Database Users

[Q] Installing CyanogenMod on Nexus S 4G?

I am a total noob and am having trouble installing CyanogenMod onto my Nexus S 4G. I barely rooted the darn thing, and I am using a guide that involves ROM Manager. It says I have to mount the SD card using ROM Manager, but I can't figure out how to. If there is a better way to install CyanogenMod, please tell me, because all the guides I have been finding are way too technical for me to understand, and I have been trying. Any help is appreciated.

Can you tell us which guide you are using and which step you are on? I think you must mean ClockworkMod not ROM Manager.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

If you already have clock work then all you have to do is drag and drop cyanogen into the root of your sd card. Then flash through clock work.

ht tp://ww w.redmondpie.com/install-cyanogenmod-7.1-gingerbread-rom-on-nexus-s-4g-how-to-tutorial/
That's the guide I was using, I got stuck on step 4.
Is the rom the .zip file I downloaded from the cyanogen site, or is it inside the folder?

The rom is the zip file. Boot into recovery and select choose zip from sd and navigate to it and install it.make sure to do a back up and wipe cache,dalvic and do a factory rest before flashing the rom
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App

Paleryder said:
make sure to do a back up and wipe cache,dalvic and do a factory rest before flashing the rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you explain this part more? Is this the part of the guide that says "make a nandroid backup"?

1. Mount USB and drag and drop cm7 zip & Google apps into root of SD card.
2. Turn off nexus.
3. Boot into fastboot by holding volume up and then power button.
4. In fastboot go to recovery (power button is used as enter button, volume buttons represent up and down)
5. In recovery go to backup and restore and back up your current rom.
6. Go back and then wipe data factory reset and also wipe cache.
7. Go to advanced -> Wipe delvik cache.
8. Go back and then go to install zip from SD, find cm7 flash it, then flash Google apps. You can flash kernel right now if you want.
Hope this clears anything up
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

I got to your step 5, but when I choose Recovery, after showing the Google logo it briefly shows a box and an arrow coming out of the box and an Android logo, then the box changes to a triangle with an exclamation mark. It stayed like that so I just rebooted the phone.

seb0910 said:
I got to your step 5, but when I choose Recovery, after showing the Google logo it briefly shows a box and an arrow coming out of the box and an Android logo, then the box changes to a triangle with an exclamation mark. It stayed like that so I just rebooted the phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That means you don't have Clockwork recovery installed. You need to download the latest Clockwork recovery image and place it in the tools folder of your Android SDK Folder(wherever you placed it). Then press shift and right click on the tools folder and select "open command prompt here". Then boot your phone into bootloader by pressing volume up and power button at the same time. Connect your phone to your computer via usb cable and in the command prompt you opened type: fastboot flash recovery name of recovery image here.img and press enter and you will see in the command prompt window it will say sending image. When it is done scroll down to recovery on your phone using the volume buttons and press power to enter. Your phone will reboot into Clockwork recovery and from there you can continue on the previous posts steps. Hope this helps. You can download the latest Clockwork by going to this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1078213 and clicking on the brown "CWM Recovery" under 'How to: Root the Nexus S 4G'.

well I'm pretty sure I do have clockwork because there's a folder on my phone that is called clockworkmod, and I did root the phone successfully at the very least, but I'll try putting a new one there.

seb0910 said:
well I'm pretty sure I do have clockwork because there's a folder on my phone that is called clockworkmod, and I did root the phone successfully at the very least, but I'll try putting a new one there.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright here is a little run down on whats going on with your ns4g, you probably already flash clockworkmod on your nexus, but what samsung did was that it will try to revert back to the stock recovery. So what you have to do is flash Clockworkmod again to make it stick. Honestly it is good that it doesn't stick because then it would be easier to unroot the phone.
So now you have 2 different options on how to flash clockworkmod. 1) you can do it through fastboot but you have to have adb set up. I'm not sure what method you used to root your phone so i am just assuming.
2) you can download rom manager and flash clockwork through there. (Honestly i haven't done it through this method so i cant tell you of the pros or cons that are attributed with this).
NOTE: If you dont have super user yet it would be a prime time to flash it once you got CWM going.
For me, I only needed to flash clock work twice through fastboot in order to make it stick.
Good luck.

The guide I originally was using for this had me using rom manager, but it kept telling me I had to mount the SD card even though it was shown up in my computer.
If I were to flash clockwork again with adb setup, how would I do that? Sorry to be so asky, I just want this process to end correctly.

