Database Users

[Problems & Questions] With Official 2.3 Update V2

Hello !
I am feeling really down today after been trying to get my phone working again.
There is a huge problem currently, I am really annoyed that it doesn't work at all.
First thing, my phone won't start after update it just boot loops and never seem to end it.
First thing I noticed /boot, /cache /system and most things are gone, I can load up recovery but nothing more. I have no idea what happened but the whole image folder was wiped and I had to myself put in the CWM recovery.
I can't do an upgrade "again" as it will be stuck @ the unpacking part without starting it at all.
I been trying with 2.3 V2 and with B133(My stock rom I got).
If anyone has a solution that can solve this problem please help out if you could. Also if you are about to tell me get this and that, please most cases I haven't seen any of the Firmware roms in @modaco wiki links work. Means I can't download them, so if you happen to have spare copy please upload it and link it to me. I have been googling and looking through this section twice, nothing really worked out.
Thanks in advance !

If you didn't erase the .cust_backup partition which contain the image folder with all system' s .img files, then maybe it' s damaged. I had some problems with this partition before and when I checked it with windows check disk it repairs it and I had no problems from then. So, try this, and if you still haven' t any file on image folder, you can find the original folder on X5' s forums. Is definately here, but I don't remember where is the link and I don't gonna search it for you. If you cannot find it, you can allways reflash the original rom. If you fix the partition(if this is the problem), I don't think that you'll have problems with update any more.

dancer_69 said:
If you didn't erase the .cust_backup partition which contain the image folder with all system' s .img files, then maybe it' s damaged. I had some problems with this partition before and when I checked it with windows check disk it repairs it and I had no problems from then. So, try this, and if you still haven' t any file on image folder, you can find the original folder on X5' s forums. Is definately here, but I don't remember where is the link and I don't gonna search it for you. If you cannot find it, you can allways reflash the original rom. If you fix the partition(if this is the problem), I don't think that you'll have problems with update any more.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello, thanks for the reply.
I have no idea about this .cust_backup partition and how I am supposedly to access it via windows. Also the thing you said about fixing partition within Windows, the check disk thing. I am not sure about that part either as I can load CWM and it can read the partitions but they are empty. Also there is nothing in this forums that contains original things, only way for me to fix this if someone have extra copy and can guide me on how and where to place the all needed files. I am pretty sure it's only things that are missing and I can't get a grip out of this.
So to sum up what my problem is.
I did an upgrade from 2.2 to 2.3 with official firmware, it worked out normally but after a reboot my phone became stuck in an endless loop, I can't do anything and it will not I repeat it will not allow me to "re flash" any firmware I tried so far, the 2.3 V2 and B133.
I am begging someone in this forum section, please if you have the knowledge about this problem care to help?
I can't get a refund out the phone warrenty is off and I do not have that much spare money.
Thanks in advance !

If you can get to recovery, wipe cache and data. It should be possible in stock recovery.
The cust partition has all the images for bootloader, recovery etc. You can get to it with the pink screen. Reformatting and then reinserting the images and files could help, but try that when nothing else works.
I can't give you good help via phone, but try wiping data first. Also, try if you can use some other sd card.
Sent from my U8800 using Tapatalk

Blefish said:
If you can get to recovery, wipe cache and data. It should be possible in stock recovery.
The cust partition has all the images for bootloader, recovery etc. You can get to it with the pink screen. Reformatting and then reinserting the images and files could help, but try that when nothing else works.
I can't give you good help via phone, but try wiping data first. Also, try if you can use some other sd card.
Sent from my U8800 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The most common things I have already done, but do enlighten me what this "custom" parition is. Because in windows I do not see such partition I see a removable partition which I have now added a folder called image with these containing files.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1370960
EDIT ** Also regarding to first person who said about Windows partition manager. The thing is I see a lot of partitions and there is no labeling for them, might be because they are ext2/3 or even something else? In anycase I can't do so much I just find it really odd I have many duplicates and I am guessing that must be errors... Because I am seeing the main recovery partition which has no label too... its at 240 MB where 135MB is used. Lastly there is my internal SD card empty and healthy still I can't reach it within Windows if I do not mount it...And can't now without going into the android OS. I Have loads of free space "partitions I don't understand why they are there".
**
Thanks for helping out, it feels not good to have a half dead phone, it's still not solved :'-(

The .cust_backup is the mount point on android for this removable partition with image folder. In windows haven' t this name. I didn't mean to use the windows partition manager, just to use windows explorer, right click on the partition and choose properties, then tools and then check disk. Of course you can use partition manager too, but because as you found there are all no labeled other partitions there and is a bit confused.
As you mentioned, you found the original image folder and you replaced the files. Did you tried to do the update again after that?
Also you can see and the internal sd partiton, but you need linux system. This partition is not fat32, so windows cannot see it.

