[Q] Bad ROM install, alternative methods to fix? [SOLVED] - Galaxy S 4 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

Hello all,
My brother has been having problems with his Google Play store (force closing, etc) as well as some other Google services. He wasn't even able to actually load Play Store and browse, so to fix his problem I decided the best route would be to start clean and do a factory reset. This worked well, for about 2-3 hours until he told me he wanted me to put the Google Edition 4.3 JB ROM on his phone. (He's a hipster, trololol)
So I looked up the thread of the AOSP Google Edition 4.3 JB for his GT-I9505. Having flashed my Galaxy S3 many times with UltimaROM and various other ROMs, I figured his S4 wouldn't be much different to any of the other Galaxy devices we've had in the past. So I download TWRP, and also rooted his phone via Motochopper. Once I installed TWRP I hit wipe and wiped the data and dalvik cache. Then I installed the ROM. Few moments later and we reboot the phone.
Phone decides to go into a boot loop, so I go back into TWRP and wipe again like I would with my Galaxy S3, but still getting a boot loop.
I really should have made a back-up of his original stock ROM (I made a boo-boo, I know ) but I figured he had nothing to lose. The problem now is that I can't flash any other ROMs because normally I would just transfer the .zip's onto the phone and then install from there. He doesn't have an SD card either, and mines doesn't work anymore (water damage...).
So my question is, what other ways can I transfer .zip's onto his phone so we can flash another ROM and not let his phone be a huge expensive paper weight.
I know about ADB and I downloaded the ADT Bundle from Google's site, but I have no idea how to execute adb or fastboot. They open cmd but then immediately shutdown again after a flash of a wall of text.
I'm able to access recovery & download modes fine. I've tried "mount" but when it mounts the S4, Windows doesn't pick up on it like it would if I were to do MTP otherwise I'd be able to transfer files no problem.

Can anyone help please?

man...use PhilzRecovery and use adb to flash the rom!
Put the flashable zip in the same folder wich contains adb.
Select from PhilzRecovery "install zip from sideload"
Connect the phone to pc and in the adb window type "adb sideload ..........." (wehere "............." is the name of the flashable zip.
I restored my phone once in this way
otherwise...buy a cheam 2gb micro sd card and put the flashable zip on it.
Select install zip from sdcard and that`s it.
Or you can use adb file explorer to copy the flashable zip on internal memory
there are many solutions for your problem.
The easyest would be the one using "adb sideload"
I hope i helped you!
Have a nice day!!!
PS: to open adb window do this way "press and hold shift while click-ing right click on the folder that contains adb files"
you will get a menu containg "open command window here" and click on it!
In the windows that appears type "adb devices" just to see if the phone is correctly recognised by windows.
Remember that using Philz Recovery is the most secure way.
Twrp has some weird problems formatting data(i don`t know why)
to put the phone just boot into recovery mode and adb should recognize your phone!

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2265477 Just follow this. I guess it's a soft brick and you'll just need to flash the stock firmware.

EDIT: Seems I was wrong, but the ADB tip will come in handy though. Thanks!

Ok I think I may have bricked / soft-bricked the phone. I've tried flashing the stock ROM (different firmwares) with and without a PIT file and they all keep failing. Yet if I flash a ROM like Cyanogen Mod it'll get to the Cyanogen Mod boot screen, but then crash there?
The phone is definitely a i9505, so I can't see what the hell I'm doing wrong. :/ It was an Orange UK model, but it was factory unlocked when bought new and he's been using o2 sim's ever since.
All I do is flash .tar.md5's with Odin 3 v1.85, and then install .zip's in the recovery (Philz Recovery)
For the stock ROM I'm just flashing with Odin.
I've never had so much drama with a phone before. -__-

EDIT: Solved this on my own. Had to flash MH8 since I'm on a secured bootloader.
Thanks anyway.

Related

HELP! Bought a device that turned out to be rooted. Need to go back to Stock.

