after the ROM install, which is needed if the phone is still S-on. Typically seen when stuck on the HTC logo after flashing the ROM and rebooting, and you mentioned being stuck on the HTC logo. If the phone is S-off, the boot.img gets flashed from within the ROM during the install.
Hope I found the missing step and that it installs successfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks again for the reply. you have given me quite a lot of information and 90% of it was correct and dead on, but where you misunderstand is that while using CWM and flashing ANY Rom onto the phone, it either freezes at "installing updates" or restats if it ever gets to the next step. The confusing part of this is that the other phone which is the exact same model was able to be flashed with all the roms that I tried on my own phone with no problem.
To make things easier. after this I will adress the phones differently:
My phone (Not working Flash) is Marvelc 1
My cousins phone (working flash) is Marvelc 2

This is particularly challenging because you keep emphasizing that you are doing exactly what (you did?) on the other WFS, and I presume they have identical hboots (which they'd have to if you unlocked using htcdev). You also say that you re-downloaded the different files (recovery, CM9) and double checked that their for the MarvelC, and re-did then, re-tried, re-tried, re-tried...and I'm presuming that when you were re-trying that you didn't skip any steps, like the wipes. Oh, and most of all that everything worked on this phone before you started unlocking - flashing the recovery - and rooting. I thought about htc sync and adb, but the fail point is not when the computer is hooked up.
So all that being re-hashed, I'm looking for something concrete, a clue from what you've said or hinted at and right now I'm curious about your SD card. That is most likely not common to both phones and you did say, "on one instance I accidently formatted my backup..." Did you get everything formatted OK with no errors...that SD especially, as Fat32, shouldn't need an ext partition at this time. It could be corrupted and failing at some point when it's unpacking CM9, or whatever. You might re-do formatting that, including doing it on a computer if you have an adapter or a card reader, if not in CWM. It wouldn't hurt to put it in another phone and see if you can read it there and/or on a computer when that other phone is hooked up as a disk drive. Then put a fresh copy of whichever CM9 your flashing on it and try EVERYTHING one more time (back in your phone of course) ::haha:: be sure to leave the battery out for at least 30 sec. after all this and before trying the flash just to be sure any residual static in the phone has dissipated.
If it fails again, leave on and hook up to the computer and run: "adb logcat" from the prompt where you have your adb files and see if it will show you anything. You can exit logcat with the Ctrl + C keys. What do you think?
Oh, and while you're doing all that, who's CM9 are you trying to install. Do you have a link so I can look at it out of curiosity?

It took me awhile to absorb all that but after trying all.those steps,.there was no progress. Furthermore the microsd card I use is for both of my HTC's. And lastly the adb logcat or any adb script for that matter won't work unless the phone is in debug mode with a working o.s.
Thanks for hanging with me and I look forward to your next suggestion.
Sent from my HTC-PG762 using xda app-developers app

I wasn't sure whether there would be some kind of script running in a buffer of the install that might be captured with something like: logcat -b event > /sdcard/logcat.txt
so it was a shot in the dark and I don't know what's left, but perhaps someone else that is reading the post might have some ideas, or experience with this specific issue and jump in with a solution.
I was writing a macro once and couldn't get it to work and spent too much time over 3 days trying to figure it out. When I finally asked someone else to look at it, I was just missing a semi-colon or some one simple thing. You sound pretty knowledgeable, sorry I couldn't be the second set of eyes to come up with the missing thing. If I can think of anything more, I'm subscribed to this thread and I'll surely suggest it.

