My PC's activesync crashed and hanged while flashing the ROM. Now the xda is stuck with Updating screen.
Can someone please tell me which file to download from Jeff's kitchen (nk.nb1 or nk.nbf or anything else) and how to write it to SD card for flashing.
I tried to write nb1 and nbf both, using xda-tools, but it is not copied in the format required by the bootloader. In fact, in either case it is copied as a file which is not identified by the bootloader (my version is 5.15). boootloader starts with GSM OK message, and does not give me option to flash the ROM.
Can someone please please tell me how to do it?
you need SD card writer or a SD backup from another XDA.
cgigate said:
you need SD card writer or a SD backup from another XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks.
I was about to go to the service centre for rom image from another xda, but I decided to give it a try using usb cradle, and ran the original upgrade program. It came out with error and asked me to soft reset the device and try again, which I did, and it worked. I now have a working xda!
Sorry to ask this question which I know has been covered in so many other topics - but thats the problem - the topics are scattered and the answers are varied.
I have a Wizard derivative - an O2 XDA Mini S.
I have run the unlocking wizard and it is now unlocked.
I now want to
a. Backup the exisitng ROM
b. Backup the External ROM
c. Load an updated ROM.
I have tried the 'Unlock EXT ROM Wizard' - but still can't see the External ROM (in Total Commander for example) to back it up.
Can someone post a precise set of instructions for the step by step process for doing a. to c. above.
I am sure that others will find it useful as there still appears to be many posts from confused 'novices' to PPC (like me) who are trying various procedures on a hit and miss basis with varied success.
I just did the backup bit today.
Download aWizard 1.3b2
Run it, run the RAPI server using the 'e' command, wait till it starts, unlock the CID using 'u', then you can backup using the 'b' command, give it a name to backup to, and wait 15 or so minutes and it'll backup your GSM, OS, and Extended roms.
As for flashing, you can use the aWizard tool if you have the .nba rom files.
Or you can use one of the pre-packaged roms + flashers like the iMate one... but, that's where it gets a little perilous. AFAIK, the latest iMate rom will flash a locked Extended rom onto the device, which you can not edit any longer. So until someone figures out how to unlock the Extended rom, be careful.
My other idea would be to take the iMate full rom and break it up into the GSM, OS, and Extended roms. Once you do that, instead of using the pre-packaged flasher and rom, use aWizard to flash the GSM and OS roms and do the Extended part manually. Then you can keep an unlocked Extended rom (of your stock image) incase you ever want to revert to stock (since you backed up the stock GSM and OS roms in the first step).
Where is the aWizard 1.3b2. The unlocker I have is called lockiwizo2b and there is no u option.
Read the upgrading portion of the wizard forums, its all over the place there.
PS, be absolutely sure you want to upgrade, once you change, there is no going back, I did mine, I'd like to go back, but cannot.
jvanbrecht said:
Read the upgrading portion of the wizard forums, its all over the place there.
PS, be absolutely sure you want to upgrade, once you change, there is no going back, I did mine, I'd like to go back, but cannot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure you can.
If you have an SD image you can go back to the T-Mobile original US load with no problem at all. You DID make an SD image of the ROM before you screwed around, right?
The SPL will not downgrade (you probably can do that by running the RUU for the "hacked-up" earlier Imate version with the 1.x SPL/IPL) but I've found no particular reason to.
I have verified that an SD image restore to the original T-Mo US firmware works from the Imate shipping RUU.
Genesis.
What is the best method for making the SD Image?
I would also like to know.
I would also like to know if the original Extended rom can be backed up after the iMate rom overwrites it.
pewe said:
Genesis.
What is the best method for making the SD Image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need:
1. A terminal program that can speak over the USB port. Terraterm has a patched version out which can do this.
2. A CID-unlocked device (it will NOT work if its not CID-unlocked!)
3. A SD card of 128MB or larger (buy a 128MB for just this purpose, as its a great backup device)
To use it:
1. Get into the tri-color screen (hold CAMERA, reset) and plug into the USB port.
2. Kill wcescomm.exe from Windows XP (this is the ActiveSync driver for the USB port)
3. Start your terminal porgram
4. Hit "return" to insure you have a command prompt.
5. Make sure your 128MB SD card is in the slot.
6. Type "r2sd all" and hit return.
The loader will dump the entire ROM (including extended ROM) to the SD card.
