Hello guys,
i got a serious and frustrating problem here.
A few days ago my xoom was stuck on the M screen, so I used a thread in the forum and recovered it.
It solved myh problem back then, but since I had 3.2 before this and the solution injected me with Android 3.01 my problems started to show themselves.
the first one is that
<b> Through Fastboot, RecoveryMod, ADB </b> and any other way you can Imagine to install a new ROM or even remove or create a file,
All of them show success message but when I check them out I see no changes.
i tried fastboot and Recovery to install nearly every ROM,Recovery and bootimage in this site but so far it was wild goose chase.
so I want to ask if I'm doing anything wrong or if you need any more information here, but please help me with this
wow I cant believe it, All these masterminds here and no answer to my distress signal??
Guys I am so in trouble and this is the only place I hoped to get answered.
I can provide you with more info if you need, but please dont say I'm on my own here.
all these years this forum was the last hope for me.
i know I'll get my answer here one day
You are not being very clear about what you have done,, but I'm assuming that you reinstalled the stock image that got you back to HC 3.01. Can you see if you are able to get OTA updates to get you back to at least 3.1, or 3.2 if possible?
If that's my problem forgive me please, Ive written that post in 3:00AM
for the sake of clearity I should add some info:
1. I even tried stock ROMs but you see I cant even flash them (Not from Recovery nor Fastboot) the steps seem successful : it opens the package,it installs them and it says everything was a success. But when I restart the device I see nothing has changed.
2. OTA updates are the same, they keep downloading and when the sysem reboots to recovery to install them it cant find them.
3. You dont believe it if I say even files and programs that I remove from device by my hand(Android OS) are back after the first restart.
And you see it's dark magic! everything from a file to a partition are back by one reboot. I dont know what should I call it but I havent seen anything like it on the whole Internet.
So seems like I should make a competition for the xda experts here
Can you publish it so all of them can see it?
Mohfath said:
If that's my problem forgive me please, Ive written that post in 3:00AM
for the sake of clearity I should add some info:
1. I even tried stock ROMs but you see I cant even flash them (Not from Recovery nor Fastboot) the steps seem successful : it opens the package,it installs them and it says everything was a success. But when I restart the device I see nothing has changed.
2. OTA updates are the same, they keep downloading and when the sysem reboots to recovery to install them it cant find them.
3. You dont believe it if I say even files and programs that I remove from device by my hand(Android OS) are back after the first restart.
And you see it's dark magic! everything from a file to a partition are back by one reboot. I dont know what should I call it but I havent seen anything like it on the whole Internet.
So seems like I should make a competition for the xda experts here
Can you publish it so all of them can see it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, I have seen someone with the same problem here on this forum, but I can't recall exactly what the solution was.
Can you describe, step by step what you are doing, what cable you are connecting to your pc with, etc?
okantomi said:
Actually, I have seen someone with the same problem here on this forum, but I can't recall exactly what the solution was.
Can you describe, step by step what you are doing, what cable you are connecting to your pc with, etc?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That would be relief to know this could be solvable.
I will look more too.
As for your post I must say:
1. I plug the Xoom to the PC using the included cable
2. I start the xoom and start fastboot
3. on the PC system has the drivers and completely knows it
4. I start with SDK:
I. Fastboot oem unlock (Completing onscreen instructions and reboot device)
II. Fastboot mode again I use Fastboot flash boot boot.img
III. Continuing with Recovery,System
IV. Rebooting the device anything is the same.
My ROM is unchanged by the process and keeeeeeeeps giving the damn error of System process error please submit
5. And with ClockworkrecoveryMod I have the stock ROM on my sd card.
I. I choose install zip from sd card.
II.Choose the correct zip file and start flashing.
III. Choosing Wipe Data/Factory reset will take the device into a complete hang. unless I first use the mount page to mount the System/Data
IV. I reboot the device and ..... you know nothing changed.
so thats my story.
Still hope to find something about it.
Thanks...that was helpful. But now I want to know the following:
Were you rooted before the trouble started?
What did you do to recover?
If rooted, what version of CWM recovery did you have installed? Did you do a nanadroid backup? (I guess the answer is no, because you could have just restored with that).
What recovery are you accessing when trying to flash a zip file?
If you can answer these questions I will continue to wrack my brain trying to recall where I saw that thread.
Edit: please check out this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1370312
Some of what I said to him may help you .
okantomi said:
Were you rooted before the trouble started?
