Help Infinite Boot Loop and Recovery Boot Loop

[zackrspv]

I am trying to help a friend out by working on their HTC EVO 4G, Sprint PC36100 phone. She brought it to me and it was doing nothing but boot loops. Would show the white HTC screen, vibrate, then turn off, and turn on again, and just keep doing that.

I can go into the Bootloader, but I cannot go into recovery (Trying to do so, just vibrates the phone, and turns it off).

I have tried going into FastBoot, however, when plugging in the USB to the computer (Have tried Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8 (non virtual machines)), and it never shows the FastBoot USB, and the system doesn't see the phone.

I have tried flashing several recoveries, most notably the Aman-Ra one, but as this appears to be stock, that isn't working.

Stats:

*** LOCKED (00W) ***
SUPERSONIC EVT2-3 SHIP S-ON
HBOOT-2.18.0001
MICROP-041F
TOUCH PANEL-ATMEL224_16AB
RADIO-2.15.00.12.19
DEC 21 2011, 12:50:32

As i cannot actually boot into the phone options, I cannot mess with android settings. As i cannot boot into recovery, I can't wipe davlik, etc. All i can do is clear storage, and try and figure something out.

Any thoughts on how I can fix this phone?

 

[ocnbrze]

well you can try a ruu.

download this:
PC36IMG_SuperSonic_GB_Sprint_WWE_4.67.651.3_Radio_2.15.00.12.19_NV_2.33_release_234563_signed

rename the file by deleting everything in the name but the PC36IMG part. transfer the file over to the sd card (no folder, just the card) and then boot into the bootloader. if it is named right and not in any folder, then the bootloader should be able to see it.

hopefully this will fix your issue......if not then the phone might be toast.

 

[zackrspv]

Thank you for your suggestion, I shall give it a go.

Is there any way to downgrade the HBoot version on 2.18.0001 with S-ON without the ability to do FASTBOOT USB?

I think if the flash doesn't work, the above may be my only chance to make this phone work properly again. And, if there is not, then I agree, it may just be toast. I just hate to give up on something where the bootloader is still working, ya know?

--Phillip

 

[ocnbrze]

nope not with s-on....you have to root the phone to change the misc partition which makes it possible to lower the hboot. but you will need s-off for that.

 

[zackrspv]

And, without FASTBOOT USB, I assume that rooting just isn't going to happen?

 

[ocnbrze]

yeah this is corre....lets hope the ruu works.......crosses fingers.

 

[zackrspv]

Downloaded, Renamed, Put on SD card, phone found it, parsed it, asked to update. I selected 'Yes', and it went through the motions.

Step #2 rebooted the phone, but it came back on, and continued on. All were [OK], and it said successfully updated. Phone still in reboot loop. Can't enter recovery.

Tried to redo the RUU, however, is complaining that battery voltage is too low. I am currently charging it with the wall charger (1A charger), and light is solid orange, so maybe I'll let it sit awhile longer.

However, with the boot loop even after it said all steps were OK, I am a bit worried. Any additional things to try?

 

[zackrspv]

I waited until the phone was completely charged (green LED). I then cleared data (via bootloader, not recovery), and then did the update as suggested. Everything when through fine with [OK]'s, however when starting the phone, it does one reboot, and then stays black. Have to take out battery, wait a few minutes, and then turn back on to go into bootloader.

Not sure what is up with that. Recovery just bootloops still. Any ideas I can try? I hate to give up on something that still seems to want to work.

--Phillip

 

[ocnbrze]

ok well if a ruu does not work you most likely have some bad partitions and most likely out of luck getting this thing fixed.....there might be a few things we could do if the phone was rooted....but as it is not.....i'm not sure what you can do at this point.

 

[zackrspv]

I am quite curious as to why this phone came to me in this condition in the first place. If we postulate that the phone was rooted, but still S-ON (which I've seen many posts elude too), what would you recommend doing?

Understanding of course that FASTBOOT USB is NOT an option.

To note, I am quite tenacious, and a computer programmer, and ex-military, so to me, failure is something that just doesn't make sense. I know beating a dead horse doesn't help either, but I am just wondering if there is not some way to force the bootloader to execute a code, something, to repair the system, or at least allow FASTBOOT USB, so i can take a look at the partitions.

 

[scotty85]

Downloaded, Renamed, Put on SD card, phone found it, parsed it, asked to update. I selected 'Yes', and it went through the motions.

Step #2 rebooted the phone, but it came back on, and continued on. All were [OK], and it said successfully updated. Phone still in reboot loop. Can't enter recovery.

Tried to redo the RUU, however, is complaining that battery voltage is too low. I am currently charging it with the wall charger (1A charger), and light is solid orange, so maybe I'll let it sit awhile longer.

However, with the boot loop even after it said all steps were OK, I am a bit worried. Any additional things to try?

not really. if an ruu shows "ok" to all partitions being updated,you have some sort of internal hardware failure

i dont believe unlocking the bootloader and installing a recovery will do much for you. typically we do that when we cannot run an ruu,but in your case the phones firmware was old enuff for an available ruu to run and update.

no harm in plaing with it some more if you want,just dont get your hopes up too much for for a fix,unfortunately.

here are some tips for getting the phone recognized in fastboot:

troubleshooting connectivity issues:
*make sure you have changed to your adb/fastboot directory!
-try a reboot of the PC
-try different usb cables and ports
-dont use a usb hub
-dont use usb 3.0
-make sure nothing capable of comunicating with the phone is enabled and running. htc sync,pdanet,easy tether,and even itunes have all been known to cause issues.
-windows 8 has been known to have issues. try a windows 7 or older machine

failing the above,
-i use these drivers for fastboot and adb(donwload and run as admin): http://downloads.unrevoked.com/HTCDriver3.0.0.007.exe (mirror)

failing that,try manually updating the drivers in the following manner:
-put the phone in fastboot mode(select fastboot from the hboot menu)
-open device manager on the PC
-plug in phone,watch for it to pop up in device manager.
-update drivers with device manager,pointing the wizard to the extracted
driver download folder from above

note that you can check the connectivity of the phone,and make sure drivers are working by in the following manner:
-open cmd window. change to directory containing adb/fastboot utilities

-adb with the phone in the booted OS,usb debug enabled,enter:
adb devices in a cmd window

-fastboot with phone in fastboot,enter:
fastboot devices in cmd window

in either case,a properly connected phone with working drivers installed should report back the phones serial number.

 

[zackrspv]

At this point, I'm not so much raising my hopes, but am instead, willing to try anything. She has already taken the phone to Sprint, and they won't replace it for her, as it is too old. They did, however, wipe the system, and try to get it working again, and of course failed. They told her she must put it online, and......she forgot the rest....*sighs*.

I will try the suggestions to see if I can make the USB mode work. If you have any other suggestions, no matter how extreme, please let me know.

--Phillip