dancer_69 said:
The .cust_backup is the mount point on android for this removable partition with image folder. In windows haven' t this name. I didn't mean to use the windows partition manager, just to use windows explorer, right click on the partition and choose properties, then tools and then check disk. Of course you can use partition manager too, but because as you found there are all no labeled other partitions there and is a bit confused.
As you mentioned, you found the original image folder and you replaced the files. Did you tried to do the update again after that?
Also you can see and the internal sd partiton, but you need linux system. This partition is not fat32, so windows cannot see it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have placed all things that I got from here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1370960
And I can't run the upgrade firmware, it gets stuck at first stage which is to unpack the the update.app thing.
It just stays like that not blinking and frozen.

Did you tried now that you have the original files, to go to recovery mode and wipe data etc?
Also when you try to do the upgrade do you have the device connected with the cable?
I had this problem once and I think that when I disconnected the cable(or maybe wasn' t connected and I connected it, I don't remember well), the proccess bar starts to moving after a while and the upgrade completed successfully.

dancer_69 said:
Did you tried now that you have the original files, to go to recovery mode and wipe data etc?
Also when you try to do the upgrade do you have the device connected with the cable?
I had this problem once and I think that when I disconnected the cable(or maybe wasn' t connected and I connected it, I don't remember well), the proccess bar starts to moving after a while and the upgrade completed successfully.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are not understanding me :-(, I have wiped already millions of times in millions of different ways just to get it work. And no, I don't have the device connrected when I upgrade, it won't work properly then, I have tried to wait for the progress bar to "start" move it won't happen the battery will die, and nothing happened.
I can't go in with normal Recovery mode, can only go in with CWM, the normal recovery mode is really small, I mean only 3mb, while the froyo version is 5mb. Now I am asking if you have the time to upload the image files from 2.3 V2, the ones in forums are for V1. Which I don't know might conflict.
Thanks again for trying to help me out, this is really frustrating to get it to work.
**EDIT**
I worked it out !
I think I understood what you meant, I did as you told I started first with pluggin in the charger forced it to upgrade and now it's upgrading, thank you so much dancer_69. I was going to go tomorrow to buy a new 2nd hand smartphone. But now I can save my money for other things !
**EDIT of EDIT **
I seem to have downgraded to B133, I will try now with B158 2.3 V2 again and hopefully it will work now.

Yes, wasn't clear because I don' t remember what I've done and solve it. But I think that I did it like you discribed too.
Anyway I'm glad that was helpful(kind of)..
And don' t give up so soon with smartphone' s bricks, I've faced brick kind of problems many times and if the device it' s not completely dead, there is something you can do. Maybe need more search or many tries(sometimes the same things) but at the end(and of course If there isn't a hardware problem) device can unbrick.

SUCCES! Adding content to HTC 8S stock Rom

Hey guys, I don't know if this is of any use for you, but I think it won't hurt to share it.
Based on some posts and ideas I read in different threads, I managed to write to the EFIESP and the PLATpartition of the stock rom of my HTC 8S. I changed the bootimages in the PLAT partition to a custom one,flashed the image and it worked. I'll attach a picture to prove it and if that's not enough, I will post a video.
So, the first step is to download the stock rom (obviously...) and extract the .exe file. (I use 7-ZIP) Then there is a file called "RUU_signed.nbh". If you open it with a Hex Viewer, like HxD, you can find multiple partition Headers. I found 4 that I can use, the rest is encrypted with what appears to be Bitlocker, hence the different headers. Now, what I did was mark the area of the first partition (starts approximately at offset 228BEF90 and is a FAT16 Partition) and continued the selection until the end of the file. Then I created a new one and pasted it. I ddid the same with the rest, always selecting and copying from where the partition starts until the end of the whole file and pasted it into a new one. Then I mounted the files using OSFMount and voilà, you can put stuff and files in there! If you finished, you just unmount the files. Then I opened each file again with HxD, selected EVERYTHING and pasted it
to the according area in the original RUU_signed.nbh. I started with the first one, then the second and so on, so you don't overwrite the changes you have made if you start in reverse order. After packing the file, I tried to flash it and to my surprise, IT WORKED! After rebooting I saw my custom bootimage! Downside of this is obviously that it requires you to use the stock firmware and it will be overwritten once you update your device. But I hope our skilled Devs here have some use for those 2 partitions. Theres 2 more that are usable, but I don't know their names, but you can still put files in them.
Now again, I don't know if this is of any use for you devs, but I still felt kind of obligated to share it
Stupid thing, I put my HTC 8S into Diag Mode and THEN flashed it, now it doesn't connect as MTP but as HTC Diagnostic Interface and I can't change it back because I can't deploy anything to the device. It works perfectly, boots and everything, but no USB Connection via MTP. So be very careful before flashing, since the mode is determined by a NV value which you can't edit afterwards.
This is not a tutorial to be followed by everyday users, but something ment for developers. You do everything at your own risk! And keep in mind that this has only been tested on an HTC 8S!
cheers, hutchinsane_