What did you do to recover?
If rooted, what version of CWM recovery did you have installed? Did you do a nanadroid backup? (I guess the answer is no, because you could have just restored with that).
What recovery are you accessing when trying to flash a zip file?
If you can answer these questions I will continue to wrack my brain trying to recall where I saw that thread.
Edit: please check out this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1370312
Some of what I said to him may help you .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Being rooted? -> Yes, The world is more beautiful with root!
to recover -> I followed this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1097997 Shame it was Android 3.0
I use ClockworkRecovery 3.0.0.28 and I cant upgrade it cause of ... you know
And for your help I must say you are definitely the most caring person I know...
I'm off to check the provided link now
I was thinking of something that might be a reason.
I have this tiny problem:
When I go to CWM and choose Erase userData/Factory Reset Device Hangs
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of may be the userdata partition is corrupted and I gotta find a way to flash it completely.
Somehow I used Fastboot utility to do this and after saying Success, Nothing changed again.
Do you know any other way to physically do this job?
Some basics - About bootloader, kernel, recovery, rom, /system and some other partitions.
There are many noobs out there and sometimes even I am one. Two days ago @Closed Force asked me, where I know my stuff from and why things are like they are... So I finally decided to write this little guide about how Android devices basically work and what are the special things about our G2.
If you find wrong facts or any other mistakes (grammatical, language, contentwise), please bear with me. That's how I read it in the forums. And of course not everything written on XDA is correct. So please tell me by PM, or by posting in this thread if you have additions, corrections or any other concerns about this OP.
Where I got to know all this stuff? Reading, reading, reading. I first started modding my old HTC desire like 4 years ago. Since then and even before I'm reading. Mainly here on XDA but also on some german forums and wikis. It might have taken me easily 200 hours or more. So the only way to learn for a newbie (and everyone else too) is reading.
Personally I own a D802 variant. I know about some things that were different in details for the US variants, but things should be right as they are.
Finally thanks to
@d00lz for some extra research/additions and a quick read through.
@Art Vanderlay for some additions.
So let's get started:
When you press the power button, your device will load the Bootloader. The Bootloader afterwards wil load either the Recovery Image (recovery.img), the Kernel (boot.img) or the Download Mode Bootloader (laf.img), depending on the keys you press. At the moment there are three different bootloaders; The Jellybean one, the KitKat one, and the new Lollipop one. Not one of these Bootloaders can be unlocked yet, so there are workarounds which allow us to boot custom ROMs (specifically Kernels, but more about that later) and custom Recoverys. At the beginning there was the Jellybean Bootloader. The Developers (sorry, I don't know which ones) found out how to get around the locked Bootloader pretty early. They called this workaround Loki. It's intergrated into nearly every ROM except the ones which require the KitKat Bootloader (but that's usually not the reason they don't support the JellyBean one). Anyways, soon the KitKat update came and so did the new KitKat Bootloader. Sadly, LG patched the Loki exploit with this new update. However, the Developers found a new way to get the Bootloader booting files which weren't signed by LG. They called this workaround Bump. Bump basically imitates the LG signature so the bootloader thinks this file was really signed by LG. Obviously this workaround works with the JellyBean Bootloader too. In the Lollipop Bootloader this exploit has been closed and no one knows how to get around the new Bootloader, yet. In conclusion to Bootloaders, as long you have a working Bootloader, your device is not dead. You can usually recover it in some way.
The G2 has about 30 partitions (for a more detailed explanation, look here, thanks @d00lz). Each partition has its own purpose. One of them is the Recovery partition. Imagine: A Recovery partiton and a working Bootloader are everything you need to keep your phone working. It's kind of an Operating System in itself, completely independent from Android or anything else stored on your Mobile. The great thing about the Recovery partition is that it's so small that it can be run directly in the RAM. This means it's capable of modifing EVERY goddamn partition on your Mobile, including the Bootloader and the Recovery partition itself (means you can flash a new recovery.zip in your current recovery). Attention: if you are using the Recovery with a 4.4 KitKat Bootloader, it needs to be a Bumped Recovery. If it isn't bumped the Bootloader realizes that the Recovery is not genuine and generates a "Secure Boot Error".