You have to set up adb if you don't have it already, go to ns4g development and go to vandam's thread that has all the list of rom's and rooting guides. Check out wolverines rooting guide, he goes indepth on how to set up adb. It make take awhile to set up but learning how to work in fastboot is essential in rooting the nexus.
Good luck
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App

Well it was confusing and I almost asked for help again, but I finally got it flashed again and now cyanogen is working. I really appreciate the help and for pointing neon the right direction. As a final note, is there anything else I should know, like updating or something, just general knowledge (basically, "now what?")?

seb0910 said:
Well it was confusing and I almost asked for help again, but I finally got it flashed again and now cyanogen is working. I really appreciate the help and for pointing neon the right direction. As a final note, is there anything else I should know, like updating or something, just general knowledge (basically, "now what?")?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you get all the Google Apps installed too? That's the only "unusual" aspect of CyanogenMod.

Yep I got the Google apps.

Congrats dude its good you got it all working, BTW when ever you switch roms like from CM7 to miui you always have to wipe data, cache, and delvik cache. Delvik cache is in the advanced tab of CWM. If your just up updating from different versions of the same rom, you just need to wipe cache and delvik cache. That's about it, the hard part is done, enjoy flashing.

chewbz said:
Congrats dude its good you got it all working, BTW when ever you switch roms like from CM7 to miui you always have to wipe data, cache, and delvik cache. Delvik cache is in the advanced tab of CWM. If your just up updating from different versions of the same rom, you just need to wipe cache and delvik cache. That's about it, the hard part is done, enjoy flashing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually if you are updating from different versions of the same rom, you don't need to wipe anything, you just flash it.

Flashing Rom always ends in boot loop?

I have had my N7 for a week now, and have unlocked and rooted it. I flashed the jr5 rom and it worked ok, but i decided I wanted to try the pure AOSP rom, so I did a data/cache/dalvik wipe and flashed the rom. It proceeded to boot and freeze at the Google screen. I rebooted into recovery, and attempted to restore from my backup (failed), flash the jr5 rom (failed), and reflash the AOSP rom (failed). I then decided to follow the instructions on ROOTZwiki and restore back to stock (although still unlocked). I restored to the factory image, and attempted to flash the CM10 AOKP rom, and was again met with the frozen Google screen. I made sure to wipe data and both caches each time i tried to flash a rom, but I always end up stuck at the Google screen. What could be causing this? I would really like to know if anyone has any idea, because I fully plan on running the full version of CM10 when it is released.

By wipe Data you did factory reset in cwm? And what version of cwm are you using?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app

redmonke255 said:
By wipe Data you did factory reset in cwm? And what version of cwm are you using?
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes i did a factory data reset each time. I am currently running v5.8.0.2 of cwm

could that be the problem? that my cwm is just outdated already?

No that shouldn't be causing your problems, although I would recommend flashing TWRP recovery through goo manager.
I would first download a ROM on your computer and check the MD5. Then mount your nexus over USB and copy the new ROM over to the nexus sdcard directory and while its connected use your computer to check the MD5 on your ROM while its on the device. Then wipe data, cache, dalvic cache and system. Then install the ROM and Gapps and reboot. Make sure its only the to, and not a desperate kernel or anything for right now. When you reboot give it 10 minutes or so the first boots are often way long.
If that doesn't do it copy the stuff on your SD card over to your computer and then format the SD card.
To install TWRP, install goo manager from the play store, when you open the app just press menu, you don't need to browse for files or anything. Just press menu and then choose Install OpenRecoveryScript and when its done reboot or reboot to recovery, can't remember which did the trick, and it may take a couple of times.
Also remember that booting through boot loader to recovery requires the USB cord to be connected to a computer to avoid the Google screen looping.
Hope some of this was helpful.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium

CharliesTheMan said:
No that shouldn't be causing your problems, although I would recommend flashing TWRP recovery through goo manager.
I would first download a ROM on your computer and check the MD5. Then mount your nexus over USB and copy the new ROM over to the nexus sdcard directory and while its connected use your computer to check the MD5 on your ROM while its on the device. Then wipe data, cache, dalvic cache and system. Then install the ROM and Gapps and reboot. Make sure its only the to, and not a desperate kernel or anything for right now. When you reboot give it 10 minutes or so the first boots are often way long.
If that doesn't do it copy the stuff on your SD card over to your computer and then format the SD card.
To install TWRP, install goo manager from the play store, when you open the app just press menu, you don't need to browse for files or anything. Just press menu and then choose Install OpenRecoveryScript and when its done reboot or reboot to recovery, can't remember which did the trick, and it may take a couple of times.
Also remember that booting through boot loader to recovery requires the USB cord to be connected to a computer to avoid the Google screen looping.
Hope some of this was helpful.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank you for taking the time to help me. Before I do the goo-manager/twrp install, are there any inherent advantages or disadvantages of using twrp as opposed to cwm? Also, I hadn't thought to check md5s after moving the roms, so I will be doing that from now on.