Yeah, I heard that it is possible, though I hadn't had a chance to test it on my 8X.
As for EFIESP: you can edit \efi\Microsoft\Boot\BCD to enable Kernel Debugger functionality and it is basically enough to hack the whole OS even with actions currently performed.
The most interesting partitions are MainOS (second to last), and Data (last one). Interop Unlock can be done in MainOS.
Thing is that newest ROMs are encrypted (not hard to crack but still)

Darn, hoped I was the first to come up with the idea. I do have acces to the file you're talking about. MainOS seems to be encrypted with Bitlocker since their headers start with -FVE-FS-. I could take a look into the 8X Rom aswell, I expect the situation to be the same. So is there a thread on the Kernel Debugger thing?
EDIT: I just did what you set, although I used a program called "Visual BCD Editor" since I don't know about editing the BCD Store just YET. Now I edited some values from "False" to "True" and for 1 second it showed me what appeared to be a windows boot selection. Now when I boot up, and once the "Windows Phone" blueish logo appears, it shows "Not for resale", meaning that we actually can edit BCD on this device!

Very nice Work
I run in Nokia Lumia 920 RM-821 APAC Malaysia Amber ROM
I find the same
Maybe we can edit Lumia 920 FFU and get first Custom ROM

that's enough to enable WinDbg operopability.
Code:
bcdedit /store F:\EFIESP\efi\Microsoft\Boot\BCD /dbgsettings usb targetname:woatarget
bcdedit /store F:\EFIESP\efi\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {default} debug on
bcdedit /store F:\EFIESP\efi\Microsoft\Boot\BCD -set {default} dbgtransport kdusb.dll

Sorry for my Question but how can we find that here is the end of a file in HxD .
I'm now looking for it to flash a Custom Rom on my Lumia 920 but I can't build images correctly using HxD and OSFMount.
Thanks .

@ngame Thanks If you look at your first 2 screenshots, you didn't select the "ë" You MUST select and copy it aswell, it's always the start of a partition, fot FAT aswell as for NTFS. After that, you should be able to mount. For finding the end, I didn't. I just Selected until the end of the file and pasted it back in. It should work, Afterall, my HTC has a "custom" rom aswell now, since there's a custom bootimage
@ultrashot Thanks! I used the commands and it worked succesfully. Waiting on the phone to flash now
EDIT: It doesn't boot once you set a) the target b) the type or something else. but enabling the kernel debugger itself works. Trying to figure out which value makes it unbootable.

ngame said:
Sorry for my Question but how can we find that here is the end of a file in HxD .
I'm now looking for it to flash a Custom Rom on my Lumia 920 but I can't build images correctly using HxD and OSFMount.
Thanks .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
u must ask me dude .
zimone die

amir323b said:
u must ask me dude .
zimone die
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
PM Me please if you know
Thanks
hutchinsane_ said:
@ngame Thanks If you look at your first 2 screenshots, you didn't select the "ë" You MUST select and copy it aswell, it's always the start of a partition, fot FAT aswell as for NTFS. After that, you should be able to mount. For finding the end, I didn't. I just Selected until the end of the file and pasted it back in. It should work, Afterall, my HTC has a "custom" rom aswell now, since there's a custom bootimage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will test again

Sorry in advance if this is a stupid question ...
Here is a list of partitions from my 928 .ffu but which ones are needed to edit? Just the FAT and NTFS partitions? Are any of the others of any interest?

As far as I know, you have to look for the specific headers, since some are encrypted with Bitlocker, therefor have the "-FVE-FS-" header. Easiest way is to use the search function of HxD and search for NTFS, FAT12 and FAT16 partitions Also, there are no stupid questons

hutchinsane_ said:
As far as I know, you have to look for the specific headers, since some are encrypted with Bitlocker, therefor have the "-FVE-FS-" header. Easiest way is to use the search function of HxD and search for NTFS, FAT12 and FAT16 partitions Also, there are no stupid questons
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
:highfive: Here's a better list including the device layout and read and write partitions if it helps anyone. Also when mounting FAT16 or FAT12 partitions it says it needs to be formatted or is unsupported. What am I doing wrong???