Same thing goes for the Kernel. The Kernel is located in your /boot partition (found gzipped inside your boot.img) and is loaded by the Bootloader when you only press the Power Button and you let your Mobile boot normally. This is the reason why your Kernel also needs to be Bumped if you want to get your system booting on a KitKat Bootloader. When 4.4 KitKat came out, most Developers switched over to using LG's 4.4 KitKat sources for their projects. After a while it was realized that 4.2 JellyBean sources were a lot more reliable for AOSP baed ROMs. This is why most AOSP ROMs use the 4.2 JellyBean Bootloader and the 4.2 JellyBean Kernel sources while Stock based ROMs use the 4.4 KiKat Bootloader and 4.4 KitKat Kernel. There are different Kernels for AOSP ROMs and for Stock based ROMs. This is because Stock Kernels support some ROM functionalities that AOSP ROMs don't have, for example; Knock Code. (Note: Knock Code isn't open source, which is also another big reason why it isn't available for AOSP ROMs.) So there are huge differences between Stock and AOSP based ROMs/Kernels. The Kernel (without factoring in the AOSP and Stock issue) can be switch at anytime you want.
Now about the /data partition... All your personal stuff, including Apps, System Settings, App Data and so on will be stored there. The reason why you should clear it every time you change the ROM is that there are many variables set by the ROM you are coming from. Your current ROM may have some tweaks the new one doesn't have which means the new ROM doesn't know how to handle them which leads to crashes and instability.
Now let's get to the ROM... Having a 4.2 JellyBean Bootloader and a 4.2 JellyBean Kernel doesn't mean the top layer has to be 4.2 too. Most of the AOSP based ROMs are based on Googles KitKat or Lollipop sources. And this is true KitKat or Lollipop, with all its functionalities. Those huge version differences cause some problems in development. No wonder some things do not work properly today, but it's still the best working combination at the moment. It's kind of a wonder how it works as it is, but let's be happy with it. I'm very curious how AOSP ROMs with Lollipop Kernel sources will work. Your ROM and your entire existing Operating System is found in the /system partition. This is why it's the main partition which is modified while flashing. Which partitions will be modified and (how) is written in the updater-script file of the file you're going to flash. Theoretically, running a updater-script of a ROM which changes the Bootloader (/aboot partition) can brick your device. That's also the reason why you should only flash stuff made for your device only!
As already said an updaterscript can modify every partition through the recovery. All ROMs bring their own kernel, so you basically don't have to care about it, except you want to use a non-bumped ROM (with kernel) together with the KitKat bootloader.
Finally something about the baseband/modem (these terms are interchangeable). I noticed that the Developers or rather the Original Posters sometimes don't know which baseband the user should use with the ROM. In earlier days the wrong baseband could make the ROM bootloop. Today most ROMs work with most basebands. It's obviously best if you stay on the one you currently are on and just flash another one if something doesn't work (auto-rotation for example). The baseband can be flashed at any time and is on it's own partition.
Okay Download Mode time. It's part of the laf partition (laf.img). This partition is used by LG and it's PC software to recover the phone and bring it back to Stock. It's a partition in itself, but not completely independent of the Bootloader. It's because of this that you can of course have a fully working Bootloader, but a dead Download Mode. This means you will not be able to flash a .KDZ/.TOT file the next time you are in big trouble! ^^
Okay to wrap up I should mention the EFS partition. The EFS partition stores your device's IMEI (and the serial number as far as I know) of your device. NEVER wipe it. With a empty EFS partition you can use your mobile as a brick, ok maybe you can use it as a media tablet, but that's it (WiFi still works, @Art Vanderlay tested; see below).
Again: if you got questions/additions/correction or see a mistake, post below, or PM me, I'll edit this post...
reserved
Great post. A thread like this should be the first thread you read as soon as you enter the LGG2 sub forum.
Expect a private message soon.
Also, reserved for possible future additions .
d00lz said:
Great post. A thread like this should be the first thread you read as soon as you enter the LGG2 sub forum.
Expect a private message soon.
Also, reserved for possible future additions .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And you could modify your signature now^^
Sunandroid said:
And you could modify your signature now^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice write up Sunny. You can credit Dan Rosenburg for creating loki. I can also confirm that wifi still works without modemst1 and modemst2 aka efs. My phone suffers for this thread.
@Sunandroid
Perfect! This was all I was looking for. Now I finnaly understand how my G2 works and I'll most likely not need to ask more "noob questions" in this matter.
But I would like to ask some questions because I've left with doubts after reading the OP.
As long as I have /recovery/ and /aboot/ working, I can recover my device exclusively with software. Is this right?