Twrp works just fine.
In your recovery, can you mount and unmount all your partitions without any errors?
Sent from my Nexus 7

am I finally doing it right?
I flashed EOS rom from a clean system and it worked fine. Decided to have gapps and installed via twrp. This would give me boot loop into recovery no matter wat combination of cache clearing etc used. So finally I did the counter intuitive and installed gapps zip followed by ROM zip. This seems to have worked though it seems backwards to me. Is this the correct procedure?

crache said:
am I finally doing it right?
I flashed EOS rom from a clean system and it worked fine. Decided to have gapps and installed via twrp. This would give me boot loop into recovery no matter wat combination of cache clearing etc used. So finally I did the counter intuitive and installed gapps zip followed by ROM zip. This seems to have worked though it seems backwards to me. Is this the correct procedure?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no. did the rom already come with gapps? the rom would wipe out whatever gapps you did flash before the rom.

simms22 said:
no. did the rom already come with gapps? the rom would wipe out whatever gapps you did flash before the rom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't like Twrp not being able to boot into recovery from holding the buttons, especially running into these loops during installs. Had the sameresults with cwm though.Now I am having this boot loop with TeamEOS as well as Skanky (neither package gapps) I however only loop if installing gapps after the rom or wiping caches.
If caches and system are wiped, gapps installed, then the rom I get a functioning system.Can anyone shed some light on what trigers specific loops or how to review tje errors / panics?

I'm reviving this thread since I have a similar issue. I am using TWRP. I have no problem performing a wipe (I do a factory reset, plus dalvik cache wipe), or flashing a new ROM (I've tried SGT7 and PA2.11). I can boot into the ROM fine. Once I try to flash Gapps, I get stuck in a boot loop that ends up going back to recovery. I've tried different combinations of operations, with different versions of gapps, but nothing works. I've tried:
gapps-jb-20120719-signed
gapps-jb-20120726-signed
both from goo.im, MD5 checked, without success. I'm stuck using SGT7, because that one includes Google account, and Play Store, so that can get me going... Only thing, I haven't wiped the data partition, because that's a bigger hassle. Do you guys have any clues as to what I should try next?

spked said:
I'm reviving this thread since I have a similar issue. I am using TWRP. I have no problem performing a wipe (I do a factory reset, plus dalvik cache wipe), or flashing a new ROM (I've tried SGT7 and PA2.11). I can boot into the ROM fine. Once I try to flash Gapps, I get stuck in a boot loop that ends up going back to recovery. I've tried different combinations of operations, with different versions of gapps, but nothing works. I've tried:
gapps-jb-20120719-signed
gapps-jb-20120726-signed
both from goo.im, MD5 checked, without success. I'm stuck using SGT7, because that one includes Google account, and Play Store, so that can get me going... Only thing, I haven't wiped the data partition, because that's a bigger hassle. Do you guys have any clues as to what I should try next?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you flash the rom and gapps and then reboot, or flash the rom, reboot, then flash gapps?

Did anybody get out of their bootloop? I flashed paranoid droid with twrp and I didn't select "signature verification" or "md5 check" as I read before hand on another forum that it wasn't needed and to actually not tick "signature"....so now I'm in a bootloop, volume buttons and power does get me in to a few selections, "reboot", "power off" and "recovery". When I select recovery it just takes me to the black screen with "Google" on it. No idea how to get out of this loop....I'm researching now but I am not understanding much....I'm so use to Samsung devices, getting out of bootloop with those are a piece of cake, this I'm clueless and helpless on. So does anybody have a way for me to either reflash the rom or get me to where I can go back to stock? I used wugfresh to root. Thanks.

dirtyhamster73 said:
Did anybody get out of their bootloop? I flashed paranoid droid with twrp and I didn't select "signature verification" or "md5 check" as I read before hand on another forum that it wasn't needed and to actually not tick "signature"....so now I'm in a bootloop, volume buttons and power does get me in to a few selections, "reboot", "power off" and "recovery". When I select recovery it just takes me to the black screen with "Google" on it. No idea how to get out of this loop....I'm researching now but I am not understanding much....I'm so use to Samsung devices, getting out of bootloop with those are a piece of cake, this I'm clueless and helpless on. So does anybody have a way for me to either reflash the rom or get me to where I can go back to stock? I used wugfresh to root. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you get to bootloader?

If your using an older version of cwm it will boot loop and or cuase bad flashes with new builds
Upgrade cwm or just use twrp
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

Jordanooo said:
Can you get to bootloader?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I finally got in, so I'm all set. Thanks! I have no idea why I was having a hard time...twrp wouldn't pop up once I was in boot loader. I must of tried like 20 times. Anyway....I'm in and I just reflashed and it was fine.
---------- Post added at 05:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:40 PM ----------
armyboy11b said:
If your using an older version of cwm it will boot loop and or cuase bad flashes with new builds
Upgrade cwm or just use twrp
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm using twrp...for whatever reason I couldn't get it to pop up to reflash. But I'm good now. Thanks!

