Database Users

[Q] Nexus 7 bricked on laying robot with red exclamation mark

Right... I spent the last 6 hours reading through the forum and Googling about this problem. I learnt a lot (!), but cannot solve the problem, and I now hope someone can help me
Sorry for the lenghty post, but there's a lot of information to share...
Yesterday, my long-awaited Nexus 7 (8Gb) finally arrived. It worked just fine for an hour or so: I got online without any issue, Calendar, Photos, GMail and Contacts were nicely synching and I was really starting to get impressed about the speed and features.
I did download a couple apps, more specifically Aldiko & Moon+ Reader ebook reader apps, and Facebook).
Suddenly --I believe I just started the Facebook app-- the screen turned black and showed strange stripes. The device rebooted and got stuck on the black screen with the white "Google" text. I let it sit there for a while and then instinctively tried to power-off the device by holding the power button for 10 seconds or so. It did indeed reboot, but when the tablet booted up, it popped back to the black Google screen and just sat there.
FYI: The USB cable was connected all of the time, and the first time I plugged the Nexus in, my Win 7 64bit machine recognized the tablet and loaded the drivers for it.
When it got stuck, I decided to continue charging it, thinking that maybe the battery wasn't fully charged and the cause of the problem. I hooked it up to the official charger in a wall socket and let it sit there for a while, while I started searching the web for a solution. After about 30 minutes, when I had read about the power+volume button combination, I tried this combination (until then the Google page showed for more than 30 minutes). The Nexus indeed showed the Fastboot screen, and I had to plug it back in the PC's USB to get the buttons "start", "recovery mode", "power off" and "restart bootloader" working. None of them had any effect.
The fastboot screen showed the product name "grouper", the lock state as "locked"; the bootloader as version 3.34 and the HW version as ER3.
I downloaded the "Nexus root toolkit" from WugFresh and tried to flash it back to "stock" with Android 4.1.1 JRO03D. The tool did show my serial number, btw.... Until then, I had good hopes, but then it went wrong: the tool downloaded the files, unpacked them and said something about "wiping flash" and everything froze. After about 20 minutes, I concluded it had locked-up and unplugged the device.
It now seems to be completely "bricked"...
I can no longer get to the fastboot screen; Not even with the 3-button trick... it always shows the Google screen and immediately shows the "dead robot" screen with the exclamation mark.
The Nexus does not start up Android, so I cannot activate ADB/ USB debugging...
The device is no longer recognized by my PC; the PC doesn't make the "USB hooked up/disconnected" sound anymore
I tried uninstalling the drivers and installed the "naked drivers", no solution -- they show up with yellow exclamation marks
I installed the SDK, and "fastboot.exe devices" shows nothing
I downloaded the "Nexus 7 Toolkit 2.0"; I cannot access the tablet, no serials show, drivers cannot be installed
FYI: I did not try to root it or unlock it. I rebooted my PC, I power-cycled the Nexus, I changed USB ports, sigh...
I'm afraid I actually bricked my device... If so indeed, and given the fact that I cannot access the device with any of the tools/toolkits, is there anything I can do to put it back to factory settings?

Someone else may chime in with some help, but I think using the toolkit screwed you. Had you just used fastboot while you had the bootloader up you could have reflashed the stock rom yourself using the file from here and these commands.. but since you can't get into the bootloader now I think its hosed, but I could be wrong though.

I just noticed that when I press the power + volume up button, my PC detects it as an "Asus Transformer Prime APX Interface"?
Would this be another "way in"? (found something about NVflash on Google?)

Here are two threads on the topic, however I don't think they restore it that way since mostly its done thru the bootloader
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1879228
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1882753

and people still continue to use toolkits because its easier. in reality its just easier to mess upon your device. reading through the forums i have yet to see someone that messed up their device with fastboot oem unlock amd fastboot flash recovery recovery.img.

To be honest; I feel the toolkits are great for people that know what they're doing and understand the process and are just looking for a quick way to do it.
People that are new to the rooting scene and don't understand the process are the people that SHOULDN'T be using these toolkits. They need to learn about the process and do it a few times manually before even attempting the toolkits.

OK guys, I got the message and yep, shouldn't have used the toolkit. **guilty** :cyclops:
But what advise do you guys have? Would the APX/NVFlash path make sense?
Or can you advise how to get support from Google/Asus in Belgium (bought tablet in Staples US )
thanks!

Considering it doesn't seem anyone has used NVFlash to restore it looks like you are going to have to return/exchange/RMA whatever option is available to you, unless its figured out

i see you pressing volume up and down and power button to get into the bootloader.. but thats wrong. its power button + volume down to get into the bootloader(maybe thatll make a difference for you). but yea, chances are that youll need to go for an exchange/repair.

