Database Users

[Q] fastboot - no boot or img file

hey guys i'm having some trouble. i just got the nexus (it's my first smartphone, ever) and i've tried to hit the ground running. here's what i've done to the phone so far.
i got all the drivers running on my win7 machine and also installed the android SDK folder onto C: as was described in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=878786
i then unlocked the bootloader using the above guide as well. when I power on the phone using UP+POWER it says UNLOCKED.
I then proceeded to follow this guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=875875
i used ADB to flash the clockwork crespo recovery. i then used fastboot to install Superuser.
at that point i had an unlocked bootloader, clockword recovery image and superuser permissions.
i then saw that the 2.3.1 update had been released. i wanted to learn how to tackle that so i started reading up. i noticed that people were using ROM Manager and Titanium. I got titanium and installed the BusyBox addon and it allowed me to do a full Batch Backup of all my programs, etc. i've got the 50MB or so backup folder on my PC now.
anyway, i then messed with Rom Manager. I installed the 3.0.0.0 ClockworkMod Recovery and everything went smoothly. now this is where my troubles begin.
when i go to Download ROM all i get is a Free Stuff area.
when i go to Check for ROM Updates it tells me my device isnt set up for OTA updates.
those are just minor issues.
this is the big and scary issue i have:
when i click on reboot to recovery, it takes me to the same screen that i go to when i power on with VOLUME UP+POWER. it doesnt take me to the recovery screen that i see in various youtube videos. instead, i'm at the main screen where it says UNLOCKED and i have 4 choices (reboot bootloader, recovery, reboot, power off). and on the very top in RED letters it says fastboot - no boot or img file. <-- this is the part that makes me nervous. If i manually power down the phone and boot to fastboot and click recovery, it just goes back to this same screen and says fastboot - no boot or img file. when i first rooted the phone, clicking recovery actually took me to a different screen where i was able to load up superuser.zip and install it.
did i accidetnally delete something that i wasnt supposed to? did installing ROM manager mess something up? i typically dont do anything until i confirm that i am supposed to. i think the problem is that i dont yet know how one thing i do on the phone affects another. i'm guessing when i used rom manager to update the CWmod it changed some folders/files? i dunno!
otherwise, the phone works fine and there are no glitches or hiccups or crashes. So if someone can please take a moment to just explain to me what i did wrong or what i failed to do i'd really, really appreciate it.

you don't have a recovery partition. Either flash one over manually using fastboot, or boot up and try to use ROM Manager to flash CWR.

when you say flash one over using fastboot, do you mean put my phone using VOLUME UP + POWER, connect usb cable, then use command line to do this:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-crespo.img
?

kramer987 said:
when you say flash one over using fastboot, do you mean put my phone using VOLUME UP + POWER, connect usb cable, then use command line to do this:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-crespo.img
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, just follow the examples in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=875875

kramer987 said:
when you say flash one over using fastboot, do you mean put my phone using VOLUME UP + POWER, connect usb cable, then use command line to do this:
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-crespo.img
?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, 'cept it will be "fastboot flash recoveryrecovery-clockwork-3.0.0.0-crespo.img" without the quotes now.
But does it say that you're missing a boot.img or recovery.img?
Also, the "not set up for OTA" thing isn't for official OTAs. Some developers have made their custom ROMs capable of being updated that way.

unremarked said:
Yes, 'cept it will be "fastboot flash recoveryrecovery-clockwork-3.0.0.0-crespo.img" without the quotes now.
But does it say that you're missing a boot.img or recovery.img?
Also, the "not set up for OTA" thing isn't for official OTAs. Some developers have made their custom ROMs capable of being updated that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thank you luxferro and unremarked. i did it and it works perfectly. i am now able to access clockworkmod recovery 3.0.0.0. next step is backup my existing ROM and also to figure out how to put the OTA 2.3.1 on and restore all my data
oh and unremarked: it basically said no boot or img file and thats it after i would click on recovery or reboot to recovery trhough rom manager. it was just in red at the top. but now it takes me to the ClockworkMod Recovery

Help! Can't boot / cant get into recovery. ..