Status 7

I couldnt find any fix or helpful answers elsewhere on the web
Many of you are aware of the status 7 installation abort when trying to install a new rom
Ive been tinkering since last night trying to get miui 2.10.12 on my nexus 7 and every time I get a "Installation Abort (Status 7)
how do I get it to finish installation?
ive tried with multiple roms, CM10, MIUI, Kang all have same result
I have clockwork mod installed, from rom manager
I made sure I wipe data and cache and also davlik cache
any suggestions?
and i thank everyone in advance

I think you will hopefully get more joy posting in the Q&A section.
I have read that it can be fixed by fastbooting stock and then re-rooting though. If you can make backups first, you should, because this will wipe everything.

z1gackly said:
I think you will hopefully get more joy posting in the Q&A section.
I have read that it can be fixed by fastbooting stock and then re-rooting though. If you can make backups first, you should, because this will wipe everything.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what ive been doing is not making any backups (nothing important to save) and just using nexus toolkit to flash back stock and starting over and trying new way every time
still nothing though after about the 20th time

No idea then sorry. Stick with rooted stock?

z1gackly said:
No idea then sorry. Stick with rooted stock?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think I might have to, ive never had any issues with custom roms (to speak of)
oh well, at least im happy with stock, i just love miui.
anyone else have answers please chip in, i give thanks!

harecurtis said:
I couldnt find any fix or helpful answers elsewhere on the web
Many of you are aware of the status 7 installation abort when trying to install a new rom
Ive been tinkering since last night trying to get miui 2.10.12 on my nexus 7 and every time I get a "Installation Abort (Status 7)
how do I get it to finish installation?
ive tried with multiple roms, CM10, MIUI, Kang all have same result
I have clockwork mod installed, from rom manager
I made sure I wipe data and cache and also davlik cache
any suggestions?
and i thank everyone in advance
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're using a wrong recovery. Install TWRP recovery using Goo Manager. Get it from Google Play Store

joedoe said:
You're using a wrong recovery. Install TWRP recovery using Goo Manager. Get it from Google Play Store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
give me 5 minutes, while i try your method.

harecurtis said:
give me 5 minutes, while i try your method.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
joedoe said:
You're using a wrong recovery. Install TWRP recovery using Goo Manager. Get it from Google Play Store
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
its a no go

anyone else wanna help me?
ive tried almost everything:/

download TWRP for the Nexus 7 (grouper) Here : http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/103
Since your rooted you can use a simple app to flash the Image. Download and install the free app here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1790150&highlight=flash+gui
Open the free app and select the option for Recovery Image. Hit Browse and find the recovery image you downloaded and select it.Once finished hit flash image. It will ask you to confirm this image is a recovery image. Hit yes and it'll flash.
Then reboot to recovery, you can do this by using Terminal Emulator from the market issue this command
Code:
su *hit enter*
adb reboot recovery
If that doesnt work.. remove "adb" I forget if you need it or not :S
This should put you into TWRP Recovery.. go ahead and flash your ROM. Make sure you follow the proper procedure. I recommend this
1.Wipe data/Factory Reset
2. Wipe Cache Partition
3.Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Format /System
then proceed to flash the ROM and Gapps. and Reboot.

ÜBER™ said:
download TWRP for the Nexus 7 (grouper) Here : http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/103
Since your rooted you can use a simple app to flash the Image. Download and install the free app here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1790150&highlight=flash+gui
Open the free app and select the option for Recovery Image. Hit Browse and find the recovery image you downloaded and select it.Once finished hit flash image. It will ask you to confirm this image is a recovery image. Hit yes and it'll flash.
Then reboot to recovery, you can do this by using Terminal Emulator from the market issue this command
Code:
su *hit enter*
adb reboot recovery
If that doesnt work.. remove "adb" I forget if you need it or not :S
This should put you into TWRP Recovery.. go ahead and flash your ROM. Make sure you follow the proper procedure. I recommend this
1.Wipe data/Factory Reset
2. Wipe Cache Partition
3.Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Format /System
then proceed to flash the ROM and Gapps. and Reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ill try this in just a few minutes as im flashing stock as we speak and "starting fresh"

harecurtis said:
ill try this in just a few minutes as im flashing stock as we speak and "starting fresh"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you're going that route.. you might as well just use fastboot to reflash recovery instead of the app.
Download the same image i linked to earily. While in the bootloader issue this command
Code:
fastboot flash recovery name-of-recovery.img
Make sure you have the Command Prompt in the same directory as the recovery image.
So say its in your downloads folder on your computer open CMD and cd to that directory.
Code:
cd C:\Users\Name\Downloads
Or just open yoru downloads folder and Shift + Right click and select "open command window here" then issue the fastboot command.