Thank you for trying, I hope to find an answer soon enough.
Sent from my HTC-PG762 using xda app-developers app

[Q] (Help) HTC One M8 Wiped System files / no recovery / no OS

Hi everyone let me start by saying this: I know what I did was a stupid stupid stupid nOOb mistake, but please understand It did not occur due to lack of reading or negligence to the formation of good understanding prior to rooting and flashing roms etc.
I should also point out that I have read as many other threads and articles on this subject as I can and have resorted to making my own thread ONLY because it is specifically unique to all those I have found elsewhere (including on this site).
Anyway, heres how hellish my last two days have been:
Rooted phone, went perfectly.
Flashed Cyanogenmod Nightly, went perfectly
Decided I wanted go back to stock until stable Cyanogenmod was released as it was too bug ridden for my usage.
This is where it got bad. I cannot remember for the life of me WHY I thought I needed to do this but when I went into Advanced Wipe (TWRP) options i ticked pretty much everything (I am extremely embarrassed and ashamed of this idiotic and reckless action *hangs head in shame*)
Needless to say, at this point I no longer had an OS, so I went about restoring the lot from my backup in TWRP:
Boot Restored fine
DATA restored fine
Cache Restored fine
System FAILED again and again no matter what I tried (literally 20 plus attempts)
At this point I tried flashing back to Cyanogenmod out of desperation but was met only with FAILED and words to the effect of "cannot read .zip file", I found the same message appearing no matter what ROM I tried to flash (I tried a variety of the more popular/stable roms to rule out corrupt data)
At this point I tried sideloading RUU which failed in a similar manner although I cannot remember the exact message)
Then after more pulling my hair out and reading everything I could about other people having similar problems, someone suggested I relock Bootloader before flashing an RUU. This didnt help at all and now I cant unlock Bootloader again, which leaves me unable to access Recovery
I am now at the point of mental breakdown (only slightly exaggerating here) after HOURS of reading and troubleshooting and now a full two days without a phone. I only got the phone 3 days ago so you can imagine how crappy I feel right now.
If any of the resident magicians can help me here I would be grateful beyond words One more thing, In one of the threads I read on another site, someone was suggesting to the OP that since RUU and ROM flashing wernt working, he may have "corrupted NVRAM (internal Storage), If my memory serves me correctly Im sure one of the Advanced Wipe option tick boxes was indeed 'internal storage'
Thanks for any advice. Tommy.

nOOb HTC Guy said:
Hi everyone let me start by saying this: I know what I did was a stupid stupid stupid nOOb mistake, but please understand It did not occur due to lack of reading or negligence to the formation of good understanding prior to rooting and flashing roms etc.
I should also point out that I have read as many other threads and articles on this subject as I can and have resorted to making my own thread ONLY because it is specifically unique to all those I have found elsewhere (including on this site).
Anyway, heres how hellish my last two days have been:
Rooted phone, went perfectly.
Flashed Cyanogenmod Nightly, went perfectly
Decided I wanted go back to stock until stable Cyanogenmod was released as it was too bug ridden for my usage.
This is where it got bad. I cannot remember for the life of me WHY I thought I needed to do this but when I went into Advanced Wipe (TWRP) options i ticked pretty much everything (I am extremely embarrassed and ashamed of this idiotic and reckless action *hangs head in shame*)
Needless to say, at this point I no longer had an OS, so I went about restoring the lot from my backup in TWRP:
Boot Restored fine
DATA restored fine
Cache Restored fine
System FAILED again and again no matter what I tried (literally 20 plus attempts)
At this point I tried flashing back to Cyanogenmod out of desperation but was met only with FAILED and words to the effect of "cannot read .zip file", I found the same message appearing no matter what ROM I tried to flash (I tried a variety of the more popular/stable roms to rule out corrupt data)
At this point I tried sideloading RUU which failed in a similar manner although I cannot remember the exact message)
Then after more pulling my hair out and reading everything I could about other people having similar problems, someone suggested I relock Bootloader before flashing an RUU. This didnt help at all and now I cant unlock Bootloader again, which leaves me unable to access Recovery
I am now at the point of mental breakdown (only slightly exaggerating here) after HOURS of reading and troubleshooting and now a full two days without a phone. I only got the phone 3 days ago so you can imagine how crappy I feel right now.
If any of the resident magicians can help me here I would be grateful beyond words One more thing, In one of the threads I read on another site, someone was suggesting to the OP that since RUU and ROM flashing wernt working, he may have "corrupted NVRAM (internal Storage), If my memory serves me correctly Im sure one of the Advanced Wipe option tick boxes was indeed 'internal storage'
Thanks for any advice. Tommy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you using the all in one tool kit to do all of this?

