Database Users

flashing custom roms different method.

****IV: Flashing a custom ROM
1. Download the Rooted 2.1 v0.8T2 zip file.
2. Copy the WHOLE zip file to the root directory of your SD card. (You can enable USB-MS enable from your shiny new recovery to mount your phone as a USB Mass Storage device.)
3. Choose Wipe. Choose data/factory Reset (In the stock ROM, the dalvik is stored in the data and you don't have an EXT partition... yet.)
4. Choose Flash zip from sdcard. Find the eris_0_3.zip file.
5. Wait until it shows as complete and choose reboot system now.****
************* ok so in this root process of flashing custom roms it requires using the recovery menu. my trackball is F***ED up and i cant move it down to select any other option then reboot phone. is there another method of flashing a custom rom rather then using the recovery menu? can i use some sdk tool or cmd to flash this? how about renaming the custom rom to PB0000 or whatever it is than flashing it like i did to get 2.1root? please someone reply im dieing to get wireless tether for my xbox for my roadtrip this weekend please reply!!!!!

Umm, you could possibly make a .img file with the contents of the \system\ folder of the rom and then user "fastboot flash system system.img" to put it on there. Not 100% sure if that'd work, but it should.

Umm, you could possibly make a .img file with the contents of the \system\ folder of the rom and then user "fastboot flash system system.img" to put it on there. Not 100% sure if that'd work, but it should.

One question...
Why?

jcase said:
One question...
Why?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
my trackball is F***ED up and i cant move it down to select any other option then reboot phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
reading > you

GrdLock said:
reading > you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
care < you
LOL.
Fastboot 1.5 back in
Return the phone

How about:
fastboot flash system system.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash userdata userdata.img
fastboot reboot

^^
ill try your method after I get home from school, unless my dad takes me to Verizon. my trackball limits me a lot from what I can do (wish I could drive haha)
Sent from my Eris using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

I don't know if it would work but you could to run the MR2 RUU and replace the rom.zip with the one for the 1.5 rollback (renamed rom.zip). I think it will probably give you the version difference error but if nothing else works it's worth a shot.

You'll need to use mkyaffs2image to create a .img file of the \system\ folder of the ROM you want to install. Or maybe someone else will make one for you.

haha I'm not that lucky no one would make one for my sped Eris
Sent from my Eris using the XDA mobile application powered by Tapatalk

DISCLAIMER: I accept no responsibility for the outcome of this. I think it will work, but I can't promise anything.
K, you can try this.
Download these files and place them in your SDK's tools directory.
boot.img: http://www.sendspace.com/file/l404hq
system.img: http://www.sendspace.com/file/7eclsz
Open your command prompt and switch to your tools folder. Boot your phone into FastBoot mode. You can either power it down, then hold VolDown + Power, and select fastboot, or type "adb reboot bootloader" and select fastboot.
Now type these commands in your command prompt.
fastboot flash boot boot.img
fastboot flash system system.img
If that works, it'll install my eris21official-root ROM onto your phone. Then you can download the wireless tether app off my website and install it. Be sure first thing you do "adb shell" then "su" and allow the Superuser popup that will come on your phone before you attempt to tether.

i love you expect a donation comming ur way and i brought my droid to verizon and im gettign a free one shipped to my house and i keep mine so im double lucky, i can use that as a text droid if u need me to test any roms or anytihng

next task, how to make vinilla sence flash

WAIT while flashing system.img it says FAILD :remote data length is too large

Palmbxr said:
WAIT while flashing system.img it says FAILD :remote data length is too large
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your phone has a warranty. Downgrade fully to 1.5 and call them.
Or, if you want to completely make sure it's void, but have a working trackball, put in a new one.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=657468

[Q] How To Install Clockwork?

Hello All!
So my gt540 has already been rooted and fastboot works. I have been running a 2.2 rom flashed through fastboot for a few months now, but I would like to get clockwork recovery working now for the added features of flashing zips and restoring and whatnot.
I have has a lot of trouble finding clear directions on how and what to do to get clockwork recovery on this device. Like I said, I already have root and fastboot is working as well. Can anyone please provide me with instructions on what I need to do from this point?
I have looked at this thread already, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=817903, but I am still unsure of what exactly I am to do. Also, the mirrors are broken on this page.
Thank you for your help!