ÜBER™ said:
download TWRP for the Nexus 7 (grouper) Here : http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/103
Since your rooted you can use a simple app to flash the Image. Download and install the free app here http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1790150&highlight=flash+gui
Open the free app and select the option for Recovery Image. Hit Browse and find the recovery image you downloaded and select it.Once finished hit flash image. It will ask you to confirm this image is a recovery image. Hit yes and it'll flash.
Then reboot to recovery, you can do this by using Terminal Emulator from the market issue this command
Code:
su *hit enter*
adb reboot recovery
If that doesnt work.. remove "adb" I forget if you need it or not :S
This should put you into TWRP Recovery.. go ahead and flash your ROM. Make sure you follow the proper procedure. I recommend this
1.Wipe data/Factory Reset
2. Wipe Cache Partition
3.Wipe Dalvik Cache
4. Format /System
then proceed to flash the ROM and Gapps. and Reboot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
didnt work(

harecurtis said:
didnt work(
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
?? Is your bootloader unlocked? You are rooted still correct? I dont see how your even rooting if you dont flash a Superuser package with recovery??

ÜBER™ said:
?? Is your bootloader unlocked? You are rooted still correct? I dont see how your even rooting if you dont flash a Superuser package with recovery??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes my bootloader is unlocked, and I rooted as well
what Im using is wugfresh nexus root toolkit 1.5.3

harecurtis said:
yes my bootloader is unlocked, and I rooted as well
what Im using is wugfresh nexus root toolkit 1.5.3
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Stop... dont use that.. -_-. Do it manually..

ÜBER™ said:
Stop... dont use that.. -_-. Do it manually..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
okay, can you send me a lint to a post that I can manually do it?
and thanks so much!

harecurtis said:
okay, can you send me a lint to a post that I can manually do it?
and thanks so much!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ill write you up a quick tutorial.
First download this zip it contains adb and its .dll's needed to be executed and fastboot.exe for flashing
http://db.tt/EOwGUAPV
Unzip it and put that TWRP image in the same folder.
Then in that folder Shift + Right click and select open command prompt here.
Then type
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
This will boot you into the bootloader. Once in the bootloader do this command
Code:
fastboot flash recovery name-of-recovery.img
Hopefully your smart enough to realize that means type in the name of the recovery not exactly what that says.. for instance openrecovery-twrp... etc etc.
Then once its finished writing the recovery hit the volume up until the "Start" Says Recovery Mode. Then hit the power button. You should now be booting in the TWRP. Then flash your ROM.

ÜBER™ said:
Ill write you up a quick tutorial.
First download this zip it contains adb and its .dll's needed to be executed and fastboot.exe for flashing
http://db.tt/EOwGUAPV
Unzip it and put that TWRP image in the same folder.
Then in that folder Shift + Right click and select open command prompt here.
Then type
Code:
adb reboot bootloader
This will boot you into the bootloader. Once in the bootloader do this command
Code:
fastboot flash recovery name-of-recovery.img
Hopefully your smart enough to realize that means type in the name of the recovery not exactly what that says.. for instance openrecovery-twrp... etc etc.
Then once its finished writing the recovery hit the volume up until the "Start" Says Recovery Mode. Then hit the power button. You should now be booting in the TWRP. Then flash your ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks
ill do that in a few minutes, im in the middle of trying another process, and if it fails ill try your method.
and should i re lock my bootloader before i try your method, or can i just keep it unlocked?

harecurtis said:
thanks
ill do that in a few minutes, im in the middle of trying another process, and if it fails ill try your method.
and should i re lock my bootloader before i try your method, or can i just keep it unlocked?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Keep it unlocked.... otherwise you'll have to re unlock it...

[Q] All methods of factory/hard reset seem to work, but then boots into old system

I'm having the weirdest problem and I'm wondering whether it is hardware or software. I have searched everywhere and only found one person with a similar situation and he had already sent it back for repair before anyone responded with things for him to try.
My 16gb Nexus 7 is rooted/unlocked using the Nexus Root Toolkit and at the latest OTA version. It had been working fine for months. Suddenly one day I had serious problems (which I can discuss if anyone cares, but I don't think the original problems are relevant at this point.) I gave up troubleshooting and decided to do a factory reset. But no matter what method I do, the next time I boot the device it comes back into my same buggy system and nothing was wiped or reset at all. All of these methods appear to work and give the normal messages you would expect, but then nothing changed. It's like the Flash ram is somehow set to read-only so attempts to write to it are failing.
What I have tried:
Settings Factory Data Reset and press the Erase Everything button. The tablet pauses a while, then shuts down and reboots. The old system comes back.
I go into recovery mode, choose function wipe data/factory reset, scroll down to Yes to confirm it. A bunch of progress messages show on the screen that the partitions are being formatted. I boot afterwards and the old system comes back.
I follow all the steps in articles like this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1907796
Every fastboot command completes normally with progress messages showing that it worked. I reboot and the old system comes back.
Here is another clue: The fastboot oem lock command completes normally, but nothing changes. The padlock icon at the next boot is still open.
That's why I say that the tablet is acting as though the Flash memory is set to read-only somehow because nothing ever changes. Is it possible that this is a hardware problem, or is there something else I can do in software?