Nvflash should work though. I haven't used it since.my last tablet and.unfortunately I forget how to use it. I don't think zip files can be used. I think someone could help him that knows how to set up a folder of files for nvflash.

simms22 said:
i see you pressing volume up and down and power button to get into the bootloader.. but thats wrong. its power button + volume down to get into the bootloader(maybe thatll make a difference for you). but yea, chances are that youll need to go for an exchange/repair.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi, the combination did the job before, but just to be sure, I have tried them all:
power + vol up + vol down: black Google screen, followed by the dead robot with exclamation mark sign...
power + vol down: black Google screen, followed by the dead robot with exclamation mark sign...
power + vol up: Goes into APX mode (and PC chimes)

bigooze said:
hi, the combination did the job before, but just to be sure, I have tried them all:
power + vol up + vol down: black Google screen, followed by the dead robot with exclamation mark sign...
power + vol down: black Google screen, followed by the dead robot with exclamation mark sign...
power + vol up: Goes into APX mode (and PC chimes)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
robot with an exclamation is the stock recovery. it wants to be flashed with the stock google image https://developers.google.com/android/nexus/images#nakasi

simms22 said:
robot with an exclamation is the stock recovery. it wants to be flashed with the stock google .img
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmm... And how would one do this? What tool should be used?

bigooze said:
Hmm... And how would one do this? What tool should be used?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
read the page and links provided there, the instructions are there.

simms22 said:
read the page and links provided there, the instructions are there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dont think you can flash those files thru recovery, I already posted that link for him unfortunately without the bootloader I think hes hosed
In order to use these files, you need to have the fastboot tool in your PATH. That tool is compiled as part of every configuration of the Android Open-Source Project and is the tool used to flash custom builds on your device. On GNU/Linux systems, this also implies that you have configured USB access as mentioned in the machine setup instructions.
Your device needs to be in fastboot mode, with the bootloader unlocked. The relevant key combinations and commands are documented on the page about building for devices.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When the android with the red mark comes up, press power+vol up, does the recovery come up?

simms22 said:
read the page and links provided there, the instructions are there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oops... getting late here -- didn't notice the link...
Anyway, the instructions indicate the use of the fastboot tool, which do not work :crying:

zenpad 3s 10 Z500M recovery bootloop

I was fiddling with my device (not rooted) and I gave the wrong command in fastboot:
Code:
fastboot erase cache
.
I then gave
Code:
fastboot continue
This was surely a **** up but I don't understand why erasing the cache partition seems to have broken the recovery/fastboot mechanism (I understand why it probably broke android though).
My device is now stuck, whenever I turn it on it goes directly in the recovery 'splash screen' showing 'no command'.
My understanding is that from the recovery 'splash screen' I'm supposed to press some keys combination to get to the recovery menu, but none seem to work.
Pressing both volume up and down for like 10 second reboots the device, so I assume it's not an hardware button problem.
Pressing power + volume up with the device powered off does not go to fastboot (but I'm quite sure it did before).
Neither adb devices or fastboot devices detect the device when connect to my linux pc by usb.
Any suggestion?

Any solution?
I have done exactly the same as you, and am now stuck on the 'no command' screen with the dead android icon flashing every 5 or so seconds. Did you manage to find anyway out of this. I have tried numerous button combinations and I cannot get to either fastboot or recovery, so my tablet is basically bricked. Any help would be immensely welcome.
LordCik said:
I was fiddling with my device (not rooted) and I gave the wrong command in fastboot:
Code:
fastboot erase cache
.
I then gave
Code:
fastboot continue
This was surely a **** up but I don't understand why erasing the cache partition seems to have broken the recovery/fastboot mechanism (I understand why it probably broke android though).
My device is now stuck, whenever I turn it on it goes directly in the recovery 'splash screen' showing 'no command'.
My understanding is that from the recovery 'splash screen' I'm supposed to press some keys combination to get to the recovery menu, but none seem to work.
Pressing both volume up and down for like 10 second reboots the device, so I assume it's not an hardware button problem.
Pressing power + volume up with the device powered off does not go to fastboot (but I'm quite sure it did before).
Neither adb devices or fastboot devices detect the device when connect to my linux pc by usb.
Any suggestion?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sadly, no
I never managed to solve this. I tried everything without luck. I even contacted Asus, and they confirmed me that the right button combination for this device is the following: press and keep pressing the power button with volume up for 3 seconds, then let the volume button go and keep pressing the power one. A recovery menu should appear at that point, but never did for me.
I still don't understand how deleting that partition could break the recovery mechanism, but this seems to be the case.
If you (or anyone else for that matter) ever manage to solve this, I would appreciate if you could write about it here: my device is currently gathering dust in its box

Thanks
Thanks for that. I'll let you know, if I have any luck.
Did you try using the SP Flash tool at all? I have tried this, but it claims the scatter file is invalid and I can't find a way around that.