First, I knew nothing about rooting any devices up until 2 hours ago. Ever since, I've been trying to set my phone up, but have failed and am extremely miserable at the moment.
So I tried to install the stock rom by using someone else's Nandroid backup, but it says that it "failed to find "cache" partition to mount at "/cache"
I tried to look at different threads and it pointed me to this: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=988686&highlight=i9023
I read that if I was to "flash_image" that file onto my phone it would allow me to install the stock ROM.
But I can't find anywhere how to do this. At this point, my phone has no ROM on it. If i dont start in recovery, it says stuck at the Google Logo. If it makes any difference I'm on Rogers/ATT device.
Please, help
Is the stock rom zip file installed on SD storage? If so all you need to do is boot into recovery, install from SD card, unzip file (the stock Rom) and then reboot.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
unfortunately, there is no stock ROM on the SD card.
I tried installing everything manually.. I installed the android-sdk, got the usb drivers running, and adb works.
but none of the "flashboot" commands work. they all get stuck on "waiting for device" on the command prompt. I was trying to flash a ROM through the computer.
EDIT: fixed all issues.
used PDANet to reinstall all drivers then installed the new 4.0.0.2 clockwork. made it work. thank god.
I was in the same boat as I just bought mine used yesterday.
dl the stock 2.3.4 rom here. it comes as root or non rooted.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1060192&highlight=stock+rom
then flash through recovery...but keep in mind this won't re-lock your bootloader. if you want to re-lock your bootloader, you have to do it via adb.
BTW, you can access your sd storage via recovery.
Edit: Oops didn't read that you had fixed it. Neeeevermind.

Problems with TWRP v2.6.3.2

I wanted to flash PSX Pure Speed Experiment 4.4 rom but I got the " Failed. E:Error executing updated binary in zip '/sdcard/psx_mako_kk_v1..." message mentioned in the OP. I tried the solution posted there, which was to download a patched multirom version of TWRP recovery using the flashify app from the play store. This all seemed to work out fine, and I booted into recovery to flash the rom. Now, this could just be due to my ignorance because the version of TWRP I flashed is 2.6.3.2 (I originally had 2.3.0.1 I believe), but when I wiped my phone, then went to install, there wasnt anything listed in the root of my sd card folder. I tried rebooting TWRP and when I tried again it listed a folder named TWRP there but nothing else. Subsequent reboots yielded nothing. At this point I dont even want to flash the 4.4 rom, I just want to reflash my old CM10.1 rom and be done with it. Any help is greatly appreciated
sropedia said:
I wanted to flash PSX Pure Speed Experiment 4.4 rom but I got the " Failed. E:Error executing updated binary in zip '/sdcard/psx_mako_kk_v1..." message mentioned in the OP. I tried the solution posted there, which was to download a patched multirom version of TWRP recovery using the flashify app from the play store. This all seemed to work out fine, and I booted into recovery to flash the rom. Now, this could just be due to my ignorance because the version of TWRP I flashed is 2.6.3.2 (I originally had 2.3.0.1 I believe), but when I wiped my phone, then went to install, there wasnt anything listed in the root of my sd card folder. I tried rebooting TWRP and when I tried again it listed a folder named TWRP there but nothing else. Subsequent reboots yielded nothing. At this point I dont even want to flash the 4.4 rom, I just want to reflash my old CM10.1 rom and be done with it. Any help is greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Reboot the phone and then connect it to your PC and check to see if the PSX ROM file is there. If not, redownload the file and save it in the root of the SDcard. As for the TWRP folder that has nothing in it, delete it. Then try to boot into recovery and flash the PSX ROM, also just making sure that the checkbox for "System" in mount section is unchecked. BTW, is your a multiROM patch for TWRP?
taodan said:
Reboot the phone and then connect it to your PC and check to see if the PSX ROM file is there. If not, redownload the file and save it in the root of the SDcard. As for the TWRP folder that has nothing in it, delete it. Then try to boot into recovery and flash the PSX ROM, also just making sure that the checkbox for "System" in mount section is unchecked. BTW, is your a multiROM patch for TWRP?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply, but when I try to mount my phone, my computer acknowledges that I've connected a device with a sound, but it doesnt show up as a storage device. when I go into devices and printers I can find my phone but it only shows up as an ADB device
And yes to answer your question it is a multiROM patch for TWRP
sropedia said:
Thanks for the reply, but when I try to mount my phone, my computer acknowledges that I've connected a device with a sound, but it doesnt show up as a storage device. when I go into devices and printers I can find my phone but it only shows up as an ADB device
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you have "USB debugging" checkbox, in Developer Options, checked? Also, try reboot your PC and reconect your phone to see whether it shows up as a storage device.
sropedia said:
I wanted to flash PSX Pure Speed Experiment 4.4 rom but I got the " Failed. E:Error executing updated binary in zip '/sdcard/psx_mako_kk_v1..." message mentioned in the OP. I tried the solution posted there, which was to download a patched multirom version of TWRP recovery using the flashify app from the play store. This all seemed to work out fine, and I booted into recovery to flash the rom. Now, this could just be due to my ignorance because the version of TWRP I flashed is 2.6.3.2 (I originally had 2.3.0.1 I believe), but when I wiped my phone, then went to install, there wasnt anything listed in the root of my sd card folder. I tried rebooting TWRP and when I tried again it listed a folder named TWRP there but nothing else. Subsequent reboots yielded nothing. At this point I dont even want to flash the 4.4 rom, I just want to reflash my old CM10.1 rom and be done with it. Any help is greatly appreciated
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok when you wiped your rom did you just do a factory reset or a internal sd wipe as well. Also you should try and use 2.6.3.3. Also you have to remember where it is you save your stuff or place everything in 1 specific folder. May I suggest you start over with downloading rom and putting it in a folder created by you like !Flash... using "!" will ensure its the first folder you see.
Also your error also can be fixed by simply rebooting your recovery as its been what I used to fix that error
playya said:
ok when you wiped your rom did you just do a factory reset or a internal sd wipe as well. Also you should try and use 2.6.3.3. Also you have to remember where it is you save your stuff or place everything in 1 specific folder. May I suggest you start over with downloading rom and putting it in a folder created by you like !Flash... using "!" will ensure its the first folder you see.
Also your error also can be fixed by simply rebooting your recovery as its been what I used to fix that error
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did a full wipe like I usually do. I would use a different version of TWRP if I knew how to change it from within TWRP. I have a follder titled ROOT that I keep all my ROMs and whatnot in, but the problem is that literally none of the folders in my internal storage are showing up from within TWRP. I can't check to see if USB debugging is enabled because theres no operating system on my phone; like I said, I did a full wipe. The fact that no folders show up also means that it doesnt recognize the backup I had. My computer still won't recognize my phone as a storage device after mounting in TWRP. Maybe I'm doing something in the wrong order? Restarting my computer didn't help.I really need to get my phone working on ANY ROM, and I appreciate all the help so far