Bump One for OP
hope your problem gets solved...

I go into recovery mode, choose function wipe data/factory reset, scroll down to Yes to confirm it. A bunch of progress messages show on the screen that the partitions are being formatted. I boot afterwards and the old system comes back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. If you wipe this way and then do not install another rom, then the old system will just reload.
2. Which recovery are you using TWRP or CWM? Maybe try an alternative recovery?
3. Go into recovery/mounts and storage/ then select format system and then install another rom such as stock and see what happens..

killall said:
1. If you wipe this way and then do not install another rom, then the old system will just reload.
2. Which recovery are you using TWRP or CWM? Maybe try an alternative recovery?
3. Go into recovery/mounts and storage/ then select format system and then install another rom such as stock and see what happens..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. I guess my wording was ambiguous. When I said that the old system comes back, I didn't mean only that the old OS comes back, but that EVERYTHING comes back immediately including all my apps, settings, wallpaper, widgets, everything looks like it always did. I don't get the first-time screens inviting me to log in, or anything like that. The system boots completely normally as though I hadn't used those methods of wiping the user data.
Also one of the things I tried was loading a new system using fastboot commands and the new system seemed to get loaded OK. But I reboot and the buggy system is back and my user data has not been wiped.
2. I'm not sure what you mean and will research that later this evening. For now, I can tell you that I used the Nexus Root Toolkit and I am using whatever it installed.
3. I'm not sure what you mean, but will research that and if I can figure it out, I will try it this evening.
Is it a clue that the command "fastboot oem lock" seems to work, but the lock status doesn't change?

What I am trying to say (very badly) is the system on your phone will hold all your settings along with the OS. When you factory reset/wipe data, it will clear everything out....but, if you then reboot the phone, it will have to reload the old OS as it has nothing to load otherwise. This will include all your previous apps and settings.
When you have wiped all your data, you need to install another 'system/rom' to allow the phone to boot it. Or as I said, it will just reboot the old one.
Try looking for a rooted stock rom in a zip file like this one and put it on your sd card. When you have entered recovery and wiped data/factory reset, then select install from sd card, find the zip and select. The recovery will then flash it and when you reboot, you should be at the setup pages.
Using the Nexus toolkit and ADB is challenging at the best of times. Maybe it is easier if you just use the recovery method as explained above.

killall said:
What I am trying to say (very badly) is the system on your phone will hold all your settings along with the OS. When you factory reset/wipe data, it will clear everything out....but, if you then reboot the phone, it will have to reload the old OS as it has nothing to load otherwise. This will include all your previous apps and settings.
When you have wiped all your data, you need to install another 'system/rom' to allow the phone to boot it. Or as I said, it will just reboot the old one.
Try looking for a rooted stock rom in a zip file like this one and put it on your sd card. When you have entered recovery and wiped data/factory reset, then select install from sd card, find the zip and select. The recovery will then flash it and when you reboot, you should be at the setup pages.
Using the Nexus toolkit and ADB is challenging at the best of times. Maybe it is easier if you just use the recovery method as explained above.
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When I go into the recovery mode at boot time, the menu says I am using "Android system recovery <3e>"
According to all documentation I have seen, erasing the user partition is all I should need to do to wipe out all of my data, and this works perfectly on a different tablet that I have. I really shouldn't need to do anything else, which is why my situation is so strange.
The Nexus 7 doesn't have an SD card slot so I can't do the things you are saying that involve installing things from sd. Maybe there is a way to do the same thing via the portion of Flash that simulates an sd card, but the recovery menus don't have any way to do that, at least not that I can find.

I saw that you are rooted then I assumed you were using a custom recovery like Clockworkmod or TWRP.
When I wrote SD I meant the internal storage, sorry for the confusion.
I would be flashing a recovery again, it seems to be causing the problem. You can do this through Nexus tools.

killall said:
I saw that you are rooted then I assumed you were using a custom recovery like Clockworkmod or TWRP.
When I wrote SD I meant the internal storage, sorry for the confusion.
I would be flashing a recovery again, it seems to be causing the problem. You can do this through Nexus tools.
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When you say to use "Nexus tools", do you mean the the tools that are part of the Nexus Root Toolkit? I did use those tools to format and rebuild the recovery partition, and it didn't help at all.
If you mean tools that I need to install as apps within Android, that isn't possible at the moment because the tablet is so unstable that when I reboot, I get all my old stuff for a few seconds so I know nothing changed, and then it reboots before I have a chance to do anything.
If you mean that I should mount the Android flash ram as a folder on my PC, I only seem to be able to do that for the few seconds that the system is booted and then the folder drops off. The only mode where I can keep the tablet powered on and stable is the boot menu and the recovery menu. Is there a way to mount the drive at that time?