skinsfanbdh said:
are you using the all in one tool kit to do all of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes and btw Ive regained access to Recovery which is a step in the right direction, but still have all the same problems ie nothing will flash and cannot restore system etc.

nOOb HTC Guy said:
Yes and btw Ive regained access to Recovery which is a step in the right direction, but still have all the same problems ie nothing will flash and cannot restore system etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So you managed to unlock your bootloader again as well?

try using the all in one program to sideload a rom

Yer ive managed to unlock bootloader again. I have tried sideloading a variety of roms including the RUU and cyanogenmod. When attempting to sideload cyanogen mod, terminal simply bought up a loud of command lines and their meanings :S RUU however at least came up with the "sideloading" and percentage, gets to 100% and appears to finish, but nothing beyond that (I may be missing something im totally new to all of this) Cheers.

nOOb HTC Guy said:
Yer ive managed to unlock bootloader again. I have tried sideloading a variety of roms including the RUU and cyanogenmod. When attempting to sideload cyanogen mod, terminal simply bought up a loud of command lines and their meanings :S RUU however at least came up with the "sideloading" and percentage, gets to 100% and appears to finish, but nothing beyond that (I may be missing something im totally new to all of this) Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A ruu.exe is executed from the pc and not from the phone. Its useless to sideload it.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

nOOb HTC Guy said:
Yer ive managed to unlock bootloader again. I have tried sideloading a variety of roms including the RUU and cyanogenmod. When attempting to sideload cyanogen mod, terminal simply bought up a loud of command lines and their meanings :S RUU however at least came up with the "sideloading" and percentage, gets to 100% and appears to finish, but nothing beyond that (I may be missing something im totally new to all of this) Cheers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you got the a list with commands and their meanings then either a) You're not in sideloading mode or b) you didn't type the command properly.
I'm assuming you're still using TWRP, if so, Got to Advanced >>> ADB Sideload >>> Swipe to start sideload ...
Open a command prompt and change directory to adb.exe & fastboot.exe folder / or hold shift and right click in folder where adb.exe/fastboot.exe is and then choose open command window here. Make sure your device is connected to PC and then type adb devices to make sure your device gets picked up, should show you the serial number for device AS WELL as "sideload" next to it, if so then you are hooked up right. If you're "hooked" up right and you can see the device serial number + sideload next to it, type adb sideload name_of_zip.zip wait until fully finished, once done reboot back into recovery and flash rom.
If sideload fails for one or other reason you can also try to push it. Reboot to recovery again, type adb devices to make sure device gets picked up, type adb push name_of_zip.zip /data/media/0/ or adb push name_of_zip.zip /sdcard/ ...I think you could use either, anyways, when finished flash as per usual.

BerndM14 said:
If you got the a list with commands and their meanings then either a) You're not in sideloading mode or b) you didn't type the command properly.
I'm assuming you're still using TWRP, if so, Got to Advanced >>> ADB Sideload >>> Swipe to start sideload ...
Open a command prompt and change directory to adb.exe & fastboot.exe folder / or hold shift and right click in folder where adb.exe/fastboot.exe is and then choose open command window here. Make sure your device is connected to PC and then type adb devices to make sure your device gets picked up, should show you the serial number for device AS WELL as "sideload" next to it, if so then you are hooked up right. If you're "hooked" up right and you can see the device serial number + sideload next to it, type adb sideload name_of_zip.zip wait until fully finished, once done reboot back into recovery and flash rom.
If sideload fails for one or other reason you can also try to push it. Reboot to recovery again, type adb devices to make sure device gets picked up, type adb push name_of_zip.zip /data/media/0/ or adb push name_of_zip.zip /sdcard/ ...I think you could use either, anyways, when finished flash as per usual.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Okay so I tried sideloading with your instructions, which came up "failed" but actually had put "sideload.zip" in the directory, but when I tried to flash it I got the same old "error flashing zip"
Next I tried to push file, which comes up with terminal message "error: closed".
It seems that the phone will not flash ANYTHING atall........