StevePC said:
Thanks for that. I'll let you know, if I have any luck.
Did you try using the SP Flash tool at all? I have tried this, but it claims the scatter file is invalid and I can't find a way around that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will have to look into it, since I'm not familiar with this tool. Where did you get the scatter file?
Sadly right now I don't have the tablet with me, and I won't for several days. When I will, I'll give this a try and report back.

LordCik said:
I will have to look into it, since I'm not familiar with this tool. Where did you get the scatter file?
Sadly right now I don't have the tablet with me, and I won't for several days. When I will, I'll give this a try and report back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can get this tool here https://spflashtool.com/
As I understand, the scatter file is in the zip of a ton. So, I downloaded this: ASUS ZenPad 3S 10 (Z500M) FOTA WW_V14.0210.1806.33, unzipped it and used the scatter file from that, but it comes up as invalid. This may be because this isn't the right sort of Ron file, I'm not sure. So, at the moment, I'm stuck.

Still trying
I've used information from the following sites, but have still not solved. Let me know if you have any luck.
http://flash-tool.com/instruction.html
https://firmwarex.net/asus-zenpad-3s-10-z500kl-z500m-official-firmware/
http://bbs.tecno-mobile.com/forum/rom/97373-how-to-unbrick-soft-and-hard-bricked-mediatek-mtk-android-phone
https://devsjournal.com/how-to-unbrick-mediatek-device.html

have u find any solution? i have the same problem
LordCik said:
I was fiddling with my device (not rooted) and I gave the wrong command in fastboot:
Code:
fastboot erase cache
.
I then gave
Code:
fastboot continue
This was surely a **** up but I don't understand why erasing the cache partition seems to have broken the recovery/fastboot mechanism (I understand why it probably broke android though).
My device is now stuck, whenever I turn it on it goes directly in the recovery 'splash screen' showing 'no command'.
My understanding is that from the recovery 'splash screen' I'm supposed to press some keys combination to get to the recovery menu, but none seem to work.
Pressing both volume up and down for like 10 second reboots the device, so I assume it's not an hardware button problem.
Pressing power + volume up with the device powered off does not go to fastboot (but I'm quite sure it did before).
Neither adb devices or fastboot devices detect the device when connect to my linux pc by usb.
Any suggestion?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
email me if any solution .
thx have anice day

Is it possible to boot this phone with a broken power button?

Hello all, I have a Moto G5 Plus and I am currently exploring as many ways as possible to get this thing to boot with a broken power button. The phone has USB debugging enabled because I thought that was all I would need if it ever did completely drain its battery. It did die this weekend and I'm finding it more difficult than anticipated to boot this thing. Options I've tried:
1. Pushing extremely hard on the power button. For awhile this worked, seems to be completely hosed now though.
2. Booting into Fast Boot, which is great, except to actually boot the phone it requires a button press of the power button.
3. Android Debug Bridge, which does not seem to recognize my phone. I was hoping the adb reboot command would work in this case, but so far no luck. Could be a drivers issue.
Is there any tool available that is specific to the Moto G5 plus that can boot this phone? I would think any tool that can flash it should also have the power to boot it, but I'm not sure where to start. Any ideas would be appreciated, thank you!
*** This was solved, I posted an update as the first reply. ***

Just wanted to give an update for anyone who finds this in the future. I believe that USB debugging is required to be on, I installed Android Debug Bridge like normal as well as the basic motorola drivers. Boot your phone into fast boot by holding down the volume button and then plugging in your phone in the PC. From here open a command prompt from within the adb folder "left shift + right click > open command prompt". Issue the command "fastboot reboot" and your phone will reboot and boot up.

greengreenwine said:
Just wanted to give an update for anyone who finds this in the future. I believe that USB debugging is required to be on, I installed Android Debug Bridge like normal as well as the basic motorola drivers. Boot your phone into fast boot by holding down the volume button and then plugging in your phone in the PC. From here open a command prompt from within the adb folder "left shift + right click > open command prompt". Issue the command "fastboot reboot" and your phone will reboot and boot up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If your phone is booted you can use something like this to reboot, boot into TWRP or fastboot without the need of the powerbutton:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=phongit.quickreboot
It's a standard app on my device.
Sent from my Moto G5 Plus using XDA Labs

It is cool, that you have fixed it.. but you should clbsider on sending it to be fixed, if your device freezes and you don't have ylur computer with you, you'll end with a dead phone for the day...