Phonetrips said:
When you say to use "Nexus tools", do you mean the the tools that are part of the Nexus Root Toolkit? I did use those tools to format and rebuild the recovery partition, and it didn't help at all.
If you mean tools that I need to install as apps within Android, that isn't possible at the moment because the tablet is so unstable that when I reboot, I get all my old stuff for a few seconds so I know nothing changed, and then it reboots before I have a chance to do anything.
If you mean that I should mount the Android flash ram as a folder on my PC, I only seem to be able to do that for the few seconds that the system is booted and then the folder drops off. The only mode where I can keep the tablet powered on and stable is the boot menu and the recovery menu. Is there a way to mount the drive at that time?
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Fast boot a custom recovery. Fastboot recovery c:/path/recovery.IMG
Path being whatever path you have to the recovery you chose to download. Then wipe data/factory reset, maybe wipe cache and dalvik since you're there. Then reboot, see what happens. Still buggy, download another ROM, there are stock-ish ones out there, or you can choose cm or AOKP
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

VonEsch said:
Fast boot a custom recovery. Fastboot recovery c:/path/recovery.IMG
Path being whatever path you have to the recovery you chose to download. Then wipe data/factory reset, maybe wipe cache and dalvik since you're there. Then reboot, see what happens. Still buggy, download another ROM, there are stock-ish ones out there, or you can choose cm or AOKP
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
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Iv'e done all that and nothing changes whatsoever. The problem isn't that I have a buggy Android system, but rather that all commands to format and erase that system are ignored.

Actually I was wrong, I never did load a recovery image like you said, although I did at one point use one that the Nexus Root Toolkit installed.
So I found a recovery image, downloaded it, and did this:
fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.3.3.0-grouper.img
But nothing changes, partly because maybe I don't know what to do with this thing that I just loaded. If I use the menu to go into recovery mode, I get the normal recovery menu I have always gotten.

Phonetrips said:
Actually I was wrong, I never did load a recovery image like you said, although I did at one point use one that the Nexus Root Toolkit installed.
So I found a recovery image, downloaded it, and did this:
fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.3.3.0-grouper.img
But nothing changes, partly because maybe I don't know what to do with this thing that I just loaded. If I use the menu to go into recovery mode, I get the normal recovery menu I have always gotten.
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Click to collapse
Flash the cwm one, maybe that will work?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Phonetrips said:
Iv'e done all that and nothing changes whatsoever. The problem isn't that I have a buggy Android system, but rather that all commands to format and erase that system are ignored.
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VonEsch said:
Flash the cwm one, maybe that will work?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app
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Before I try a different one, can you please tell me what is supposed to happen after I give that fastboot command to flash the recovery image, Should the tablet go into that recovery manager immediately, or do I need to do something first to make it show up?
I went ahead and found/downloaded the cwm one. The same thing happened: I don't see it running and if I go into recovery mode I get the normal recovery, not this one.

killall said:
What I am trying to say (very badly) is the system on your phone will hold all your settings along with the OS. When you factory reset/wipe data, it will clear everything out....but, if you then reboot the phone, it will have to reload the old OS as it has nothing to load otherwise. This will include all your previous apps and settings.
When you have wiped all your data, you need to install another 'system/rom' to allow the phone to boot it. Or as I said, it will just reboot the old one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, but this is completely wrong. When you do a factory reset, it wipes /data and /cache, which doesn't affect the OS at all because the OS resides on the /system partition. When you do a factory reset and reboot, you will run into the initial setup screen for whatever ROM you have installed. No user data/apps will be present.
Phonetrips said:
Before I try a different one, can you please tell me what is supposed to happen after I give that fastboot command to flash the recovery image, Should the tablet go into that recovery manager immediately, or do I need to do something first to make it show up?
I went ahead and found/downloaded the cwm one. The same thing happened: I don't see it running and if I go into recovery mode I get the normal recovery, not this one.
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This seems really screwy. I'd say either your device is defective, or... Well I don't really know what else it could be. The fact that fastboot commands fail is a good indicator that something is screwed up. Have you tried wiping things through fastboot? It may be worth a shot, just know how to flash a ROM through it when you're done. I'm talking "fastboot erase -----" where ---- is replaced by system, data, or whatever. Just DO NOT erase the bootloader. Boot, however, is fine.
If all of this fails, it would seem that the device memory is defective.
About your recovery question, it will only go into recovery when you tell it to either from bootloader or ADB. And stock Android will try to remove CWM, so first time you need to go to recovery straight from the bootloader and let it make itself permanent when it asks.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