OKAY BREAKTHROUGH lol instead of sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for replies, I thought I'd spend the time trying to sideload Cyanogenmod, IT WOOOOORRRKKEED and im in a good mood for the first time today thanks to you! My only problem now is that I cannot seem to restore from my backup, it always fails at system :S

nOOb HTC Guy said:
OKAY BREAKTHROUGH lol instead of sitting here twiddling my thumbs waiting for replies, I thought I'd spend the time trying to sideload Cyanogenmod, IT WOOOOORRRKKEED and im in a good mood for the first time today thanks to you! My only problem now is that I cannot seem to restore from my backup, it always fails at system :S
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be back in around 2 hours or so, off to work now. At least a breakthrough of some sorts, will check on this thread later, hopefully you don't have to wait so long for your device to be fixed :fingers-crossed:
:victory:

if your using a different recovery or a different version of the same recovery your backups may not work unless you flash the recovery you made the backups with

Guys, Im still stuck with cyanogen mod, nothing else will flash or sideload successfully. Also, what I thought was the ruu for my phone was not, can anyone find the correct ruu for mine? Htc one m8 on vodafone uk, cant find an ruu anywhere
Also, cannot obtain s-off since I get "permission denied" message when trying to adb shell and "su" through terminal..... Dont know if I require s-off to flash roms or ruu? thanks.

Ok it doesnt look there is an ruu for mine yet. So maybe I should focus on trying to get my own stock backup to restore, but nothing works! Its always the system bit that fails, boot data cache all restore successfully, any ideas? Would be absolutely amazing if I could just restore to the backup successfully! :good:

success!
YES YES YES YES YES!!!!! NOOOOOBBB POOWWWEERRR!!!!! Sorted it finally!!!!
For anyone else who has had problems restoring from backups, try restoring with files on phone memory and not sd card! Thats what worked for me.
Guys, thankyou all so much for your help I am eternally grateful and more relieved than you can imagine. Finally have a phone again

Can't find anything like it anywhere else (bootloop)

So I made a post in the general help thread and nobody has replied (although I've only waited a few days so I could probably wait a bit longer) but still I feel like my phone's issues are "unique" compared to other bootloops, I can't find anyone else having the same symptoms on their phone. I'll repost what I said in the general help thread and then give a brief overview of everything because I simply cannot comprehend why I'm unable to get out of bootloop with this damn phone.
So I just recently picked up an old Zenfone 2 (ZE500CL) off of my father who didn't really need it anymore and it was an upgrade from my old ****ty phone, so of course I wanted to root it and after using it for a few hours I wanted to install a custom rom by unlocking the bootloader. Well, I tried that, and something must have gone wrong because I got a bootloop and was only really able to boot into recovery mode.
Now, I didn't backup because I'm dumb for one and two I generally have a good idea of where to start if something does go wrong. The thing is, the methods I've looked up and tried have all failed. First, reflashing the stock rom of my ZE500CL (I've tried four different firmwares from the official website, and I know it's ZE500CL because that's what recovery mode is telling me) does not work. Adb hits 47% in the command prompt, the phone stays at 25% until then, and it goes:
E: failed to verify whole-file signature
E: signature verification failed
Installation aborted
Not sure why it doesn't work, I looked it up and tried various things and it just isn't resolving itself.
So I tried simply running commands like the following:
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
Using files from the stock firmwares themselves, and that gives me a flash_cmds error. I've tried deleting all of the userdata, the system, the cache, and a factory reset through recovery mode but none of that works. I'd really appreciate any help anyone could offer, this is a pickle and I'd really like to get this phone back up so that I can just run it as a rooted phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now, I'll go over the issues quickly:
I'm stuck in bootloop but I can get into recovery mode
Trying to flash any rom, including multiple stock roms from the asus website, results in an installation aborted message at 47% in either ADB or microSD attempt at flashing the rom.
Attempting to run commands like fastboot flash recovery recovery.img ends up giving me a flash_cmds error which I cannot find anywhere else for the Zenfone 2e
Deleting the cache, userdata, system, or factory resetting the phone does not remove the bootloop
Unlocking and relocking the bootloader does nothing
I would really appreciate any help, feels like my phone is a lost cause even when it's not hard bricked.