I was unlocked and rooted and ready to install CM7. I followed all the instructions in the Official Atrix CM7 OP to the T, but when it rebooted, I got stuck on the boot screen with "unlocked" and the red M logo.
I tried to repeat the process several times and ended kind of giving up, factory wiping, and then trying to restore my backup. It appeared to restore successfully, but when I rebooted the phone now wont boot at all. I can't even get it into recovery. No combination or order of button presses or battery pulls / usb plugins will turn it on. I just have a green light like it's charging but nothing is working.
Is it possible to brick your phone even after you have been successfully unlocked and rooted just while you are trying to install CM7?
Please help. I am really desperate here. . .

jimjenkins said:
I was unlocked and rooted and ready to install CM7. I followed all the instructions in the Official Atrix CM7 OP to the T, but when it rebooted, I got stuck on the boot screen with "unlocked" and the red M logo.
I tried to repeat the process several times and ended kind of giving up, factory wiping, and then trying to restore my backup. It appeared to restore successfully, but when I rebooted the phone now wont boot at all. I can't even get it into recovery. No combination or order of button presses or battery pulls / usb plugins will turn it on. I just have a green light like it's charging but nothing is working.
Is it possible to brick your phone even after you have been successfully unlocked and rooted just while you are trying to install CM7?
Please help. I am really desperate here. . .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
are you using the right recovery? romracer or rom manager!

i am using the tenfar CWM included in the Atrix 4G Automatic Unlock script package. will this not work?
if not, how do I replace it with the right recovery if I cant even get into the phone?

jimjenkins said:
i am using the tenfar CWM included in the Atrix 4G Automatic Unlock script package. will this not work?
if not, how do I replace it with the right recovery if I cant even get into the phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, that the old recovery you can use the rom manager if you have , or romracer latest recovery you can find that in the development section, also ther was instruction in the cm7 thread.

you should have left it alone at the M boot screen because it takes about 5-10min to boot after unlock and flash...
everything you do now will have to be through fastboot DO NOT SBF FLASH ANYTHING!!!
Go here to use Fastboot
then download the system.img and boot.img from here
use fastboot to push the boot.img and system.img to your phone
if it gets stuck at the M boot screen let it sit for at least 10min
EDIT: get Romracer recovery from here and push that through to your phone through fastboot

Yeah youre going to have to fastboot wipe recovery then fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
Just download rom racers and rename it..recovery.img
Sent from my GT-I9100 using xda premium

Great. Sorry to be such a noob, but do I decompress the CWM-recovery-atrix5.zip file and push the recovery.img file that's inside it? or push the CWM-recovery-atrix5.zip itself?
Also - every time I am able to get my phone into fastboot mode, it says my battery is too weak to flash anything. I cant seem to get the battery to charge enough to execute any fastboot commands. Any way around this? a powered usb hub?

jimjenkins said:
Great. Sorry to be such a noob, but do I decompress the CWM-recovery-atrix5.zip file and push the recovery.img file that's inside it? or push the CWM-recovery-atrix5.zip itself?
Also - every time I am able to get my phone into fastboot mode, it says my battery is too weak to flash anything. I cant seem to get the battery to charge enough to execute any fastboot commands. Any way around this? a powered usb hub?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can borrow another Atrix user's battery, or take yours to an AT&T store and see if they can charge it for you.
If you're able to get back into recovery then you can just flash the zip.
If not, you'll need to extract the recovery.img to use it with fastboot, or just download it directly from the OP in romracer's thread. (The left hand link is just the .img, the right hand side is the CWM .zip) Then place it in the same directory as fastboot.