korockinout13 said:
Sorry, but this is completely wrong. When you do a factory reset, it wipes /data and /cache, which doesn't affect the OS at all because the OS resides on the /system partition. When you do a factory reset and reboot, you will run into the initial setup screen for whatever ROM you have installed. No user data/apps will be present.
Yes, this is what is supposed to happen, but on my machine when I do all those things, there is absolutely no change and the system continues to boot exactly as it was.
This seems really screwy. I'd say either your device is defective, or... Well I don't really know what else it could be. The fact that fastboot commands fail is a good indicator that something is screwed up. Have you tried wiping things through fastboot? It may be worth a shot, just know how to flash a ROM through it when you're done. I'm talking "fastboot erase -----" where ---- is replaced by system, data, or whatever. Just DO NOT erase the bootloader. Boot, however, is fine.
If all of this fails, it would seem that the device memory is defective.
About your recovery question, it will only go into recovery when you tell it to either from bootloader or ADB. And stock Android will try to remove CWM, so first time you need to go to recovery straight from the bootloader and let it make itself permanent when it asks.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
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I have used fastboot erase ---- and fastboot format --- for system and everything else. Whether or not I flash new code to those partitions, all of this is ignored and the system continues to boot as it always has, with all my stuff.
After flashing the alternate recovery images, absolutely nothing changes when I choose Recovery Mode from the fastboot menu.

I talked to Google Play support and they sending out a replacement one. They never asked whether I had ever unlocked or rooted it and I didn't volunteer anything, just told them the symptoms I am having. But I have to send the old one back after I receive the new one, and there is a chance they won't accept if for warranty service when they see it,

Phonetrips said:
I talked to Google Play support and they sending out a replacement one. They never asked whether I had ever unlocked or rooted it and I didn't volunteer anything, just told them the symptoms I am having. But I have to send the old one back after I receive the new one, and there is a chance they won't accept if for warranty service when they see it,
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Click to collapse
That is true, since you can't change anything, they will probably know you voided the warranty. The only thing you could do is brick it permanently by erasing the bootloader... Not sure if that would work/help.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD

Unable to load custom recovery

*UPDATE* Finally got it to work thank you sooo much!!!
Files Needed:
custom recovery
http://download2.clockworkmod.com/recoveries/recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.1-steelhead.img
CM 10.1
http://download.cyanogenmod.com/?device=steelhead&type=nightly (Latest CM Nightly Build)
gapps
http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-jb-20121212-signed.zip
1) Enable Debugging over USB (Using Nexus Q App)
2) adb reboot bootloader
3) fastboot oem unlock, confirmed unlock... Nexus Q wiped
4) Enabled USB again
5) adb push cm-10.1.0-RC4-steelhead.zip /sdcard/
6) adb reboot bootloader
7) fastboot boot recovery-clockwork-6.0.3.1-steelhead.img

When you say it never loaded, are you talking about on screen? My guess is that you need to do a factory reset, because I've randomly had to do the same when video output was simply broken for no apparent reason. Easiest way is to power cycle your Q and hold down on top of the ball until the fast red flashing gives way to the spinning blue. Then when it's done booting into the system, reboot it to your bootloader and proceed as you've outlined above, but honestly just go ahead and only boot into recovery. Wait to flash it until you're in CM. Make sure to wipe everything in CWM before you install CM. I would also highly recommend making frequent backups because I randomly lose video and have to factory reset and I think others do as well. And I still haven't figured out what causes it.
Hopefully this helps you out
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

Malnilion said:
When you say it never loaded, are you talking about on screen? My guess is that you need to do a factory reset, because I've randomly had to do the same when video output was simply broken for no apparent reason. Easiest way is to power cycle your Q and hold down on top of the ball until the fast red flashing gives way to the spinning blue. Then when it's done booting into the system, reboot it to your bootloader and proceed as you've outlined above, but honestly just go ahead and only boot into recovery. Wait to flash it until you're in CM. Make sure to wipe everything in CWM before you install CM. I would also highly recommend making frequent backups because I randomly lose video and have to factory reset and I think others do as well. And I still haven't figured out what causes it.
Hopefully this helps you out
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
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what CWM file did you flash? recovery-clockwork-6.0.2.7-steelhead.img? or the one birdman provided? if its the one birdman provided can you uploaded it and send me a link?
The problem is when i do everything i outlined above and adb reboot recovery it reboots the nexus Q and the TV just stays black... custom recovery never loads or am i suppose to press/spin/punch something?

I wasn't able to flash custom recovery on my Nexus Q either, I had to do "fastboot boot recovery-clockwork-6.0.2.7-steelhead.img" like Ricardo mentioned in his post on G+ https://plus.google.com/115049428938715274412/posts/VDdpi6VTepC.

I think I'm on the version 6.0.3.1 that's available via Rom Manager. But yeah, don't try to flash recovery from fastboot. Just boot to it, flash CyanogenMod, wipe data, reboot system, and then set up recovery from within CM using Rom Manager.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2