Try ASUS Flashtool with a .RAW Firmware...
Find on This Thread...

ponnuvelpandian said:
Try ASUS Flashtool with a .RAW Firmware...
Find on This Thread...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, I haven't seen this. I've got the Intel and xFSTK drivers all up and running but my phone isn't being recognized constantly by my computer under Intel Soc in my Driver Manager, and it's not being recognized as MOOREFIELD but rather as CLOVERVIEW PLUS, and only for a second in-between boots on my phone. Can't get the files to be downloaded through xFSTK, so I've hit a snag here unless someone knows the solution to this.
I'll try just running the flash tool and using a raw firmware, then, since I can't do any of the other stuff.
EDIT: Looks like the issue I was having before is stopping me from running the tool, seems that the computer needs to recognize my phone through the Intel drivers at all time (which it doesn't) in order to run the tool. Also I can't get the tool to view the raw file, it only seems to read zip files (so I put the raw into an empty zip, thinking that could maybe work but I don't know for sure). Damnit, I don't know why this is so difficult.
EDIT 2: All right! Looks like I got it working. The process was relatively simple, actually. It involved booting into TWRP but I wasn't able to most of the time for some reason, it would just never do it. But, I was able to using the CWM Zenfone 2 bat file located here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone2/help/ze500cl-rooting-related-stuff-t3163528/
Then, I needed the stock rom for my ZE550CL placed onto an external sd card which can be found here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/zenfone2/help/ze550cl-factory-reset-return-to-stock-t3141513
So I would download the CWM Zenfone 2, replace the recovery file as the post states, then run the file. After that, I would run T4 since T1 and T2 didn't work (never tried T3), only T4 would seem to boot me into TWRP. From there, I went to Install, left Zip Verification unchecked, and let the damn thing run. It was the only thing that would run for me, even when doing it with ADB it wouldn't work with the stock rom. Then, I just rebooted and now I'm back on my phone. Hopefully this helps anyone else having this troubling issue, it was terrible!

Nexus stuck in boot loop - unrooted - Backing up photos from bootloader or recovery

Hi.
Apologies if this is a very naive question, I am not particularly familiar with mods, roms and so forth.
I have rooted another phone in the past, but that is all.
The situation:
- Samsung Galaxy Nexus
- Not rooted/unlocked. Stock android automatically updated to the latest Android version supported
- Android developer option NOT set in settings
- Stuck in a boot loop: boots to android and then after a few seconds reboots, so no time to do anything
- Not sure how it happened, I had it for years, it was in my pocket and suddenly started doing that.
- Android fastboot and recovery loads up no problem
- I have tried anything I could find online to fix it: deleted cache, rebooted in safe mode, removed battery for 10 hours
- Nothing seems to fix it, it keeps rebooting
- I want to try a factory reset, but my family photos are in the phone
- Google synch seems to have stopped functioning for this device a year ago, all my 2016-17 photos and videos are locked in the phone.
Admitting there is nothing to do about the loop problem:
Is there any way I can copy photos and videos via usb while in recovery mode?
After I will reset the phone via recovery menu, hoping it will fix it. IF that does not fix it, I will flash another rom in. But I really do not want to wipe my data before backing them up.
I am assuming the answer is no, you cannot access the internal memory in fastboot/recovery unless your phone is rooted.
But I would like an expert opinion before I resolve to wipe one year of photos and videos which I will regret losing.

@mcaldo DON'T DO FACTORY RESET, EVERYTHING WILL BE LOST
which recovery are you using..?
if it's TWRP, then it's easy..
- boot into TWRP recovery
- go to "Mount" tab
- find "enable/disable MTP" button at lower options.. (enable it )
then connect your phone to that PC, where you always connected in past, ( to eliminate driver installation stage, all drivers will be preinstalled )
Regards