So I can literally flash a different recovery from within another?

jimjenkins said:
So I can literally flash a different recovery from within another?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes but it MUST be working proper first ! its ok to use rom managers cwm but i just prefer the otherone alawys have but n e way there are only 2 that are current (uptodate )
thoughs 2 and with romracers you can. chose
a color that you like not just blue
Sent from my MB860 using xda premium

Its the recovery from tenfar CWM. When I can get it into recovery it seems to be working - with the obvious exception of successfully installing CM7
So I can flash romracer recovery from inside tenfar recovery?
sorry if im being redundant - just dont want to screw it up!
thanks

Just download rom racers cwm. Img, head into fastboot and then fastboot flash recovery recovery-****** (whatever yer recovery image color u chose is)
Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk

I was able after a full day of leaving the phone plugged in, to charge it up. Then I flashed the rom racer recovery, rebooted into recovery (new version), installed CM7, installed gapps, and voila! A working CM7 Atrix. thank you soo soo much guys.

Can't boot android/recovery
ClearFire said:
you should have left it alone at the M boot screen because it takes about 5-10min to boot after unlock and flash...
everything you do now will have to be through fastboot DO NOT SBF FLASH ANYTHING!!!
Go here to use Fastboot
then download the system.img and boot.img from here
use fastboot to push the boot.img and system.img to your phone
if it gets stuck at the M boot screen let it sit for at least 10min
EDIT: get Romracer recovery from here and push that through to your phone through fastboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please help!!!
The phone stuck in boot screen and overheat, then restart.
In recovery mode is just black screen.
Phone has Neutrino 2.6GT+ ROM whit Clemsyn's OC kernel 1.6GHz and it has unlocked bootloader.
Can I change the kernel without booting in os or recovery?
This problem show after I was extracting very big zip file and phone overheat.

firecode95 said:
Please help!!!
The phone stuck in boot screen and overheat, then restart.
In recovery mode is just black screen.
Phone has Neutrino 2.6GT+ ROM whit Clemsyn's OC kernel 1.6GHz and it has unlocked bootloader.
Can I change the kernel without booting in os or recovery?
This problem show after I was extracting very big zip file and phone overheat.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am actually having this same problem.

My warranty-replacement (unrelated ear-piece failure) had 2.3.6 pre-installed. Thinking little of it, I unlocked the BL and rooted the phone as usual. After this, I tried to install a couple of the ROM's (Neutrino and Morrisoft) which I was most happy with on my previous Atrix.
After flashing either Neutrino or Morrislee's ROM, the phone hung on the M screen. Waiting approximately 30 minutes with no change, I pulled the battery.
When trying to enter recovery mode, the phone would state, "entering recovery mode..." Then go black.
I ended up using RSDLite and sbf flashing the stock 2.3.6 sbf file back to the phone. Then, I had to re-unlock the bootloader and re-root.
This never happened up to, and including 2.3.4, but did twice last night on these ROM's using 2.3.6, and I've flashed many ROM's and Kernels.
It happened to a lesser extent when trying to flash Clemsyn's stock enhanced kernel to the stock ROM, as I was able to enter recovery mode. Entering recovery mode, it would give errors: mounting cache, mounting system errors, and errors to accessing recovery and recovery log files.
Restore recovery would fail in this state, giving me the above errors as well.
Trying to mount the cache and system in recovery would fail. Trying to format cache and system then mounting these could occur temporarily, but would revert back to unmounted when a restore was attempted.
For these problems I pushed a recovery through fastboot.

Just one word: Fastboot. See if Fastboot works and flash everything from there. Or, as Alterna suggested, flash through RSDLite, but that a little dangerous and can brick your phone if you don't know what you are doing. Hope it helps.

