[Verizon] Having trouble rooting? Think your bricked it? LOOK HERE FIRST! Q&A

civicsisedan · Dec 22, 2011

So since we verizon folks got a sub forum our all things root section looks pretty clean..

I say if you are having any problems with rooting or adb/fastboot or think your bricked your phone you post your question in THIS thread and not start your own.

It will keep the sub forum looking clean with one Q&A thread for problems instead of 100 different threads for 10 different problems.

I will be checking this thread to try and help anyone and i am dure others with experience will too.

Lets see how this goes...

civicsisedan · Dec 22, 2011

Reserved for troubleshooting tips

teddyearp · Dec 22, 2011

civicsisedan said:
<snip>It will keep the sub forum looking clean with one Q&A thread for problems instead of 100 different threads for 10 different problems.<snip>

I am curious to see how this works out for us,

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

I soft bricked my phone and have tried flashing stock images manually, using odin, using the one click method, and a few other ways. Any help?

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
I soft bricked my phone and have tried flashing stock images manually, using odin, using the one click method, and a few other ways. Any help?

Namrak,

Could you try soft-booting say the ClockworkMod recovery image:

fastboot boot cwm-recovery.img

Doesn't matter which one--this would just show us if your phone is even able to load-up and run a bootable image...

That would be a good first-step diagnosis...

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
Namrak,

Could you try soft-booting say the ClockworkMod recovery image:

fastboot boot cwm-recovery.img

Doesn't matter which one--this would just show us if your phone is even able to load-up and run a bootable image...

That would be a good first-step diagnosis...

Yes I can run the fast boot command and load it just fine.

Edit: I have a Nandroid backup on my comp (from a previous gnex) if there is a way for me to flash it from my comp. I already tried doing this but I think I may he doing it wrong...not sure

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
Yes I can run the fast boot command and load it just fine.

Edit: I have a Nandroid backup on my comp (from a previous gnex) if there is a way for me to flash it from my comp. I already tried doing this but I think I may he doing it wrong...not sure

I just saw you had another thread out there that Yeahha had responded to...I haven't read it all yet...

Just a quick recap for me please?:

- I see you have a VZW / LTE GNex...are you sure you've been flashing the right stock / factory images (just double-checking, mind you)?

How to un-root (return to stock)

You'd want, from here: Factory Images for Nexus Devices - Google Support for Nexus Phones and Flagship Devices - Google Code, the https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tgz file (that's the 4.0.2 "mysid" / "toro" image for the VZW (CDMA/LTE) version of the GNex).

Be very sure to check the MD5 checksum for that file (bafc4d3c5faa9822f76a5313fc91f743).

- I also think that you'd at least have to flash the bootloader and radios from the stock images before attempting a Nandroid restore (i.e., skipping the fastboot -w update image-mysid-icl53f.zip flash--although that should take you completely back to stock and should not bootloop; it takes about 4 minutes for the reboot to complete after you do the flash).

- if you do get the bootloader and radios flashed and want to try the Nandroid backup, you should be able to push the Nandroid backup to you phone via adb while booted into ClockworkMod; this, of course, depends on whether or not you actually have the /data partition rebuilt and intact at this time

Let me know about the above before I give you any detail about pushing via adb...

Also, I'd try following exactly my little example scenario that I showed in the above How to un-root (return to stock) link first (click the Show buttons in there to expand).

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
I just saw you had another thread out there that Yeahha had responded to...I haven't read it all yet...

Just a quick recap for me please?:

- I see you have a VZW / LTE GNex...are you sure you've been flashing the right stock / factory images (just double-checking, mind you)?

How to un-root (return to stock)

You'd want, from here: Factory Images for Nexus Devices - Google Support for Nexus Phones and Flagship Devices - Google Code, the https://dl.google.com/dl/android/aosp/mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tgz file (that's the 4.0.2 "mysid" / "toro" image for the VZW (CDMA/LTE) version of the GNex).

Be very sure to check the MD5 checksum for that file (bafc4d3c5faa9822f76a5313fc91f743).

- I also think that you'd at least have to flash the bootloader and radios from the stock images before attempting a Nandroid restore (i.e., skipping the fastboot -w update image-mysid-icl53f.zip flash--although that should take you completely back to stock and should not bootloop; it takes about 4 minutes for the reboot to complete after you do the flash).

- if you do get the bootloader and radios flashed and want to try the Nandroid backup, you should be able to push the Nandroid backup to you phone via adb while booted into ClockworkMod; this, of course, depends on whether or not you actually have the /data partition rebuilt and intact at this time

Let me know about the above before I give you any detail about pushing via adb...

Also, I'd try following exactly my little example scenario that I showed in the above How to un-root (return to stock) link first (click the Show buttons in there to expand).