____Mdd said:
@mcaldo DON'T DO FACTORY RESET, EVERYTHING WILL BE LOST
which recovery are you using..?
if it's TWRP, then it's easy..
- boot into TWRP recovery
- go to "Mount" tab
- find "enable/disable MTP" button at lower options.. (enable it )
then connect your phone to that PC, where you always connected in past, ( to eliminate driver installation stage, all drivers will be preinstalled )
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply!
By recovery, I meant 'android system recovery'
It gives me the following options:
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from USB drive
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
Is any of the above useful?
Unfortunately, I do not have any alternative recovery software available
Edit: Googling I found this: "Apply update from ADB: The Android Debug Bridge allows you to plug your device into your PC and issue commands from there. "
If I can issue commands through ADB, perhaps there is a command to copy data from my phone to my computer?

mcaldo said:
Thanks for your reply!
By recovery, I meant 'android system recovery'
It gives me the following options:
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from USB drive
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
Is any of the above useful?
Unfortunately, I do not have any alternative recovery software available
Edit: Googling I found this: "Apply update from ADB: The Android Debug Bridge allows you to plug your device into your PC and issue commands from there. "
If I can issue commands through ADB, perhaps there is a command to copy data from my phone to my computer?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, you can copy through adb commands..
Get and extract Minimal ADB and Fastboot from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790
From PC, run CMD to extracted folder directory.
Connect phone to PC, go to update from ADB(in recovery),
Type "adb device" , it will show serial number and connected..
Then "adb pull /sdcard " (if you know particular directory of data then write it like /sdcard/photos,, otherwise writing /sdcard will copy all folders from your phone. )
it will start copying to same adb folder ..

____Mdd said:
Yes, you can copy through adb commands..
Get and extract Minimal ADB and Fastboot from here: https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2317790
From PC, run CMD to extracted folder directory.
Connect phone to PC, go to update from ADB(in recovery),
Type "adb device" , it will show serial number and connected..
Then "adb pull /sdcard " (if you know particular directory of data then write it like /sdcard/photos,, otherwise writing /sdcard will copy all folders from your phone. )
it will start copying to same adb folder ..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the advice.
I followed the instructions closely, and nearly got there.
adb devices returns
#serialnumber sideload
so all good
but adb pull /sdcard returns
adb: error connect failed: closed
I tried several other commands with no success
kill-server and start-server work fine but do not solve the problem
adb usb returns
error closed
So, I am starting thinking that the problem is in the bootloader being locked.
However, if I unlock it, it will be wipe all my data, I understand?
Googling about it, I found this:
The behavior is status-by-design. Your stock recovery is not designed to grant shell access. Your only choice here is to somehow manage to flash a custom recovery. – Firelord Dec 30 '15 at 14:19
3
To achieve something similar to what @FireLord suggested: TWRP can be booted on many devices without being installed. For that, find a matching image, then boot to the bootloader and run fastboot boot twrp.img. Btw: you can check with fastboot devices resp. adb devices whether a device is visible to the corresponding tool. – Izzy♦ Jul 8 '16 at 19:40
So I understand one could boot TWRP without installing it, but I am not sure if that means I could do that with the bootloader locked?
I found WugFresh nexus root toolkit which seems to do that, among many other things, but again it warns that the phone must be unlocked (using the android build "Android *.* Any", I did not know what else to choose, not sure if that makes any difference as for locked/unlocked requirements)
EDIT: my fastboot screen reads "FASTBOOT STATUS - Failbootloader locked" as the last line, when trying to run TWRP without installing.

Yes, unlocking bootloader will wipe everything..
What actually you did ? Why it went into bootloop ???
I have also read that about boot into TWRP without installing.. and it worked for many one without unlocking bootloader... Don't know why not on GNex.

____Mdd said:
Yes, unlocking bootloader will wipe everything..
What actually you did ? Why it went into bootloop ???
I have also read that about boot into TWRP without installing.. and it worked for many one without unlocking bootloader... Don't know why not on GNex.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What actually you did ? Why it went into bootloop ???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A very good question, to which I have no answer, unfortunately.
The phone was used by my wife for 2 years and then by me for other 2. I recently changed the battery.
Never rooted or unlocked. No unusual apps installed. I am a very basic user, as you might have guessed, and being my only phone at the moment, I really would not risk experimenting with it.
It went very slow over the last 4 months, so I was planning to reset it.
I put in my coat pocket for a few hours, when I took it out it had a train ticked stuck to the screen and was quite warm and on the lock screen. It froze, so I took the battery out and restarted it. From then on it is stuck in a loop, not sure why really.
I have also read that about boot into TWRP without installing.. and it worked for many one without unlocking bootloader... Don't know why not on GNex
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good to know. I'll research more than.
It seems there might be a problem with the fastboot drivers on my computer, even selecting them from device manager did not work. Win7 refuses to install. The ADB drivers in theory work fine though.