Note that this is NOT a file on a FAT filesystem - its a RAW data dump with a signature and checksum. As such you CANNOT read it onto your computer using a copy - you need a tool like "psdread" to read it from the card to a file on your PC.
If you use a NEW card, you can search for the end of valid data or do what I do and dump the entire 128MB (which is larger than the dump file for certain) and then just compress it - all the trailing zeros will compress to basically nothing.
Stick the card somewhere safe.
To RESTORE from the SD card, insert it with the power off in the Wizard, then power on while holding the CAMERA button. With the older ROMs the backlight will be OFF; with the new IMATE one it will be ON. It will tell you to press the VOICE key to load from the SD card. Do so, it verifies the integrity of the dump and loads it.
Note that the prompt only comes up for a few seconds and if you're using a 1.x release of firmware when you do this the backlight is OFF so its hard to see - but its there. Grab a flashlight if necessary.
Once you load something else on your unit from stock of course you can't go back unless you did this FIRST. This was the first thing I did when I got my MDA, so I have a copy of the T-Mobile "base software" on the SD card in case I pooch my device and need to go back to the OEM firmware.
Thanks Genesis. Very helpful guide.
I did another search on the forum using different search words and I found this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=37386&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
and it looks like this is does the same thing - but without having to use other programmes like Terraterm.
Am I right?
Genesis3 said:
pewe said:
Genesis.
What is the best method for making the SD Image?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need:
1. A terminal program that can speak over the USB port. Terraterm has a patched version out which can do this.
2. A CID-unlocked device (it will NOT work if its not CID-unlocked!)
3. A SD card of 128MB or larger (buy a 128MB for just this purpose, as its a great backup device)
To use it:
1. Get into the tri-color screen (hold CAMERA, reset) and plug into the USB port.
2. Kill wcescomm.exe from Windows XP (this is the ActiveSync driver for the USB port)
3. Start your terminal porgram
4. Hit "return" to insure you have a command prompt.
5. Make sure your 128MB SD card is in the slot.
6. Type "r2sd all" and hit return.
The loader will dump the entire ROM (including extended ROM) to the SD card.
Note that this is NOT a file on a FAT filesystem - its a RAW data dump with a signature and checksum. As such you CANNOT read it onto your computer using a copy - you need a tool like "psdread" to read it from the card to a file on your PC.
If you use a NEW card, you can search for the end of valid data or do what I do and dump the entire 128MB (which is larger than the dump file for certain) and then just compress it - all the trailing zeros will compress to basically nothing.
Stick the card somewhere safe.
To RESTORE from the SD card, insert it with the power off in the Wizard, then power on while holding the CAMERA button. With the older ROMs the backlight will be OFF; with the new IMATE one it will be ON. It will tell you to press the VOICE key to load from the SD card. Do so, it verifies the integrity of the dump and loads it.
Note that the prompt only comes up for a few seconds and if you're using a 1.x release of firmware when you do this the backlight is OFF so its hard to see - but its there. Grab a flashlight if necessary.
Once you load something else on your unit from stock of course you can't go back unless you did this FIRST. This was the first thing I did when I got my MDA, so I have a copy of the T-Mobile "base software" on the SD card in case I pooch my device and need to go back to the OEM firmware.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You, sir, are my new hero. You win 3 internets for this post.
Although, what would happen if I used my existing 512mb minisd card with apps already on it? Will it dump to a file and I can compress at that point? You mentioned it was non-readable on the card if I did that. I've already backed up the stock ROM using the aWizard tool, but if I used your method with a miniSD that had files already on it, would it blindly write to it, clobbering files, or write something to the card that was unreadable via a PC (basically not as a file on the filesystem), and if I put more stuff on the miniSD like apps or media, it'll overwrite the backup of the image?
If you do this to a card with data on it you will pooch all the data - it will scribble right on top of the FAT tables and destroy them.