Stuck in Boot Loop

Have searched the forum but came up empty.
Hoping someone can help.
Purchased the phone used back in December and have been using it as-is. Two OTA updates came through fine. The latest OTA update has it stuck in a boot loop.
- I can get to fastboot with power and volume down buttons but all of the options either turn it off or stick it back in the loop again (Essential logo with powered by Android, NO dot animation)
- Can't see it via "adb devices" since developer mode was likely not enabled
- "fastboot devices" can see the phone but can't change slots or do anything else
I saw two other people who've posted something similar but no solution. Is my phone garbage?
Any help is appreciated.

harpoon said:
Have searched the forum but came up empty.
Hoping someone can help.
Purchased the phone used back in December and have been using it as-is. Two OTA updates came through fine. The latest OTA update has it stuck in a boot loop.
- I can get to fastboot with power and volume down buttons but all of the options either turn it off or stick it back in the loop again (Essential logo with powered by Android, NO dot animation)
- Can't see it via "adb devices" since developer mode was likely not enabled
- "fastboot devices" can see the phone but can't change slots or do anything else
I saw two other people who've posted something similar but no solution. Is my phone garbage?
Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Damn, that's a bit unlucky, this March update said it would make recovery from a loop after OTA update easier to recover from, which might just have helped you. Sorry not sure how to help fix at present.

you can try flashing one of these https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/development/stock-7-1-1-nmj20d-t3701681
be sure to pick one with the fastboot images

harpoon said:
- Can't see it via "adb devices" since developer mode was likely not enabled
- "fastboot devices" can see the phone but can't change slots or do anything else
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A couple of questions:
- Is your BL unlocked (or is OEM Unlocking enabled)?
What happens if you try executing "fastboot flashing unlock"? NOTE: this would WIPE your data if successful.
- Can you get to the Recovery mode? It's when you pick "Recovery" option from fastboot mode, see the lying android with an exclamation sign, then hold Power and press VolumeUp to get to the Recovery menu.

kt-Froggy said:
A couple of questions:
- Is your BL unlocked (or is OEM Unlocking enabled)?
What happens if you try executing "fastboot flashing unlock"? NOTE: this would WIPE your data if successful.
- Can you get to the Recovery mode? It's when you pick "Recovery" option from fastboot mode, see the lying android with an exclamation sign, then hold Power and press VolumeUp to get to the Recovery menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your response.
- I dont belive OEM unlocking is enabled.
- I can get to the fastboot menu, but the recovery mode option just takes me back to the 'powered by android' logo, not the green dead robot.
- When I try fastboot flashing unlock, I get the below error:
=============
FAILED (remote: Flashing Unlock is not allowed
)
finished. total time: 0.013s
=============

yenkoPR said:
you can try flashing one of these https://forum.xda-developers.com/essential-phone/development/stock-7-1-1-nmj20d-t3701681
be sure to pick one with the fastboot images
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will this work even though I cannot see the device via adb? AND the device state is "locked".

harpoon said:
- I dont belive OEM unlocking is enabled.
- I can get to the fastboot menu, but the recovery mode option just takes me back to the 'powered by android' logo, not the green dead robot.
- When I try fastboot flashing unlock, I get the below error:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Dang... :\ Yeah, the last error means you don't have OEM unlock enabled. So, you can't flash the bts image via fastboot. One last thing I could think of is trying to get to recovery by the button combo. Although, if you are correct in saying you don't have USB debug enabled, it won't do much good, i.e. you won't be able to flash an OTA... :\
While device is OFF, press and hold Volume-Up button while pushing Power button to boot.
Your device will now be in Recovery mode. An Android logo with red exclamation mark should appear on screen. Hold the Power button, then press the Volume-Up button one time to see the recovery menu.

can you try this command on bootloader:
fastboot OEM unlock

harpoon said:
Have searched the forum but came up empty.
Hoping someone can help.
Purchased the phone used back in December and have been using it as-is. Two OTA updates came through fine. The latest OTA update has it stuck in a boot loop.
- I can get to fastboot with power and volume down buttons but all of the options either turn it off or stick it back in the loop again (Essential logo with powered by Android, NO dot animation)
- Can't see it via "adb devices" since developer mode was likely not enabled
- "fastboot devices" can see the phone but can't change slots or do anything else
I saw two other people who've posted something similar but no solution. Is my phone garbage?
Any help is appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi. A long time has passed and I want to know if you have solved your problem. I came across the same)

Rudter said:
Hi. A long time has passed and I want to know if you have solved your problem. I came across the same)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing ! ..
my ph-1 still into the drawer ! .