If you have done nothing modification to system, then wiping data should work, but i have doubt if it also wipes personal data too, on TWRP it wipes data excepting /data/media/ which contains all personal data.. but don't know about wiping on stock recovery...
I hope you will find solution as soon as possible..
Regards.
PS. I can install stock recovery and try wiping /data.. and check what things get wiped.. but i need little time for that experiment...

____Mdd said:
If you have done nothing modification to system, then wiping data should work, but i have doubt if it also wipes personal data too, on TWRP it wipes data excepting /data/media/ which contains all personal data.. but don't know about wiping on stock recovery...
I hope you will find solution as soon as possible..
Regards.
PS. I can install stock recovery and try wiping /data.. and check what things get wiped.. but i need little time for that experiment...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks so much.
Looking at google's documentation on the nexus:
You can remove data from your Pixel phone or Nexus device by resetting it to factory settings. Resetting to factory settings is also known as formatting the device or doing a "hard reset".
If you're factory resetting your device to fix an issue, make sure that you've tried all other troubleshooting options first. Find out how to troubleshoot your issue.
Important: Performing a factory reset will erase all data from the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It would seem that indeed all data will be removed.
This point, I will research a bit more into drivers, in case that is what it's preventing adb pull from working.
I really need a working phone, so if that fails I will hard reset, then unlock, root, flash in an alternative bootloader and perhaps a rom, and put ubuntu touch in dual boot. That will hopefully prevent me from loosing data in the future.
Sorry, this is out of topic to my question, but, , could you suggest any stable, solid rom for the nexus?
I read good things of CM12, and I ran into one which seemed to do to quite well with split windows, but I do not remember the name right now.
EDIT: I remember the name of the rom now, it's https://omnirom.org/about/

A last question if you can..
I tried to solve my boot loop problem by sideloading an update from google (maguro yakju yakju-jwr66y-factory-4cadea65.zip)
It loaded it fine but then failed because the installation it says it is not signed.
Basically, being a stock bootloader recovery from Samsung, it will only sideload OTAs from samsung, not the stock ones from google..
I cannot find the samsung ones anywhere, not for the nexus anyway, just the newer devices..
By any chance do you know where I could download proper Samsung OTA zip updates for the nexus?

Well, I talked with an android developer who confirmed that, unless you have a friend working in criminal forensic technology or similar, there is no way to get around a lock on this phone to pull data out.
So, sadly, I have wiped my phone by unlocking it, flashed TWRP and then omnirom with gapps.
My photos are gone, including a bunch of stuff my kid had made and asked me to photograph for safeeping. Very safe indeed
He kept asking me why they make the lock like that, instead of allowing some kind of password, perhaps he has a point.
So, it is quite unlikely that somebody who knows as little as I did will ever read this *before* finding themselves in the same situation.
But if you do, back up your data, unlock and flash TWRP, clockworks or some alternative, and thank yourself if and when disaster strikes..

@mcaldo wiping data/factory reset in STOCK RECOvERY will wipe everything... There is very few chances to get backup...
And yeah i found something interesting..
You can flash system.img.. only system files will be corrected not anything else..
Get appropriate zip from here : https://developers.google.com/android/images
Now take system.img to ADB/Fastboot folder ( i assume you know how it works )
Just go "Fastboot flash system system.img"
It will rewrite system partition..
Another one:
See downloads on this thread..
One says NON-WIPE, if you want me to try that zip, i will again require time for that. See here : https://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-restore-to-stock-unbrick-galaxy-t2065470
---------- Post added at 11:12 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:09 AM ----------
I don't saw your reply, it was on next page.. its sad... Sorry i am late..