Second, you won't know where the data you dumped ends. To be safe you should save 128MB of the card (from the front) to your file on the PC. This will result in a larger-than-necessary file, but that's ok.
You need tools like "psdread" and "psdwrite" to read and write the SD card in "raw" format - it is NOT a file that gets dumped, but just a RAW image of the ROM (with checksums)!
The only other "gotcha" is that depending on the EXACT configuration of the data you dump the SD card may refuse to reformat to its original capacity when you're doing doing this and/or refuse to reformat at all!
That's fixable by writing a block of zeros (e.g. 10kb or so worth) to the front of the card, which will clear what's confusing Windows (and the phone).
Genesis3 said:
If you do this to a card with data on it you will pooch all the data - it will scribble right on top of the FAT tables and destroy them.
Second, you won't know where the data you dumped ends. To be safe you should save 128MB of the card (from the front) to your file on the PC. This will result in a larger-than-necessary file, but that's ok.
You need tools like "psdread" and "psdwrite" to read and write the SD card in "raw" format - it is NOT a file that gets dumped, but just a RAW image of the ROM (with checksums)!
The only other "gotcha" is that depending on the EXACT configuration of the data you dump the SD card may refuse to reformat to its original capacity when you're doing doing this and/or refuse to reformat at all!
That's fixable by writing a block of zeros (e.g. 10kb or so worth) to the front of the card, which will clear what's confusing Windows (and the phone).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
interesting. if I got a $10 128mb minisd, though, I wouldn't really care to use it in anything else other than this phone. I have a 512mb already for daily usage, so the 128mb would be for a backup incase I want to revert to the standard OOB rom from T-Mobile.
As long as the rom is written to the card and will read from if I choose to restore, I don't care if windows ever reads from the card again.
pewe said:
Thanks Genesis. Very helpful guide.
I did another search on the forum using different search words and I found this post:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/viewtopic.php?t=37386&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0
and it looks like this is does the same thing - but without having to use other programmes like Terraterm.
Am I right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the tool I was talking about. This will dump the roms to a file on your PC that is readable. You can edit stuff, rewrite it back to the device, etc.
But what I haven't gotten a definitive answer on is whether you can flash the iMate extended rom and then overwrite it at a later date with the original t-mobile extended rom, since the iMate one is locked or something. Genesis' method involves using a miniSD to create a raw image of a newly booted phone, GSM/OS/Extended rom and all, which you can keep somewhere safe incase you ever want to revert. Apparently, even after flashing the iMate rom with the locked Extended rom, he was capable of re-flashing the device with the original rom from the miniSD.
This is exactly what I am looking for. I want to switch to the iMate rom, and know the order all the cabs in the extended rom need to be installed for it to work properly, but I was afraid I could never revert to the OOB experience. This fixes that, and I will be ordering a 128mb card tonight.
I downloaded Tera Term from http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA002416/teraterm.html is this the right one? It only has COM ports as options to communicate.
Can someone please provide a link to a terminal program I can download which works over USB?
Hi,
I followed your instructions for making a backup of my ROM to an SD Card. I have a small problem, I don't have a card reader for my PC, is there any way to get the ROM image onto my PC via my Wizard? Also since the Wizard doesn't think the MiniSD card exists anymore, is there anyway to raw write those 0's to the card from the Wizard.. perhaps using terraterm? Or have I just killed my MiniSD card and I'm going to have to buy a reader for my PC ?
Thanks!
zan5hin said:
Can someone please provide a link to a terminal program I can download which works over USB?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
download this one: http://arisme.free.fr/hacks/binaries/TeraTermPro_WinCE_USB.zip
its in the bin folder of the zip.
koniosis said:
Hi,
I followed your instructions for making a backup of my ROM to an SD Card. I have a small problem, I don't have a card reader for my PC, is there any way to get the ROM image onto my PC via my Wizard? Also since the Wizard doesn't think the MiniSD card exists anymore, is there anyway to raw write those 0's to the card from the Wizard.. perhaps using terraterm? Or have I just killed my MiniSD card and I'm going to have to buy a reader for my PC ?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You need a card reader in your PC (or a friend's PC) - I do not know of a way to write it directly in the MDA.