Problem sloved!!!
Alterna said:
My warranty-replacement (unrelated ear-piece failure) had 2.3.6 pre-installed. Thinking little of it, I unlocked the BL and rooted the phone as usual. After this, I tried to install a couple of the ROM's (Neutrino and Morrisoft) which I was most happy with on my previous Atrix.
After flashing either Neutrino or Morrislee's ROM, the phone hung on the M screen. Waiting approximately 30 minutes with no change, I pulled the battery.
When trying to enter recovery mode, the phone would state, "entering recovery mode..." Then go black.
I ended up using RSDLite and sbf flashing the stock 2.3.6 sbf file back to the phone. Then, I had to re-unlock the bootloader and re-root.
This never happened up to, and including 2.3.4, but did twice last night on these ROM's using 2.3.6, and I've flashed many ROM's and Kernels.
It happened to a lesser extent when trying to flash Clemsyn's stock enhanced kernel to the stock ROM, as I was able to enter recovery mode. Entering recovery mode, it would give errors: mounting cache, mounting system errors, and errors to accessing recovery and recovery log files.
Restore recovery would fail in this state, giving me the above errors as well.
Trying to mount the cache and system in recovery would fail. Trying to format cache and system then mounting these could occur temporarily, but would revert back to unmounted when a restore was attempted.
For these problems I pushed a recovery through fastboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My problem like that and I use automated unlock tool to recover recovery, this recovery show some errors but I successfully flash cwm touch and reinstall Nutrition 2.6GT+

Updated TWRP and now not booting

I updated TWRP today to 2.3.0.0 from within GooManager then rebooted into recovery and fixed my permission. It was done unusually fast and when I rebooted, it would get stuck on the booting screen. When I tried to boot into recovery by pressing power and both volume buttons, it would get stuck on the google logo.
Please advise.
Any other way I can fix this or somehow restore from a backup?

A lot of users are having issues with cwm and twrp not booting with new boot loader. You can revert back to old version or some have had success by deleting "recovery-from-boot." file. You can look at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1779092 I'm going to wait patiently for a twrp update that should resolve the issue.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

Gigabitex2 said:
A lot of users are having issues with cwm and twrp not booting with new boot loader. You can revert back to old version or some have had success by deleting "recovery-from-boot." file. You can look at http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1779092 I'm going to wait patiently for a twrp update that should resolve the issue.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you very much!
I'm sorry but I'm not too much of an expert on Android. AFAIK Recovery mode is the only way I know to do some low system stuff. If I can't boot into recovery, how else can I do anything to fix this?
How can I revert back to old version?
I know you linked the other thread but there are 33 pages I was hoping you would have a short answer hehe thanks.

Is it constantly rebooting at the google screen or just stuck?

goofball2k said:
Is it constantly rebooting at the google screen or just stuck?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I try to boot into system, it's stuck on boot animation.
If I try to boot into recovery manually (power + volume buttons then select recovery) it would get stuck on Google. It doesn't loop.

I see that you posted over on the twrp thread, hopefully those guys can help you. I am assuming that you have updated to 4.1.2? If you're really stuck maybe try a tool kit like wugs or n7 toolkit? Sorry but SDK isn't one of my strong points either
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

woshiweili said:
If I try to boot into system, it's stuck on boot animation.
If I try to boot into recovery manually (power + volume buttons then select recovery) it would get stuck on Google. It doesn't loop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can reflash recovery from fastboot. If you've updated to 4.1.2 you might be experiencing same issue as many of us - being unable to boot to recovery. If that is the case, flash bootloader 3.34 from the JRO03D factory image as well.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

comminus said:
You can reflash recovery from fastboot. If you've updated to 4.1.2 you might be experiencing same issue as many of us - being unable to boot to recovery. If that is the case, flash bootloader 3.34 from the JRO03D factory image as well.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From what I understand, in order to reflash recovery from fastboot would require me to get the file to the device. However, right now I can't seem to get access at all as it never boots up whether into system or recovery. Are there any other ways to get files onto there?
---
OK this is weird. I tried rebooting into recovery again and it worked! I then rebooted into system and that worked too! This is so strange because I didn't do anything different. I guess it just took 20+ tries... I am not rebooting in a while... lol