I've concluded that you need /aboot/ to be able to enter in /recovery/ and with recovery you can mess up with any other partition.´
How can I tell if /modem/ found here is compatible with my device? Are all /modem/ partitions the same in the same models? For example, I'm from Portugal so I have a Portuguese D802 LG G2 (if I type its IMEI in a site, it recognizes it as portuguese). If I flash a German D802 modem or English or even American, considering that they are all from D802 would they work flawlessly with my device?
Why does /modem/ cause auto-rotation to work? What exactly is /modem/?
I have a backup of all the partitions in my laptop (made via TWRP). But what happens if I accidentaly lose my /efs/ partition? Can I flash another phone's /efs/?
Rayaxe said:
@Sunandroid
Perfect! This was all I was looking for. Now I finnaly understand how my G2 works and I'll most likely not need to ask more "noob questions" in this matter.
But I would like to ask some questions because I've left with doubts after reading the OP.
As long as I have /recovery/ and /aboot/ working, I can recover my device exclusively with software. Is this right?
I've concluded that you need /aboot/ to be able to enter in /recovery/ and with recovery you can mess up with any other partition.´
How can I tell if /modem/ found here is compatible with my device? Are all /modem/ partitions the same in the same models? For example, I'm from Portugal so I have a Portuguese D802 LG G2 (if I type its IMEI in a site, it recognizes it as portuguese). If I flash a German D802 modem or English or even American, considering that they are all from D802 would they work flawlessly with my device?
Why does /modem/ cause auto-rotation to work? What exactly is /modem/?
I have a backup of all the partitions in my laptop (made via TWRP). But what happens if I accidentaly lose my /efs/ partition? Can I flash another phone's /efs/?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad I could help you this way...
about /aboot and /recovery: yes you are right. It is even better, if you have an intact laf too. That's the download mode. But as long the other two work, you can fix the laf partition easily. But if you get into the situation, that only those two are working, better don't flash a bootloader (=/aboot). If it's the wrong one your device is bricked.
Aboot is the key to your device. Everything else is fixable. At least with a little bit of knowledge and time. But better don't try it out.
No, the modems are not all the same. There are (sometimes depending on the branding) extremely small differences between the basebands/modems. I personally never had the problem, that I couldn't get any connection at all. But that's not fatal. Just flash another one and try again if it works. Btw: I once made a test in some german forums with different KK basebands. I'm not sure anymore, but the differences were minimal and I think killed my connection totally.
If you loose your efs stuff, your device is a brick with extended functionalities. The IMEI and some other data stored in the efs partition is worldwide unique. So you can't just pick the one of another phone (except the other G2 is bricked or whatever). You need the IMEI for general network connection. So it will still boot up, but you won't be able to text or call anyone with this phone.
Okay ^^
So this is a full backup of all the needed partitions right? http://prntscr.com/76edu4
Should I convert these files to something like .img to be able to flash in the phone just in case I get something that disables my TWRP access?
Rayaxe said:
Okay ^^
So this is a full backup of all the needed partitions right? http://prntscr.com/76edu4
Should I convert these files to something like .img to be able to flash in the phone just in case I get something that disables my TWRP access?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I guess so. As long as you ticked everything when you backed up (with blastagators TWRP!; the official one doesn't allow to backup the efs stuff), this should be fine.
Well you could. But tbh I have no idea how to convert those files into .img files. But it isn't necessary anyways: It's unlikely that you loose the efs data on your phone unless you brick it somehow. If the phone stays recoverable, The first thing you are going to do is: flashing bootloader, laf and boot.img. Then you will go back to stock through the download mode. Once you've done this it's an easy one to install twrp again and restore the efs backup. No one is gonna flash ~32 partitions by hand. There are "easier" and more usefull ways to recover the device.
Oh and btw: no backup contains the bootloader, laf and boot (recovery developer don't implement this for some reasons). But this doesn't matter. The only thing you really need is the efs backup (which partitions exactly you can see here). Everything else isn't unique and can be extracted out of kdz files and restored this way.
Edit: the two partitions mentioned here are
Sunandroid said:
Okay Download Mode time. It's part of the laf partition (laf.img). This partition is used by LG and it's PC software to recover the phone and bring it back to Stock. It's a partition in itself, but not completely independent of the Bootloader. It's because of this that you can of course have a fully working Bootloader, but a dead Download Mode. This means you will not be able to flash a .KDZ/.TOT file the next time you are in big trouble! ^^
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My PC doesn't install any driver when my phone is on download mode,
On recovery mode (twrp) i have MTP access but on download mode i'm not having any access,
does that mean my download mode is dead?