Genesis3 said:
You need a card reader in your PC (or a friend's PC) - I do not know of a way to write it directly in the MDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok thanks, I've got one from a friend now, so all good I was looking at http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=HimalayaBootloaderCommands to see if there were any bootloader commands for writing to sd card, but it appears you can only copy the ROM to the SD, besides, this is for a different phone anyway.
Ok I may have found something: http://wiki.xda-developers.com/index.php?pagename=XdaUtils/psdwrite.exe claims to be able to write raw to the SD card on a WinCE device... I'll investigate.
I'm currently reading the image raw from the MiniSD card using the command "psdread -1 0 0x0F140000 sd.img" using a 256MB MiniSD and it appears to be working, albit slowly. I'll keep you informed of whether I can succesfully recover my SD card using the writer after this read finishes.
Hello all, did all the correct things by saving to SD card using mtty etc. Experimented with assorted roms then low and behold went back to re installing orignial backup from SD, by the pda doesn't 'see' the backup. Any clues on this one?? Failing all suggestions, is there an actual o2 Asia ROM 1.11.923 complete out there that I could download?
Well for some totally unknown reason, the Sd restore worked. This was after several attempts of writing a modified version rom, re writing the 416b header, renaming the rom and writing back to the sd card and so forth....then...re- wrote the original backup rom file to sd card and to my astonishment it worked. It would still be good to have the actual 1.11.923 O2 setup rom on this site.
[Your SD card will be formatted in a special format during the procedure below and you won't be able to use it for other purposes unless you reformat it again afterwards. Please be adviced that you will lose the backed up ROM on SD card when you format it afterwards again!!!!]
I successfully created a FLASH IMAGE on my SD card and afterwards flashed my T-MOBILE MDA from there.
The magic tool needed for this is the HTC mtty.exe (attached below)
You have to follow exactly the STEP-BY-STEP guide otherwise the procedure will fail! I will not be responsible for any damage on your device!
Please make sure that your battery is charged to at least 50% and also back up your device before following the guide below!
CREATING THE IMAGE ON SD CARD
STEP 1
Open ActiveSync (device not attached) and uncheck USB and COM port in Connection Settings. This is necessary to release the USB port for the mtty utility!
STEP 2
Get you an SD card of 128MB or bigger (fresh formated to FAT32) and insert it in your WIZARD
STEP 3
Set the Wizard in BOOTLOADER MODE by pressing and holding POWER + CAMERA and press RESET - if you got the 3-colored screen you were successful!
STEP 4
Connect the device via USB to the computer, then start the mtty.exe on your computer
STEP 5
Settings in the mtty.exe:
Port: \\.\WSCUSBSH001
(all other settings leave the way they are! Please pay attention that you write the port exactly as mentioned above: 2 backslashes followed by a dot and another backslash - this is not a typo!!! I attached a screenshot below)
STEP 6
Now click OK. You will get a notepad-like window with a blinking cursor. After hidding the ENTER KEY once you should see "CMD>"
Type behind that: r2sd all
STEP 7
The utility will start now to write your IMAGE to SD. Please do not interrupt the process! You can see its progress on a statusbar on the bottom of the device's screen. Wait until it shows 100%. Also: the CMD> will appear again on your desktop when it is done.
You created successfully your IMAGE on SD!
HOW TO FLASH FROM THE SD CARD ???
Turn of your device!
Insert the SD card with the IMAGE you've created
Turn on your device in BOOTLOADER MODE by pressing and holding CAMERA and POWER button and performing RESET
=> Now you need to be fast!!! A white screen will appear for not longer than 3 seconds asking you if you want to FLASH from SD card. You have to press the VOICE DIAL / RECORD button within that time frame otherwise it will switch to 'normal' bootloader mode.
That's it!
NOTE:
Do not wonder! You won't be able to read the SD card afterwards on a Windows computer - I just tried it. I guess the procedure above formats the card in a special format, at least Windows tells me that the card is not formatted! So, the draw back is that you can't use the card for other stuff but the ROM IMAGE!