Can you ost a screenshot of the file you use as a partition? I don't know if it even works with Nokia Roms. Which one are you using exactly? I might be able to have a look at it.

feherneoh said:
Don't try it on Lumias, as your phone will stuck in Quallcomm HS-USB QDLoader mode, like my L520 did
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You tried this way ?
now you can't flash your Phone using Care Suite ?
did you try Reffbox or ATF to repair your Boot Loader and flash your phone again ?

Hey, Lumia owners, get out of here!
By the way, Huawei W1 has same access to partitions. You can join forces and develop one hack for both phones.

-W_O_L_F- said:
Hey, Lumia owners, get out of here!
By the way, Huawei W1 has same access to partitions. You can join forces and develop one hack for both phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think @reker can help us . he created a W1 Custom Rom

ngame said:
I think @reker can help us . he created a W1 Custom Rom
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not rom any more, I'm making tool can directly operate NTFS, so I can modify everything without losing any data. A hard work XD

reker said:
Not rom any more, I'm making tool can directly operate NTFS, so I can modify everything without losing any data. A hard work XD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can't you publish it ? or Private send it to me ?
This tool can modify every NTFS Partition ?

@-W_O_L_F- They do? Didn't know that, thanks for the info! Yeah, might be a good idea, actually.
@reker how do you plan on doing this? adding the tool to the rom or deploying it as a xap? I actually need a way to use hidden pages without the toast launcher, or to include the toast launcher into the rom since I can't deploy it anymore

ngame said:
Can't you publish it ? or Private send it to me ?
This tool can modify every NTFS Partition ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Proto-type now, NTFS is a biiiiiig thing. I will release it when finish.

Flashtools (MiFlash4Linux, Recovery from QDL/DLOAD, Partition resize)

Introduction
This is a collection of Tools and Resources for Flashing Mi2(s)(c).
MiFlash4Linux
https://github.com/M1cha/aries-image-builder
Core Recovery Package for MiFlash
This is a small package to Recovery MI2 from any bricked state. It has the following advantages over the official ones from Xiaomi:
They don't flash any ROM, just the core system(bootloaders, modem and recovery)
They are small which means both Download and Installation are faster
It directly installs custom Bootloader and TWRP. That means you easily get your device back to a modded status.
Please follow the official MiFlash guidelines for installation with the following differences:
the DLOAD config is called rawprogram_core.xml
the fastboot script is called flash_core.bat(or flash_core.sh for linux)
there's a script called flash_partition_table_and_core which is a alternative to flash_core.bat/sh.
It can be used to change the partition table.
USE THIS WITH THE CUSTOM BOOTLOADER INSTALLED BY ONE OF THE CORE PACKAGES ONLY. Xiaomi's bootloader will format your whole MMC device. THIS WOULD ERASE YOUR EFS AND YOU CAN'T MAKE CALLS ANYMORE
Changing the partition table
There are multiple packages available:
separated: Xiaomi's original layout with a virtual internal sdcard
separated_single: same as separated but without Dualsystem and bigger system partitions
unified: Xiaomi's new layout with /data/media support
unified_single: same as unified but without Dualsystem and bigger system partitions
unified_single_xiaomi: Xiaomi's version of unified_single
SkiFire13 said:
aries_core_unified_single.zip -> only MIUI > 5.4.x or M1cha's CM12.1 or latest AOSP5 works (only they can see Internal Storage, that now is a virtual sd-card in /data/media/0)
aries_separated_single.zip -> other roms
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Installation:
Backup all your data(including internal sdcard, and EFS just to be safe)
if you don't use the custom Bootloader yet, flash this package using flash_core.bat/sh first. See the big red warning above for more information
flash the package using flash_partition_table_and_core.bat/sh
boot into recovery(which is TWRP now), recreate the filesystems for all partitions(system,data,cache,sdcard to ext4) in the wipe menu and reinstall your ROM.
Version Information
Bootloader: https://github.com/M1cha/mi2_lk/commits/LA.AF.1.1-02810-8064.0
TWRP: v2.8.7.0
core partitions: aries_images_5.7.16_20150626.0000.4_5.0_cn_a63cddccfa.tgz
Download links for Mobile users:
aries_core_unified_single_xiaomi.zip
aries_core_unified_single.zip
aries_core_unified.zip
aries_core_separated_single.zip
aries_core_separated.zip
XDA:DevDB Information
Flashtools, Tool/Utility for the Xiaomi Mi 2
Contributors
m11kkaa
Source Code: https://github.com/M1cha/aries-image-builder
Version Information
Status: Stable
Created 2015-02-21
Last Updated 2015-07-27