GoPogoOreo! said:
My PC doesn't install any driver when my phone is on download mode,
On recovery mode (twrp) i have MTP access but on download mode i'm not having any access,
does that mean my download mode is dead?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has nothing to do with this thread here. The issue is different. But I have no clue what it might be... If I can elaborate a maybe working answer I'm gonna answer you in the noob thread.
Sunandroid said:
This has nothing to do with this thread here. The issue is different. But I have no clue what it might be... If I can elaborate a maybe working answer I'm gonna answer you in the noob thread.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh btw i tried your (noob friendly) no download mode, no recovery mode ..... using slax,
when i typed ls /dev/sd* it's only showed my PC (only one sda) and there is no sdb, not even one
Weirdly i can access TWRP, but i can't make any custom rom boot,
Man this is frustating
I have a phone, G2 D802 Int., which probably has a corrupt EFS partition. I guess the owner broke it flashing incompatible things into it. As a result of the corruption, ESN/IMEI is lost. It shows null. But very interestingly, the EFS partition mustn't have been wiped because by chance of a boot among a hundred, it shows up the ESN. If by chance you come across to ESN, everything operates normally. And if you reboot the phone, ESN is gone again..
I managed to make recovery work again, by upgrading the phone to lollipop. (It was another time I came across ESN.) But no download mode, USB is never identified (unkonwn usb device), USB modes cannot be changed, unless by chance you come across, USB debugging is no more either.
I was thinking to backup some necessary partitions from a working phone of the same variant, but since it's "unknown device", I cannot query it as a disk. Neither it works in Ubuntu. ls /dev/sd* doesn't show the phone. It even doesn't show the working phone.
Any idea about how I can fix the corrupted EFS partition?
pisisler said:
I have a phone, G2 D802 Int., which probably has a corrupt EFS partition. I guess the owner broke it flashing incompatible things into it. As a result of the corruption, ESN/IMEI is lost. It shows null. But very interestingly, the EFS partition mustn't have been wiped because by chance of a boot among a hundred, it shows up the ESN. If by chance you come across to ESN, everything operates normally. And if you reboot the phone, ESN is gone again..
I managed to make recovery work again, by upgrading the phone to lollipop. (It was another time I came across ESN.) But no download mode, USB is never identified (unkonwn usb device), USB modes cannot be changed, unless by chance you come across, USB debugging is no more either.
I was thinking to backup some necessary partitions from a working phone of the same variant, but since it's "unknown device", I cannot query it as a disk. Neither it works in Ubuntu. ls /dev/sd* doesn't show the phone. It even doesn't show the working phone.
Any idea about how I can fix the corrupted EFS partition?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I luckily never had to try it, but scroll down a bit over here: http://www.droidviews.com/how-to-backup-and-restore-lost-imei-on-lg-g2/
I wish you luck!
Sunandroid said:
I luckily never had to try it, but scroll down a bit over here: http://www.droidviews.com/how-to-backup-and-restore-lost-imei-on-lg-g2/
I wish you luck!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I know that, but since I cannot take the device to USB debugging mode, it's not the first step I could take. "USB device descriptor is failed", this is what I get when I plug the phone.
pisisler said:
Yes I know that, but since I cannot take the device to USB debugging mode, it's not the first step I could take. "USB device descriptor is failed", this is what I get when I plug the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what is the current state of your phone? You have twrp installed. Can you push stuff through adb when you are in the recovery (this is pretty important, since we maybe can fix the download mode this way)? Does it boot into android?
@Sunandroid, device operates normally except the voice call & data, since these depend on IMEI. The phone boots normally, and everything is working, only the IMEI shows as "null". Additionaly, cannot enter to download mode, no recovery installed, original recovery is working, which is used to do a factory reset only. No USB debugging, it says "USB device descriptor failed". Thus no adb.
pisisler said:
@Sunandroid, device operates normally except the voice call & data, since these depend on IMEI. The phone boots normally, and everything is working, only the IMEI shows as "null". Additionaly, cannot enter to download mode, no recovery installed, original recovery is working, which is used to do a factory reset only. No USB debugging, it says "USB device descriptor failed". Thus no adb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I've read about this issue (device descriptor...) just now, it is not software but hardware related.