Very nice article. A couple of typos, but overall very well written!
Just out of curiosity, I've seen another thread on making an SD image of a rom, but it indicates you have to be CID Unlocked for it to work. Is that true for this method also (I haven't compared the two)? Just curious as that is an important piece of information (either way) to make note of... So if someone with a CID Locked phone could try this, that would be great.
Also curious if this works for G3 and G4 devices.
I can't try it out on a CID locked device since mine is CID unlocked already!
The guide above is for real HTC technicans, so, I guess it should work either way!
If somebody has a still CID locked device: it would be great if you could give it a shot!
Does this uittlity make a ROM image as the OS is NOW (meaning with all tweaks and installs and everything) or just the basic ROM as you would get with a hard reset?
It is not a backup. It will put the factory ROM on SD card.
The actual image with all your 'tweaks and personalization' can be easily backed up to SD card by using SPB Backup or better SPB Clone.
Does this method work for wm6 ROM?I am a vista user
Not sure if the MTTY can connect from VISTA but in gerneral: it should work with any ROM version on your WIZ.
well,can we place our .nbf image file (wm6) on sd card and install it from the sd card?
Not this way! It will create a special formatted FLASH IMAGE from your installed ROM on SD. When you do it you won't be able to use the SD card for data storage until you reformat it again.
I am not sure if somebody came up with a solution for flashing nbf files directly from SD!
The procedure above is still helpful if you just need a backup of your shipped ROM or if you need to reflash an almost dead WIZ or if you have the need to reflash your WIZ on the go without a computer ...
Hi
I have a frozen **** brick which got stuck while upgrading (Dopodp800w) I tried to flash it thru sd card (which containes original nbh file in my doc folder).
When I try to invoke the bootloader it says "searching for sd card" then goes to 3 color band and nothing else happenes
Can you help me
Edit: Working like a champ.
But you need to edit the one in the topic. It dose not work. The one in the screen shot dose.
Thanks.
A couple of questions
Junner2003 said:
NOTE:
Do not wonder! You won't be able to read the SD card afterwards on a Windows computer - I just tried it. I guess the procedure above formats the card in a special format, at least Windows tells me that the card is not formatted! So, the draw back is that you can't use the card for other stuff but the ROM IMAGE!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Great finding Junner!
Can I use "your" rom image to flash "my" phone? Or the image is unique for the one you got the image from?
Could you please investigate with your HTC Technician if this process is valid for both G3s & G4s?
Thanks!
Basically you will be able to use it on any phone!
My problem is that I only had 2 test devices: an European T-Mobile MDA VARIO and a 8125 from Cingular / USA. I could use one and the same image (SD card) on booth devices.
I have no CID lock and also no SIM lock on both devices, so, I can't give you a feedback on what happens if your device is locked.
Maybe somebody else has still a locked device and is willing to give it a try before unlocking? (But please somebody with experience! I won't be responsible if you brick your device! )
Is there any way I can take the Flash Image from the SD and convert it to nb file?
WizeMan said:
Is there any way I can take the Flash Image from the SD and convert it to nb file?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm, you would have to figure out first in what format the SD card is formatted. Afterwards you might be able to find an application which can extract the file(s) from the card.
I did not want to digg deeper than I had to, it was only importand to me that I can flash from SD when ever I cross the ocean from USA to Europe. That saves me a lot of 'setting up's' ... ... just flash and load backup!
Not working on CID locked
Junner2003 said:
Basically you will be able to use it on any phone!
My problem is that I only had 2 test devices: an European T-Mobile MDA VARIO and a 8125 from Cingular / USA. I could use one and the same image (SD card) on booth devices.
I have no CID lock and also no SIM lock on both devices, so, I can't give you a feedback on what happens if your device is locked.
Maybe somebody else has still a locked device and is willing to give it a try before unlocking? (But please somebody with experience! I won't be responsible if you brick your device! )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried in a G3 & also in a G4, both CID locked 8125´s. It didn´t work, see attached file for the message I got; looks for me that the CID unlock gives the proper security level to do make the command work. I´ll unlock one of them to see if the result is a different one.