N7 (tilapia) stuck at logo - no fastboot access ...

Hello everybody,
I hope somebody can help me to save my N7 (2012).
I installed TWRP without problems and after that I tried to flash a custom rom - which, for some reasons, didn't work.
After reboot my Nexus is stuck at Google logo with an opened lock at bottom...
I can't get to fastboot because when I power on while pushing VOL - button it just get stuck at the same logo screen.
If I keep power button pressed for about 10s, it shuts down but after a few seconds it boots again just to get stuck again at the logo screen...
The only way to shut it down completely is to keep VOL+ button pressed while pressing the power button.
My Windows 7 computer won't recognize the N7 at all anymore, but when I shut it down completely (Power & VOL+), windows says "Unknown device".
Is my Nexus still to be saved or I can throw it away?
Thank you in advance for each advice.
Conrad

Conrad-007 said:
Hello everybody,
I hope somebody can help me to save my N7 (2012).
I installed TWRP without problems and after that I tried to flash a custom rom - which, for some reasons, didn't work.
After reboot my Nexus is stuck at Google logo with an opened lock at bottom...
I can't get to fastboot because when I power on while pushing VOL - button it just get stuck at the same logo screen.
If I keep power button pressed for about 10s, it shuts down but after a few seconds it boots again just to get stuck again at the logo screen...
The only way to shut it down completely is to keep VOL+ button pressed while pressing the power button.
My Windows 7 computer won't recognize the N7 at all anymore, but when I shut it down completely (Power & VOL+), windows says "Unknown device".
Is my Nexus still to be saved or I can throw it away?
Thank you in advance for each advice.
Conrad
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, Conrad-007...
This is very strange - your Nexus 7 is clearly 'bootable' (sort of), with a functioning bootloader, ie., it's not hardbricked... or you wouldn't be seeing the Google logo.
In the distant past, back when I used to experiment with custom kernels on my Nexus 7, it sometimes required the POWER BUTTON+VOL DOWN buttons be pressed and held down for a good 30 seconds or more, to generate the necessary 'interrupt', and force the device into the bootloader.
My first instinct, is to suggest you may possibly have a problem with your VOL DOWN button, and maybe it's stuck somehow or not making contact.
It also occurred to me, that you might be able to access the bootloader with...
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
...or possibly...
Code:
adb reboot fastboot
...and even...
Code:
adb reboot recovery
But unfortunately, I'm pretty sure you need to be running fully booted Android or booted into a custom recovery (eg., TWRP) before you can issue ADB commands. I haven't tinkered around in this area of Android for a couple of years now, so my memory of the specifics is a little hazy.
Anyhow, here's a fairly comprehensive listing of Nexus 7 button presses/interrupts, which maybe of some use...
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=37606945#post37606945
--------------------------------
Anyway, just some thoughts that might give you some clues/ideas, that may resolve your problem.
Good luck, and I hope you find something that works.
Rgrds,
Ged.

Thanks Ged for the detailed answer.
Unfortunately it seems that my Nexus is not booting complete (not finishing the booting sequence due to corrupted bootloader?) and so I cannot send to it any adb or fastboot command...
I read in the meantime that holding the VOL up button while powering up the Nexus, it will bring it in the APX mode (whatever this mean) and indeed, my computer recognize it as "APX" device.
I hope at least that this is a good sign and a first step to bring my Nexus back to life... but I have no idea what is the APX mode and what can I do in this mode to attempt to save my device...
Do you (or somebody else) have (has) an advice or tutorial for me concerning this?
Regards,
Conrad

Hi Conrad.
I'm in exactly the same situation (I've mistakenly posted a duplicate thread here https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-7/general/bricked-tilapia-t4005149). Let's continue here. So:
1. I spent 4 hours trying all possible button press combinations, including VERY long presses. I didn't notice any APX device or Uknown device connected to Windows. I might have missed it, you gave me hope. I will check again.
2. APX mode enables low level access to the chipset via nVidia tool nvflash. You probably came accross these threads here on xda:
https://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-7/general/tutorial-how-to-unbrick-nexus-7-using-t3342364
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2564615
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2455927
https://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2340237
I haven't so far, as I was not aware of the visibilty of the tablet in Windows. I will check again.

Well, I must have been blind not to have seen all the posts here on xda and everywhere else. I went through the threads and now I know:
1. I can see the tablet in APX mode in Windows. Possibly I could correctly set up the driver.
2. This would be totally useless, since I hadn't backed up necessary blob.
I have a new paperweight