Thanks for the reply. I can't get to my laptop right now so I can't check the md5 check sum, but will do it as soon as I get home (at 4) and give an update. Just to make sure, do you have a link to the fast boot commands to run? (I used the commands from the sh file (included with the stock images, but just wanted to make sure I do it right and in the right order)

Edit: do you mind if I pm you once I've verified the check sum?

Edit: for a quick recap...I've tried flashing stock images and it seemed to work fine (I got all the "okay's", but upon reboot It kept bootlooping-on the Google screen only.

I used Odin, clicked on "flash stock+unroot" and got the pass/successful message but got the same results upon reboot.

I used the one click method and got the same results

I also tried a data wipe in recovery

Also, I'm not sure if this is important but in cwm when I navigate to the "choose zip from sdcard" I get a "no files found" reply and it kicks me out to the previous screen.

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
Thanks for the reply. I can't get to my laptop right now so I can't check the md5 check sum, but will do it as soon as I get home (at 4) and give an update. Just to make sure, do you have a link to the fast boot commands to run? (I used the commands from the sh file (included with the stock images, but just wanted to make sure I do it right and in the right order)

Edit: do you mind if I pm you once I've verified the check sum?

I don't mind, but I won't really be in a good position to help or reference things myself until I get home, too

. I probably won't leave until for at least another 4 hours...

Look in the details of this post (same as what I linked above):

How to un-root (return to stock) (click the second "Show" button in that post and then the "Show" button inside that one to see full details on exactly what fastboot commands to use).

I've done that procedure at least 13 times so far...

.

Just make sure you follow the steps--they aren't too hard, but you've got unpack the .tgz file which contains the individual files that you'll flash. The flash-all.sh script should contain exactly the commands you'll need (my advice is to copy and paste 'em--that's what I do

).

It should work to get you running again--back to stock...if it doesn't and you followed the instructions exactly, then you might very well have a hardware issue--but, since you say you can soft-boot CWM, then I'm guessing its probably just a mis-typed command.

Let me know...we'll get you fixed-up

.

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
Edit: do you mind if I pm you once I've verified the check sum?

Edit: for a quick recap...I've tried flashing stock images and it seemed to work fine (I got all the "okay's", but upon reboot It kept bootlooping-on the Google screen only.

I used Odin, clicked on "flash stock+unroot" and got the pass/successful message but got the same results upon reboot.

I used the one click method and got the same results

I also tried a data wipe in recovery

Also, I'm not sure if this is important but in cwm when I navigate to the "choose zip from sdcard" I get a "no files found" reply and it kicks me out to the previous screen.

Sorry, didn't wait long enough in my above reply to catch all your edits

.

Let's just repeat the re-flashing back to stock...I've never used Odin before, so let's just use what I know works.

Starting from a new baseline should help eliminate some of those things...

If you do get restored to stock and you have a known good Nandroid backup, getting that restored should be a piece of cake.

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
I don't mind, but I won't really be in a good position to help or reference things myself until I get home, too . I probably won't leave until for at least another 4 hours...

Look in the details of this post (same as what I linked above):

How to un-root (return to stock) (click the second "Show" button in that post and then the "Show" button inside that one to see full details on exactly what fastboot commands to use).

I've done that procedure at least 13 times so far... .

Just make sure you follow the steps--they aren't too hard, but you've got unpack the .tgz file which contains the individual files that you'll flash. The flash-all.sh script should contain exactly the commands you'll need (my advice is to copy and paste 'em--that's what I do ).

It should work to get you running again--back to stock...if it doesn't and you followed the instructions exactly, then you might very well have a hardware issue--but, since you say you can soft-boot CWM, then I'm guessing its probably just a mis-typed command.

Let me know...we'll get you fixed-up .

Thanks a bunch

. Will update once I get home

civicsisedan · Feb 1, 2012

Just saw your pm.

Let us know the update.

Will be out tonight but will check to see if you got it working when i get back home.

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

Alright, I verified the md5 checksum and did the procedure again (copying and pasting the commands). I got no errors while flashing. After the last command, my phone rebooted and started bootlooping (only on the Google screen). I let it do that for about 12 minutes and then I removed the battery.

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
Alright, I verified the md5 checksum and did the procedure again (copying and pasting the commands). I got no errors while flashing. After the last command, my phone rebooted and started bootlooping (only on the Google screen). I let it do that for about 12 minutes and then I removed the battery.

Wow, that is just bizarre!

Can you try doing a factory/reset and then rebooting?

You should now have a stock recovery, so if you boot into fastboot / bootloader mode and then navigate with the volume keys to the recovery screen, use the power button to select that, and from there you should have an option to reset...

I wouldn't think that would be necessary, but that's the only other thing I can think of at the moment...