woshiweili said:
From what I understand, in order to reflash recovery from fastboot would require me to get the file to the device. However, right now I can't seem to get access at all as it never boots up whether into system or recovery. Are there any other ways to get files onto there?
---
OK this is weird. I tried rebooting into recovery again and it worked! I then rebooted into system and that worked too! This is so strange because I didn't do anything different. I guess it just took 20+ tries... I am not rebooting in a while... lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, glad to hear you're in. In an earlier post you described
woshiweili said:
If I try to boot into recovery manually (power + volume buttons then select recovery) it would get stuck on Google. It doesn't loop.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
which sounds like you were able to get to fastboot mode (power + vol buttons) - your N7 should look like this. From there you can issue fastboot commands to the device to flash recovery. kerne, and bootloader to name a few.

Actually I spoke too soon.
I can boot into recovery TWRP 2.3 with USB plugged in, but still can't boot into system.
Is it possible for me to downgrade to TWRP 2.2 from within TWRP? I kind of doubt it but am pretty desperate at the moment lol.
Yes, I can get into fastboot, but I'm not sure how to do anything besides pressing volume up or down to start, recovery, fastboot or shut down.

woshiweili said:
Actually I spoke too soon.
I can boot into recovery TWRP 2.3 with USB plugged in, but still can't boot into system.
Is it possible for me to downgrade to TWRP 2.2 from within TWRP? I kind of doubt it but am pretty desperate at the moment lol.
Yes, I can get into fastboot, but I'm not sure how to do anything besides pressing volume up or down to start, recovery, fastboot or shut down.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you can get in to fastboot you are in good shape. :good:
You'll need the fastboot program (and the driver if on Windows) on your computer in order to issue commands. This guide can direct you on how to get that set up.

comminus said:
If you can get in to fastboot you are in good shape. :good:
You'll need the fastboot program (and the driver if on Windows) on your computer in order to issue commands. This guide can direct you on how to get that set up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for all your help comminus!
Fortunately I was able to wipe everything while I was in recovery and restore from my most recent backup and now it's working fine. At the very least it's allowing me to boot into system
OK I'm really not rebooting for a while lol

I installed twrp a few weeks ago through GooManager and made a backup. When the 4.1.2 update came out, I downloaded it manually with the intent on flashing it via cu custom recovery, but low and behold twrp wasn't working at all. Even with my device plugged into my Win 7 pc... nothing but the exclamation point droid.
I was able to install an updated version of twrp and get everything sorted out, but now I don't have a lot of faith in it, and am booting into recovery at least once a day to make sure it's still working. I never had any problems with cwm.

Twrp has been updated if you're still having issues.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

I'm using twrp version 2.3.0.0, and have no plans on updating it because it's stable and working great now

Gigabitex2 said:
Twrp has been updated if you're still having issues.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Updated to 2.3.1.0 but still having booting issues

Can't boot or flash to TWRP or CMW

Today I tried booting up to recovery (power+vol down), after choosing Recovery Mode from the menu and hitting Power button, it gets to a screen with the green Android guy with a red triangle and just stays there.
So I rebooted the phone. Launch Nexus Root Toolkit, I tried to install CWM or TWRP, neither works. It gets to the same recovery mode and gets stuck there, only this time, it gets stuck on the Google logo instead of the Android guy with red triangle. I even try to flash stock recovery, and it also doesn't work.
Why can't I get into CWM or TWRP nor can I flash them?
Thanks for any help.

bebopblues said:
Today I tried booting up to recovery (power+vol down), after choosing Recovery Mode from the menu and hitting Power button, it gets to a screen with the green Android guy with a red triangle and just stays there.
So I rebooted the phone. Launch Nexus Root Toolkit, I tried to install CWM or TWRP, neither works. It gets to the same recovery mode and gets stuck there, only this time, it gets stuck on the Google logo instead of the Android guy with red triangle. I even try to flash stock recovery, and it also doesn't work.
Why can't I get into CWM or TWRP nor can I flash them?
Thanks for any help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Be sure u are bootloader unlocked.
Android guy is normal... Is a safety step before entering on stock recovery, to pass that: hold power and hit once volume +
Probably u cant flash images cuz fastboot isnt working(old fastboot.exe file), wrong recovery file,...
sent from my NEXUS 4 tasting a revamped cooking recipe of Jellybeans (stock 4.3).