First (as always)
Sent from my A0001

the singleboot packages causes the latest version of CM12 to fail booting because of SELinux enforcing. I'll upload a fixed package asap.

everything has been fixed and is up again.
Pls download everything again(especially MiFlash4Linux if u use that).

i think i will wait util the release of GRUB4Android....

acastrocab said:
i think i will wait util the release of GRUB4Android....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the purpose of this thread is not G4A
G4A doesn't allow u to change the partition table. I may publish a simple tool for it though.(so u don't need a computer).

m11kkaa said:
the purpose of this thread is not G4A
G4A doesn't allow u to change the partition table. I may publish a simple tool for it though.(so u don't need a computer).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey m11kkaa, I'm sorry for the noob question, but where can I download the files for windows? And how should I use them? I can't understand from the OP. Thanks in advantage for your help

MyNameIsKappa said:
Hey m11kkaa, I'm sorry for the noob question, but where can I download the files for windows? And how should I use them? I can't understand from the OP. Thanks in advantage for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On the top of the page just followed by the title, there is a "Download" tab, you could find the miracle at there ;p

MyNameIsKappa said:
Hey m11kkaa, I'm sorry for the noob question, but where can I download the files for windows? And how should I use them? I can't understand from the OP. Thanks in advantage for your help
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I can't find the links too, but i saw this link in another thread... http://forum.xda-developers.com/devdb/project/?id=8360#downloads

ancics said:
I can't find the links too, but i saw this link in another thread... http://forum.xda-developers.com/devdb/project/?id=8360#downloads
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can see this with a computer only.(Tapatalk doesn't work)
http://puu.sh/gamlY/dd7e4904f9.png

Hey M1cha, thank you! Great job!
I have some issues about the procedure:
1. I am not sure if already had a custom bootloader, so first i'll flash the package flash_core.bat :
- turn on mi2s in fastboot mode
- plug usb, device should appear in miflash(the program should be configured as the photo?)
- and click flash
- reboot phone, enter in fastboot mode again and do the same procedure with flash_partition_table_and_core.bat
Is that right?
It's easy to recreate the ext4 filesystem in TWRP? always used CWM....

m11kkaa said:
You can see this with a computer only.(Tapatalk doesn't work)
http://puu.sh/gamlY/dd7e4904f9.png
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that's why, I'll download it from a computer, thanks!
Sent from my MI 2S using XDA Free mobile app

@m11kkaa: thnx for the linux tools/scripts, it made my migration from CWM to single-system partition + new bootloader + TWRP easier.
BTW, I just wanted to migrate and keep my current CM11 for the time being. I had to fight a bit with restore from backup because I was not aware of the incompatibility between CWM and TWRP, luckily enough it eventually was sufficient to:
reformat system, data and cache in TWRP
flash the old CWM temporarily and restore boot, system and data
flash TWRP again and make new backups.
Proposal:
It would be good if you can change the heading style of "Installation" in the OP to be the same as e.g "Introduction", because now it looks like part of "Singleboot Partition Layout" section only. It is confusing IMHO.
In my case (i.e. flashing both flash_core.sh and then flash_partition_table_and_core.sh), I had to recreate ext4 FS not only on the system partition in TWRP, but also on the data partition (it could not be mounted and TWRP announced 0 MB size) and eventually also on the cache partition. This seems to contradict the info in OP, part "Singleboot Partition Layout", which mentions that data will be preserved.

@cogano thx for your feedback
it's weird that u had to recreate the filesystems because the positions of these partitions still are the same. I resized system1, modem1 and boot1 to 2KB and system, modem and boot to 2*oldsize-2KB. I checked the offsets and they still are the same.