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

Alright I did that by going into recovery and then clicking voldown,volup, and power all at the same time to get the options to show. It completed it showing no errors on the log. I hit rebot and its been in bootloop since

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
Alright I did that by going into recovery and then clicking voldown,volup, and power all at the same time to get the options to show. It completed it showing no errors on the log. I hit rebot and its been in bootloop since

Well, it takes at least 4 minutes to rebuild the entire dalvik-cache, so wait at least 5 minutes...

I would suggest trying an adb devices, but I'm pretty sure USB debugging is not enabled by default in the stock ROM....

If that was working, you might be able to do an adb logcat and capture what might be going on...

You've done all of the right stuff as far as I can tell...lemme think about this some more...

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
Well, it takes at least 4 minutes to rebuild the entire dalvik-cache, so wait at least 5 minutes...

I would suggest trying an adb devices, but I'm pretty sure USB debugging is not enabled by default in the stock ROM....

If that was working, you might be able to do an adb logcat and capture what might be going on...

You've done all of the right stuff as far as I can tell...lemme think about this some more...

Yeah I let it sit for about a good 6 minutes or so. There is no way to enable USB debugging with a command line?

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
Yeah I let it sit for about a good 6 minutes or so. There is no way to enable USB debugging with a command line?

Actually, there might be...I could build you a boot.img file with USB debugging enabled (i.e., similar to how the insecure boot image was created). I think I know the right property value to set...(we'll find-out soon).

Then, you could soft-boot it without having to flash it...let me work on this and test it for you...I've got a few things I gotta take care of, so it might be an hour or so before I could post something for you.

There's still no guarantee that this would work or tell you anything that might help you fix the issue...

Let me start grabbing my Linux laptop and getting my stuff done and I'll get back with you after a bit...

Thanks for hanging-in there

.

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
Actually, there might be...I could build you a boot.img file with USB debugging enabled (i.e., similar to how the insecure boot image was created). I think I know the right property value to set...(we'll find-out soon).

Then, you could soft-boot it without having to flash it...let me work on this and test it for you...I've got a few things I gotta take care of, so it might be an hour or so before I could post something for you.

There's still no guarantee that this would work or tell you anything that might help you fix the issue...

Let me start grabbing my Linux laptop and getting my stuff done and I'll get back with you after a bit...

Thanks for hanging-in there .

You know how to do that kind of stuff :eek:

? Thanks!!

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
You know how to do that kind of stuff ? Thanks!!

LOL, doesn't everyone?

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Okay, I've got the new boot image made...gotta re-flash my phone back to stock (ugh, just did this Monday night...

), but I've got a Nandroid backup and SD card backup made...need to flash back, test the boot image for you, and report back...

Still working...be back soon-ish...

By the way...this might be all for naught if the boot sequence doesn't or hasn't gotten far enough in your cycle to even enable the adb daemon on your device before the boot loop is occurring. But at least this gives us a little crack in the window...

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
Okay, I've got the new boot image made...gotta re-flash my phone back to stock (ugh, just did this Monday night...), but I've got a Nandroid backup and SD card backup made...need to flash back, test the boot image for you, and report back...

Still working...be back soon-ish...

By the way...this might be all for naught if the boot sequence doesn't or hasn't gotten far enough in your cycle to even enable the adb daemon on your device before the boot loop is occurring. But at least this gives us a little crack in the window...

I really appreciate the trouble.

Yeah I have considered just locking it and sending it back but my lock doesn't seem to "stick". Whenever it reboots it shows as unlocked again...

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

How would I go about locking this thing? When i do a fastboot oem lock then my phone will say locked on the bottom left hand of the screen, but when I reboot (either normally or reboot bootloader) it shows as unlocked again.

scary alien · Feb 1, 2012

Namrak said:
I really appreciate the trouble.

Yeah I have considered just locking it and sending it back but my lock doesn't seem to "stick". Whenever it reboots it shows as unlocked again...

Whoa...that is really weird, too! :eek:

So, you typing fastboot oem lock while in fastboot / bootloader mode?

By the way, Namrak, PM me your email address or send me a note at scary.alien@gmail.com so I can send you the new boot image (it'll be identical to the 4.0.2 boot image except I (hopefully) turned on USB debugging and made it insecure. You'll be able to soft-boot it or flash it.

I'm flashing back to stock now so I can test the new boot image.

Namrak · Feb 1, 2012

scary alien said:
Whoa...that is really weird, too!

So, you typing fastboot oem lock while in fastboot / bootloader mode?

By the way, Namrak, PM me your email address or send me a note at scary.alien@gmail.com so I can send you the new boot image (it'll be identical to the 4.0.2 boot image except I (hopefully) turned on USB debugging and made it insecure. You'll be able to soft-boot it or flash it.

I'm flashing back to stock now so I can test the new boot image.

Yup, once I type it, it shows locked on the bottom left side of the screen, but as soon as I do any kind of reboot it shows as locked again. Pm'd you my email.

[Verizon] Having trouble rooting? Think your bricked it? LOOK HERE FIRST! Q&A

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