[Q] Can safestrap be removed and still run custom rom?

I have been flashing new roms alot on my att mk2 I337 and found one I really like. But twice during all the roms the phone either wiped safestrap or skipped it during startup. It would start right up without the safestrap recovery or continue option. This happen when flashing into the stock rom slot. I dont know why it did that. The first time it booted and worked fine except the wifi because I forgot the AT&TMK2kernelmodules.zip. I rebooted multiple times trying to get the recovery option. I finally reinstalled ss to get that in there. The second time it skipped it but got stock in bootloop. Stuck on the boot animation for the rom I was installing. I cant blame the roms for doing it because I get them running fine. I had to go back to stock with odin. But I was curious if once the rom is up and going could you uninstall ss? And skip the recovery/continue option. It would be neat if you could. Then just reinstall it if need. Although I can see if something happens you would probably need to use odin again.
Also while typing this I started wondering if there is a way to install safestrap through odin or some other way if the phone system isnt booting?
Thanks to all the devs and members on this site!
LarryW3 said:
I have been flashing new roms alot on my att mk2 I337 and found one I really like. But twice during all the roms the phone either wiped safestrap or skipped it during startup. It would start right up without the safestrap recovery or continue option. This happen when flashing into the stock rom slot. I dont know why it did that. The first time it booted and worked fine except the wifi because I forgot the AT&TMK2kernelmodules.zip. I rebooted multiple times trying to get the recovery option. I finally reinstalled ss to get that in there. The second time it skipped it but got stock in bootloop. Stuck on the boot animation for the rom I was installing. I cant blame the roms for doing it because I get them running fine. I had to go back to stock with odin. But I was curious if once the rom is up and going could you uninstall ss? And skip the recovery/continue option. It would be neat if you could. Then just reinstall it if need. Although I can see if something happens you would probably need to use odin again.
Also while typing this I started wondering if there is a way to install safestrap through odin or some other way if the phone system isnt booting?
Thanks to all the devs and members on this site!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can't install safestrap any other way except the APK. The only way to flash to Stock without removing Safestrap is if the ROM has AROMA installer and an option to not wipe system, because then you can wipe /system from the Safestrap menu and then install.
no
Just an Idea
You can install the SafeStrap apk file using the ADB (Android Debug Bridge) "install" command, as long as adb recognizes your phone. You can download everything you need from here. Although if you can't boot up your phone I don't see what you could do with the apk installed because you can't open the app to press the install button.
Quick tutorial on ADB:
1) Download the file above.
2) Unzip and navigate to the sdk folder > platform-tools.
3) Hold shift and right click inside the platform-tools folder. (Make sure you click on an empty space inside the folder, not on a file.)
4) Select "Open command window here".
5) Run the install command which you can find information on here.