I have another phone and plan to do the same some time in the next week.
I'll try to avoid the trial&error approach and keep notes between the steps.
P. S. I am quite proficient with Linux administration. However I have to admit that upgrading android devices is usually a risky thing: I would have to read lot of guides - often unclear and confusing - or just give it a go and resolve the problems as they appear. The latter one eventually seems to be faster

cogano said:
I have another phone and plan to do the same some time in the next week.
I'll try to avoid the trial&error approach and keep notes between the steps.
P. S. I am quite proficient with Linux administration. However I have to admit that upgrading android devices is usually a risky thing: I would have to read lot of guides - often unclear and confusing - or just give it a go and resolve the problems as they appear. The latter one eventually seems to be faster
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thx "parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 p" will help to debug these things.
If you don't have a ROM/Recovery with parted you can reboot to dload from the bootloader which will provide ur whole MMC as a usb drive to your computer.

i didn't see the download tab at first, so i downloaded the whole zip from the github and excuted the ./build.sh in Cygwin. Anyway, it works!

m11kkaa said:
you can reboot to dload from the bootloader which will provide ur whole MMC as a usb drive to your computer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a great feature!

superiyezi said:
i didn't see the download tab at first, so i downloaded the whole zip from the github and excuted the ./build.sh in Cygwin. Anyway, it works!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a Download "card" on top.

What are the partitions sizes after flashing the singleboot partition layout?

Serious help needed on flash dump

Hello all..
i have a serious problem with a industrial knitting machine. This machine works on a Windows CE 3.00 platform that for it's own turn, is compiled on a 16MB DiskOnChip. Unfortunatly. This DiskOnChip (from MSystems) has a damaged boot (or so it seems).. and no longer boots the machine. We actually don't know if it is the boot... but sure it seems so.
So.. what is the problem.. you may say? Well.. the Italian knitting machine's manufacturer has gone bankrupt... and the machine no longer has support. We have no software for it or Operating System for it! Also.. the MSystems is no longer available... and although it has been acquired by sandisk, sandisk does not give support has well on data retrieval.
All we have is a raw flash dump that we made on the diskonchip's Samsung k9f2808u0b NAND IC. This is based on TFFS .. but although i have read almost everything that there is on the web about this (including XDA) i seem to be unable to extract the internal NAND image files. I have used, RvSkills, NAND extractor, etc... without success..
When we open the raw dump with a hex editor... the data seems to be there... but i don't seem to be able to retrieve the file structure. We really need this machine working.. and this is our only solution.. any help would be highly appreciated.
Any XDA's Diskonchip Wizard reading this post or any WinCE Master over here that can help us? We really don't know what else can we do to retrieve the data from the NAND RAW dump.