I've heard of people solving that issue but I couldn't manage to do. Gave the phone to my customer back after 4 days. Importer service put the phone out of warranty and offered him a motherboard replacement for 75 $ and it's pretty fair I think. After all it comes funny when he says he's gonna file a case about returning the phone and take his money back. Well, it's up to him to end up with nothing in hands after months of waiting for a case.
Shortly, this file has been closed without a reasonable solution.
Thanks for your effort @Sunandroid.
pisisler said:
I've heard of people solving that issue but I couldn't manage to do. Gave the phone to my customer back after 4 days. Importer service put the phone out of warranty and offered him a motherboard replacement for 75 $ and it's pretty fair I think. After all it comes funny when he says he's gonna file a case about returning the phone and take his money back. Well, it's up to him to end up with nothing in hands after months of waiting for a case.
Shortly, this file has been closed without a reasonable solution.
Thanks for your effort @Sunandroid.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Glad to hear that. Hitting the thanks button doesn't hurt.
Can someone suggest another forum where I can go for help?
The last 5 or 6 times I've posted questions here, I've gotten no answers at all. I really need help. My tablet was bricked because I lost ADB connection while updating the system partition. I know there is a way around this - I have a custom recovery and an unlocked bootloader - but I need help from someone who knows more than I do. No one here is going to help me, I know. Where do I go? Where can I find someone knowledgeable and helpful?
permutations said:
Can someone suggest another forum where I can go for help?
The last 5 or 6 times I've posted questions here, I've gotten no answers at all. I really need help. My tablet was bricked because I lost ADB connection while updating the system partition. I know there is a way around this - I have a custom recovery and an unlocked bootloader - but I need help from someone who knows more than I do. No one here is going to help me, I know. Where do I go? Where can I find someone knowledgeable and helpful?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried booting to recovery from bootloader and regaining an ADB connection? This should be all you need.
permutations said:
Can someone suggest another forum where I can go for help?
The last 5 or 6 times I've posted questions here, I've gotten no answers at all. I really need help. My tablet was bricked because I lost ADB connection while updating the system partition. I know there is a way around this - I have a custom recovery and an unlocked bootloader - but I need help from someone who knows more than I do. No one here is going to help me, I know. Where do I go? Where can I find someone knowledgeable and helpful?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The more information you provide, the better. Please provide more information regarding your device so that your thread can be placed in the correct forum.
Magnum_Enforcer said:
The more information you provide, the better. Please provide more information regarding your device so that your thread can be placed in the correct forum.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was updating my Nexus 10 tablet - had gotten to the system partition - when I lost the ADB connection. I've since learned that's a problem with newer Macs (I was connected to Windows through Parallels). Here's a link to a thread about that:
https://code.google.com/p/android/i...Stars Reporter Opened&groupby=&sort=&id=65301
Because of the lost connection, the system partition did not flash and my tablet is bricked. There is no operating system so it can't boot into Android, but it can boot into the Bootloader and Recovery mode. All the other partitions are fine.
I have a custom recovery (TWRP) and an unlocked bootloader, but I'm at a loss to figure out how to flash the system.img file. I can't boot to Android so I can't connect through ADB in Fastboot mode to flash the ordinary way. I am connected through ADB when I'm in Recovery mode, but I can't use the flash command in Recovery mode. Nor can I figure out a way to make TWRP flash the partition by running it as a zip file - mainly because I can't figure out what the update.zip file should consist of. There was an OTA update file on my device when I started the manual update (manual updates fail), but I didn't look at it and didn't save it.
I tried pushing the system.img file to the Nexus 10 using the Linux dd command, but that doesn't work with the system partition, which uses a special format. The details are explained here, but I don't fully understand it:
http://www.modaco.com/forums/topic/327661-how-to-backup-the-systemimg-bootimg-and-recoveryimg/
After spending about 8 hours on this last night, I believe the only way I can fix it is to create an update.zip file that uses a Linux script to flash the system partition, but this is way beyond my skill set and I can't find a model for how to do this anywhere. All tutorials I've found for creating zip files for flashing are for installing apps, not flashing a system partition - which is even more complicated than flashing, say, a boot partition. Nor can I find an update.zip file from someone's cache (sure wish I'd saved mine) to use as a model. I'm looking for someone with this kind of high level knowledge who can give me guidance - or someone who can refer me to someone who has this kind of knowledge.
I solved this problem.