[Q] LG G2 d802 internal storage formated, TWRP, rooted -> back to stock?

Hello,
After trying a lot of things and search for half of the day my last chance is now to ask one of you guys for help, please.
Problem:
After I have tried to encrypt the internal storage of my LG G2 via the the previous installed Cyanogenmod 11 this attempt resulted into an error and it has told to me that I should reset to factory stock. This has been worked out as the needed directories havent been found via TWRP recovery. So I have tried to do a hard factory reset as well as a a following format of the internal storage from recovery which brings me now to the boot screen with the LG logo. Not going any further. Not possible to turn the phone off anymore. But I am still able to access the TWRP recovery menu. But as the internal storage has been formated its longer possible to boot up into any ROM.
I am also not able to restore via LG Flash tool, as it is not going any further in download mode.
So I would need help with my last thought of a solution: Pushing a custom (or stock rom) ZIP file via ADP in TWRP to the internal storage, so that I can flash this one again as new operation system. Could someone please give me a precise step to step guide for the ADP slide method as I am unfortunately not good regarding any development tools.
Other methods are more than welcome as well, to re-flash stock or a custom rom to the system, without having access to it in any other way than TWRP.
Mac and Windows operation system is available on a computer. USB driver installed. stock rom kdz file downloaded. But I am not able to move forward. So please help.
Thanks!
Columbiana said:
Hello,
After trying a lot of things and search for half of the day my last chance is now to ask one of you guys for help, please.
Problem:
After I have tried to encrypt the internal storage of my LG G2 via the the previous installed Cyanogenmod 11 this attempt resulted into an error and it has told to me that I should reset to factory stock. This has been worked out as the needed directories havent been found via TWRP recovery. So I have tried to do a hard factory reset as well as a a following format of the internal storage from recovery which brings me now to the boot screen with the LG logo. Not going any further. Not possible to turn the phone off anymore. But I am still able to access the TWRP recovery menu. But as the internal storage has been formated its longer possible to boot up into any ROM.
I am also not able to restore via LG Flash tool, as it is not going any further in download mode.
So I would need help with my last thought of a solution: Pushing a custom (or stock rom) ZIP file via ADP in TWRP to the internal storage, so that I can flash this one again as new operation system. Could someone please give me a precise step to step guide for the ADP slide method as I am unfortunately not good regarding any development tools.
Other methods are more than welcome as well, to re-flash stock or a custom rom to the system, without having access to it in any other way than TWRP.
Mac and Windows operation system is available on a computer. USB driver installed. stock rom kdz file downloaded. But I am not able to move forward. So please help.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Follow this guide and adb push a Rom to your sd. It must be a zip, not a kdz, place it in your root drive like C:\ and don't forget that adb is case sensitive.
Art Vanderlay said:
Follow this guide and adb push a Rom to your sd. It must be a zip, not a kdz, place it in your root drive like C:\ and don't forget that adb is case sensitive.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello,
Thanks for this guide which is really easy to use and I would say my ADB on windows are now ready to push. Unfortunately the ADB are not discovering my devices useing TWRP on it, as the sidemode is not starting up. When I am in TWRP recovery and tapping advanced, tapping adb sidemode it shows me that it would start, but it never tells me that it is started.
Is there any other "entrace" to my devices where I could push a new rom zip file onto it without this TWRP adb sidemode? Or can I reinstall TWRP in any way to "repair" the sidemode feature?
Columbiana said:
Hello,
Thanks for this guide which is really easy to use and I would say my ADB on windows are now ready to push. Unfortunately the ADB are not discovering my devices useing TWRP on it, as the sidemode is not starting up. When I am in TWRP recovery and tapping advanced, tapping adb sidemode it shows me that it would start, but it never tells me that it is started.
Is there any other "entrace" to my devices where I could push a new rom zip file onto it without this TWRP adb sidemode? Or can I reinstall TWRP in any way to "repair" the sidemode feature?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't worry too much about sideload just write adb push C:\ROM name /sdcard/ and then just locate it in twrp
If you are sideloading you need to use the adb sideload /path/to/Rom.zip command

Potentially bricked S4 (GT-I9505)?