C4SCA said:
Be sure u are bootloader unlocked.
Android guy is normal... Is a safety step before entering on stock recovery, to pass that: hold power and hit once volume +
Probably u cant flash images cuz fastboot isnt working(old fastboot.exe file), wrong recovery file,...
sent from my NEXUS 4 tasting a revamped cooking recipe of Jellybeans (stock 4.3).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Bootloader was unlocked. I launched the CMD Prompt from Nexus Root Toolkit and ran the fastboot command to manually flash the downloaded CWM and it worked.
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-x.x.x.x-mako.img
So maybe something's odd about the simple one-click utilities in Nexus Root Toolkit that is not working.
Thanks for the help nonetheless. :good:

bebopblues said:
Bootloader was unlocked. I launched the CMD Prompt from Nexus Root Toolkit and ran the fastboot command to manually flash the downloaded CWM and it worked.
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
fastboot flash recovery recovery-clockwork-x.x.x.x-mako.img
So maybe something's odd about the simple one-click utilities in Nexus Root Toolkit that is not working.
Thanks for the help nonetheless. :good:
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well ui never used tollkits... i like to know what im doing, and IMO doing it urself is better wich turned out to be true in ur case
im glad u got it working

[Q] how to restore stock recovery and unlock bootloader?

Well, I was using the Unified Android Toolkit (SkipSoft) to restore the system before selling it.
It looks like it flashed everything correctly, I did the following:
1) Unroot
2) flash stock recovery
3) lock bootloader.
I confirmed that the bootloader is unlocked, and root no longer works.
However, when I try to boot to recovery I get the android with an '!' sticking out of his chest. Any ideas??

RedBullet said:
Well, I was using the Unified Android Toolkit (SkipSoft) to restore the system before selling it.
It looks like it flashed everything correctly, I did the following:
1) Unroot
2) flash stock recovery
3) lock bootloader.
I confirmed that the bootloader is unlocked, and root no longer works.
However, when I try to boot to recovery I get the android with an '!' sticking out of his chest. Any ideas??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is stock recovery. You have to hit Volume Up (or Volume Down?) + Power at the same time to bring up the recovery menu.

charesa39 said:
That is stock recovery. You have to hit Volume Up (or Volume Down?) + Power at the same time to bring up the recovery menu.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right, I thin it confirms I have the stock recovery. I got to it by gettng into fastboot then selecting boot recovery. As far as I know that's the only way to do it.
So, why does it boot to recovery in error and how do I fix it?

I did just try downloading the stock images from google and flashed them all (I needed to unlock bootloader first).
Everything flashed. Still couldn't boot to recovery.
locked bootloader again, still couldn't boot to recovery.
What gives??

Can't recall what stock recovery looks like but I believe you have it, as in the ! You see is the stock recovery just as charesa39 has said
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2670400
Post three here has the steps laid out, in your case though it sounds as you completed your goal if everything is booting
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

RedBullet said:
Right, I thin it confirms I have the stock recovery. I got to it by gettng into fastboot then selecting boot recovery. As far as I know that's the only way to do it.
So, why does it boot to recovery in error and how do I fix it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's not an error. That's the way it was intended to work. It was the same on my Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) before installing a custom recovery. I have no idea why it was designed like that. Maybe some safety feature, as in, adding a necessary button combination (Power + Volume Button) so someone doesn't accidentally wipe his or her device? IDK. All I know is, your recovery seems to be normal.
You are correct in that the only way to get to recovery is through fastboot, unless you have enabled the advanced power menu in developer options, or use a ROM or Xposed Module (like myself) that allows you to reboot into recovery.