[Discussion] An alternative for Tab 2 emmc bug & brick backup

Well, I have been going through many tab owner problems on this forum who have tried everything on the book to get their tab back running. this experimental process is only for those people who have no option left than to throw away their tab as a dead glorious paperweight or play with it as a Frisbee. hopefully it can recover or at least it can open a new way for getting out of a brick or perhaps be a good learning experience, just for the sake of it. what else would you want to do? if your device is un-repairable? at least this can take a backup for the complete device in a different way though.
So what really is this about?
Well, Samsung tab 2 emmc is pretty much notoriously getting scarier, either it is happening because of flashing a wrong kernel or doing wrong with your tab, or in some cases where people had no clue. A sudden attack and the tab was dead. you may be lucky to get a replacement and get the tab running up again. but not all could be solved and resolved.
but what if we provide the tab a second emmc(your external card emulated and working as an exact image of the internal emmc with all the system files with their partition on it?) sounds good eh? there are 2 sides of this coin. one, our device is not made that way and it's definitely not going to work at all, second, it can work after a little hardware modification provided you have the right files and right tools and a insanely expert brain. Now the chances of this working is like that of flipped coin landing on it's edges. very tricky.
But how we can achieve this then?
Well, there are users on the internet that have some sort of success in this, while it wasn't guaranteed for their device, that this process can work for all and there is definitely nothing like this sort ever found for our device. which is on omap chipset, it's the debrick method. you can't tell unless you are from the development department of Samsung. So, I would say even if it's 0.0000000001 percent of having a chance to work for us. I would like to keep it.
Debrick.img? what does it do? how to get it?
Well, this file is generally taken out from a stock rom from location /dev/block/mmcblk0 which is where pit stores the data for all the partition and from there we can extract all the important parts, including the boot-loader, recovery, cache, hidden, sbl1, sbl2, factoryfs param, modem, EFS, DataEFS to a .img file. (as far as my definition goes for better understanding). please feel free to go through all the post that you can find about the debrick, or if you have more knowledge please share.
I was just going through these posts.
The whole process for sg s3 http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660566
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1818321 a guide that explains about taking backup of the entire memory block with all partitions or single partition. it's quite old but informative.
fixing a bootloader
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2345860
there are different parts to it, first is getting the bootloader written on a external sd card. but we still don't know if our device will be able to treat the external sd card as an internal emmc. it is yet to be found out.
my theory is suppose if we can get out the whole partition along with system written on a external card, can we make the device treat it as a internal emmc? will it then be possible to revive a dead internal emmc tab? there are chances it might. still no practical though and no guarantees for sure.
but it makes you feel better, I managed to get out those partition on a .img file which could be written on a external card as well. basically an image of your emmc. this might be a good backup too for those who would like to be safe in case a emmc bug hits them too.
Now, To get this data we need volunteers to take these files from their working rooted stock rom and upload these files for every model of samsung tab, if they wish to contribute to our community, you are welcome. or at least keep it safe on their disks. although, this process will require atmost care as we are dealing with bootloaders here, and one wrong bootloder and it
won't work, as much as my knowledge goes, there are two- the ics and jb for our tab 2. still there are many other variants and I really have no clue, how to work this out all by myself. so, I would like other great minds share their wisdom upon this and please before sharing files, mention everything you can, right from your
1. Device model number
2. 8gb or 16gb
3. Bootloader(ics or jb)
4. Stock rom, custom rom,
5. firmware
6. Baseband
7. Country and to your name.
Now before pulling out this file, I have a doubt, as I have got few imgs option. there is 128mb, 200mb, 256mb, 512mb and also I have got one img of around 2.17gb as well which is the complete backup I could take out from my device.
I am not sure which one to choose that's going to work. people have mostly used 128mb file to get access to the download mode, I guess in that 128mb, there is enough files needed to boot your device into download mode and recover from hard bricks, but there is no evidence as for now in our device section as to which is suffient for us. So for first try, we take 128mb, and keep doubt aside for one process.
but suppose it's our emmc bug and we want to use the external as a image of the damaged internal, in that case I suppose we need to take out the whole info! is it really possible with the 2.17gb of my device complete data? ah, I would really like to know about the answer myself, in case it hits my device, I would be prepared myself
anyways to try this you must have a sd card reader and use a external card of 16gb or 8gb depending upon your device variant (card class 10 required, on others it has high chance of not working at all)
Now the process to extract the file
The script that you need to enter into terminal emulator(download one from playstore) this will backup a 128mb file on your sdcard.
Code:
#su
#busybox dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/debrick.img bs=1M count=128
128MB is arbitrary. on some devices 70MB was sufficient, on our device? maybe or maybe not. please test or help me answer this correctly, if I'm wrong. but untill then, use 128mb, if we fail, we will look for other options.
other dd commands
Code:
1. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/backup.img
backup whole partitons thus will be large size and takes more time.
Code:
2. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/debrick.img bs=1M count=70
70mb data from mmcblk0 will be copied to sd card
Code:
3 dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/debrick.img bs=1M count=512
512mb data from mmcblk0 will be copied to sd card
Code:
4. dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0 of=/sdcard/backup.img bs=4096
large size more than 4GB and more time consuming
Procedure
1. Connect the external sd card to the card reader move all the files to your pc and format it.
2. find the correct debrick.img image from post 2.
3. Download and extract this software win iso burner
4. Open the software win32diskimager.exe and browse the debrick.img
5. Successfully Write the debrick.img onto it.
6. Put the sdcard in your device
7. Pray, or do the cha cha, praise the droid lord.
8. switch it on or press power button + volume down/up, whatever you can.
9. if you can then get into download mode, you can try to flash stock firmware or dance your way around.
10. report us back what happened.​

1. Download Debrick dump imgs. (128mb)
Samsung tab 2 10.1 P5100 16gb
jellybean boot-loader.
was on custom 5.1 rom and twrp recovery from UAE firmware.
Samsung Tab 2 P3100 16gb
shared by @jak978 on post 6 Hit thanks for him.
more will come, when people will share.

for other guides and ways

interesting, unfortunately my broken emmc have replaced with eemc from note 2, tho mine is p3100

jak978 said:
interesting, unfortunately my broken emmc have replaced with eemc from note 2, tho mine is p3100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So, you're one of those lucky ones. Getting a replacement is still the best way. So, do you think my theory here could work? Anyways it would be an interesting answer to find out. But people would need to share files here first for any samsung tab 2 model. I hope it becomes helpful rather than just interesting.

billysam said:
So, you're one of those lucky ones. Getting a replacement is still the best way. So, do you think my theory here could work? Anyways it would be an interesting answer to find out. But people would need to share files here first for any samsung tab 2 model. I hope it becomes helpful rather than just interesting.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
here you go tab2 P3100 16GB

Anybody having any luck with this procedure??

Rag888 said:
Anybody having any luck with this procedure??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well I still haven't faced the emmc bug, so can't really test on my device yet. nobody else who faced this issue had tried this and posted or shared any of the findings here.