Hello all,
I decided to install a recovery mode called Philz touch v6.07.6, which completed successfully and I can access to both download mode and this recovery menu. Then used Kingroot to root the phone. I then tried to use the ADB system to install a ROM due to not having an SD card at the time. I had chosen the option to clean install which deleted cache and formatted certain folders. The installation process then failed and I can only access download mode and recovery and my phone does not connect to my laptop anymore, or any other. I cannot seem to connect my phone to any computer, either with different cables or USB port.
I've uninstalled KIES, smart switch. uninstalled and reinstalled all drivers but my phone still does not connect to Odin or ADB server. I cannot install a new recovery menu as I cannot see my phone on Odin.
Thinking an SD card with a ROM would resolve the issue I purchased a card, added a ROM to it but I cannot find anything I put on the sd card. Choosing install from zip then SD card it shows clockworkmod/ but nothing else. Using free browse mode i've looked into every folder and cannot find anything that is on my SD card. I see no option under mounts and storage to mount the SD card
Thank you for your time and if you can advise me on what I am doing wrong.
Edit: I forgot to mention - When powering the phone on normally without trying to get into recovery or download mode, the top left of the screen says:
"Kernel is not seanandroid enforcing"
Set Warranty Bit : kernel
You do realize the S4 has an internal storage, right? It's a built-in microSD card.
So you absolutely don't need one to use and/or flash custom ROMs on it.
Your second mistake was flashing PhilZ recovery. It's a mistake because that recovery is outdated.
Your third mistake was trying to flash the ROM via ADB when you can simply flash it with the recovery.
The reason why the ROM zip doesn't show up in your recovery id because, most probably, the internal storage is selected by default. So, either navigate to the microSD card folder or move the ROM zip to your internal storage.
I also recommend switching to TWRP recovery.
@Aysta, if it's not too late for you, just flash the latest twrp Recovery ". Tar. File" in Odin (>AP) by switching off the device in download mode. After that just copy your desired custom rom and gapps to your sd-card by an sd-card reader in Windows and the rest you know, which as i assume, will follow... [emoji6]
P. S I just experienced the same yesterday evening when i bricked one of my Sammy's while using an experimental kernel (. Img) file.
Anyhow, this just solved everything for me [emoji4]
Aysta said:
Hello all,
I decided to install a recovery mode called Philz touch v6.07.6, which completed successfully and I can access to both download mode and this recovery menu. Then used Kingroot to root the phone. I then tried to use the ADB system to install a ROM due to not having an SD card at the time. I had chosen the option to clean install which deleted cache and formatted certain folders. The installation process then failed and I can only access download mode and recovery and my phone does not connect to my laptop anymore, or any other. I cannot seem to connect my phone to any computer, either with different cables or USB port.
I've uninstalled KIES, smart switch. uninstalled and reinstalled all drivers but my phone still does not connect to Odin or ADB server. I cannot install a new recovery menu as I cannot see my phone on Odin.
Thinking an SD card with a ROM would resolve the issue I purchased a card, added a ROM to it but I cannot find anything I put on the sd card. Choosing install from zip then SD card it shows clockworkmod/ but nothing else. Using free browse mode i've looked into every folder and cannot find anything that is on my SD card. I see no option under mounts and storage to mount the SD card
Thank you for your time and if you can advise me on what I am doing wrong.
Edit: I forgot to mention - When powering the phone on normally without trying to get into recovery or download mode, the top left of the screen says:
"Kernel is not seanandroid enforcing"
Set Warranty Bit : kernel
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have to get your phone working with Odin, it's your only way out.
lekiaM said:
@Aysta, if it's not too late for you, just flash the latest twrp Recovery ". Tar. File" in Odin (>AP) by switching off the device in download mode. After that just copy your desired custom rom and gapps to your sd-card by an sd-card reader in Windows and the rest you know, which as i assume, will follow... [emoji6]
P. S I just experienced the same yesterday evening when i bricked one of my Sammy's while using an experimental kernel (. Img) file.
Anyhow, this just solved everything for me [emoji4]
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Odin doesn't detect his device, read his full post.
MigoMujahid said:
You have to get your phone working with Odin, it's your only way out.
Odin doesn't detect his device, read his full post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"this doesnt make sense than, either"
And i overlooked it. Can happen mate.
Thank you for your assistance guys, i've still not been able to flash a new recovery as my phone just will not connect. I read installing older drivers helps but it didn't. Older odin didn't work. I need to access an operating system which isn't Windows 10 according to another website. So will create a virtual machine and let you all know how it goes.
Ubuntu has worked! i installed jodin3 and my phone shows up on there while in download mode
lekiaM said:
"this doesnt make sense than, either"
And i overlooked it. Can happen mate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Aysta said:
Ubuntu has worked! i installed jodin3 and my phone shows up on there while in download mode
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's why i told you it's the Only way, Odin must detect your phone, otherwise you're screwed.

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