Updating the emmc firmware via. ISP gives back life to >80% of affected devices.
16 GB Tab 2 have a known faulty EMMC (MAG2GA). It can happen, that your EMMC get "read only", so you can't perform any write actions (also you can't format) anymore.
From the EMMC data sheet:
5.1.7 End of Life Management:
The end of device life time is defined when there is no more available reserved block for bad block management in the device. When the device reaches to end of its life time, device shall change its state to permanent write protection state. In this case, write operation is not allowed any more but read operation are still allowed.
But, reliability of the operation can not be guaranteed after end of life.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
On a faulty EMMC firmware it happens a lot faster if the emmc reaches a wrong value.
Sadly Patching the emmc fw isn't possible running the device, at least there's no known kernel on chip power-on Method...
Those from europe can contact @html6405 , he is able to update the emmc firmware and he can also replace the emmc if needed.
Note:
Sharing a whole copy if mmcblk0 isn't good, because it will include efs partition which is sensible data.
~ All my work, news etc. on http://andi34.github.io ~

Found something interesting printing the pit using heimdall:
https://paste.omnirom.org/view/4173cc20
Someone knows what the GANG partition is for?
I wonder if it is the emmc firmware because emmc.bin is stored there...
I am waiting to get the fixed emmc firmware, i might be able to tell you once i have it.
~ All my work, news etc. on http://andi34.github.io ~

Android-Andi said:
Note:
Sharing a whole copy if mmcblk0 isn't good, because it will include efs partition which is sensible data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, better to keep them private. Users do not share, just keep a backup with yourself.
thanks for your thorough research.
Android-Andi said:
Found something interesting printing the pit using heimdall:
https://paste.omnirom.org/view/4173cc20
Someone knows what the GANG partition is for?
I wonder if it is the emmc firmware because emmc.bin is stored there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did notice the GANG partition since you mentioned it(strange I never realized this before as I have looked at the pit file many times earlier as well.) located at 0x64C.
it does look like the emmc firmware partition. what else it should have?

jak978 said:
interesting, unfortunately my broken emmc have replaced with eemc from note 2, tho mine is p3100
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hi jak978,
i plan to replace my p3100 emmc with p5100 emmc, can i just flash p3100 firmware using odin after change the emmc?
some more, can u re upload the debrick dump for p3100, it says "file not found" in your link.
regards,
alms

here you go tab2 P3100 16GB UNABLE TO GOT FILE PLEASE SHARE THE FILE PLEASE
---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 PM ----------
billysam said:
1. Download debrick dump imgs. (128mb)
samsung tab 2 10.1 p5100 16gb
jellybean boot-loader.
Was on custom 5.1 rom and twrp recovery from uae firmware.
samsung tab 2 p3100 16gb
shared by @jak978 on post 6 hit thanks for him.
More will come, when people will share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
please re share p3100 file i need it my tab was not work or trell me any way to get emmc chip from online or else process
my tab only in condition on restart restart.....
No recovery and firmware ll able to write on p3100
please help your reply too much helpful for me please give file p3100 so i can use your method

asiffrluv said:
here you go tab2 P3100 16GB UNABLE TO GOT FILE PLEASE SHARE THE FILE PLEASE
---------- Post added at 12:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:49 PM ----------
please re share p3100 file i need it my tab was not work or trell me any way to get emmc chip from online or else process
my tab only in condition on restart restart.....
No recovery and firmware ll able to write on p3100
please help your reply too much helpful for me please give file p3100 so i can use your method
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/192025936615
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using XDA Free mobile app

Hi,
I just tried this method. The tab boot on the sdcard, i have the charging logo displayed, and then screen turns black. The driver change from omap4430 to Android, and keep this driver until i unplug the usb cable.
On linux, the tab device is recognized as Android. Same on windows (loaded in virtualbox from linux).
adb device display an unauthorized device.
So from this step, it is still impossible to flash the tab.
Anyway thanks for sharing this; even if its painfull to lose a tab, it is nice to learn how all this work.
if other people have more information to share, i would appreciate any new info on this subject

billysam said:
1. Download Debrick dump imgs. (128mb)
Samsung tab 2 10.1 P5100 16gb
jellybean boot-loader.
was on custom 5.1 rom and twrp recovery from UAE firmware.
Samsung Tab 2 P3100 16gb
shared by @jak978 on post 6 Hit thanks for him.
more will come, when people will share.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Links are dead can you update them?

@Android-Andi @billysam @jak978
Sorry for pinging do you still have the p3100 debrick img?

No, never had it.

Ugh dev host dosent work in 2020

Still waiting for the link