download the app root toolbox from the market
and then download a recovery .img and go to advance
flash recovery, find the file and press on it.
wait until finish and then all done!
Or here are better instructions!!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=16783348&postcount=1
Installing recovery:
You have multiple choices to choose from.
ClockworkMod Recovery 2.5.1.8 (Recommended)
ClockworkMod Recovery 4.x (Recommended but you may run into incompatible .zip files, download the recovery_clockwork_x.x.x.x_swift.zip file)
Amon RA 2.2.1 (Recommended)
Amon RA 1.7.0.1 (Not recommended due to incompatibility with zip files and recovery backups. Also .zips must be signed)
Download the recovery image of your choice (I strongly recommend Clockwork 2.5.1.8)
Next put your phone in Fastboot mode by rebooting then holding Camera+Power, make sure USB Cable is plugged in. Also let Windows search Windows Update for drivers.
Download fastboot.exe from here: http://adf.ly/2M8Hi and extract it to the desktop. Also put the recovery image you downloaded onto the desktop too.
Be sure to have your fastboot drivers installed, if you use Vista/Windows 7 then the driver should be auto-downloaded from Windows Update, if you use XP or the drivers won't install from Windows Update, then look at this.
Open a command prompt and type the following:
Code:
cd Desktop
fastboot devices (if you see ? fastboot then your device is recognized)
fastboot flash recovery name_of_recovery.img
fastboot reboot
When fastboot says rebooting, hold down HOME and wait. You should see clockwork pop up. Recovery is now on your phone. You can delete the fastboot, kdz and recovery file from your pc because we won't be needing them again. Unless you need to use fastboot.exe again, but just download the fastboot.zip again if you need it) The other files, we don't need.
(NOTE: If your phone reboots with no boot logos (LG logo and animation), or when you flash recovery and it doesn't come up, follow the steps found here. Thanks to fishears for the post!)
Now, installing custom ROMs. Pick any ROM you'd like from the ROM Development section, if you can, get the recovery version, it is much easier to install. Determine if it is a recovery backup, or update.zip
Recovery backups usually contain some .img files and a nandroid.md5 file. The folder containing these files will need to go in the sdcard\clockworkmod\backup folder. Flash them by going to Backup/Restore>Restore>Then pick the backup folder.
Recovery update.zips contain three (or four) files/folders:
boot.img (file)
install-busybox.sh (file, only appears in SOME ROMs)
system (folder)
META-INF (folder)
DO NOT EXTRACT THESE, just put the .zip file on your sdcard, then go into recovery and go to install .zip from sdcard>choose .zip>pick the .zip you downloaded. (NOTE FOR SWIFTDROID: You MUST put the update-cm-xxxxx.zip file found in the SwiftDroid_x.x.x.x_Recovery.zip on your sdcard for it to install!!!)
THANKS TO EFFORTLESS FOR INSTRUCTIONS!!

Thank you thank you very much sir!

kweng_ca said:
Thank you thank you very much sir!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ur welcome!
Just thank me!
Sent from my GT540

[Q] N4 stuck in boot loop after OTA update

Hello,
I saw that the OTA update to Lollipop was available on my phone today, so I went ahead and let it download. Upon completion of the download, it restarted and applied patches, then restarted again and has been stuck in boot loop for about an hour. After reading several other threads on how to try to reset the phone, I'm stuck. When I try power + volume up or down, the LED status indicator flashes red and I never get to any kind of other screen. Am I completely screwed? I previously had stock 4.4.2 with no modifications.

Finally was able to get to the bootloader menu. Apparently having the phone plugged into the charger was preventing me from getting there for some reason. I ended up having to wipe the phone to get it to boot

so you can get into clock recovery right? download nexus 4 toolkit..that might save your phone. I suggest you to unroot and flash everything to stock and then unlock again and start everything from scratch. good luck.

Similar issue on an OTA upgrade to an unrooted N4. It's stuck on the Lollipol boot screen with the rotating Circle thingies.
I can get to the Android System Recovery but there's no CWM or TWRP on my N4. I'm guessing a factory reset will fix it but is there a way to preserve my pics/files on the phone before doing so?

Sportfreunde said:
Similar issue on an OTA upgrade to an unrooted N4. It's stuck on the Lollipol boot screen with the rotating Circle thingies.
I can get to the Android System Recovery but there's no CWM or TWRP on my N4. I'm guessing a factory reset will fix it but is there a way to preserve my pics/files on the phone before doing so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I guess TWRP Recovery has option to enable MTP and you can access the internal SD card by connecting mobile with computer using usb cable.
---------- Post added at 06:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:37 PM ----------
Sportfreunde said:
Similar issue on an OTA upgrade to an unrooted N4. It's stuck on the Lollipol boot screen with the rotating Circle thingies.
I can get to the Android System Recovery but there's no CWM or TWRP on my N4. I'm guessing a factory reset will fix it but is there a way to preserve my pics/files on the phone before doing so?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Flash TWRP Recovery using fastboot.
1. If you have otg y cable, connect it and use file manager to copy all the files.
2. OTG method is failed then select “Mount”, then select only “Data” and connect your Nexus 4 to your computer and Enable MTP in TWRP. now you can use adb pull and push commands.

I ended up going the factory reset route, which wasn't really a bad thing. My photos had been backed up in dropbox and the play store remembered all the apps and were able to reload them. The only things I really had to do was reload some music onto the phone and re-enter passwords for apps.

Same story here: sideloaded the OTA zip file, then had bootloop. Tried a few approaches, but none worked. In the end only wiping the data was the solution for me. Lost some userdata in a few important Apps...

I went through this yesterday. The only way to get it to boot is a Factory Reset from Recovery. It works like magic, but sucks you lose the data.

Got the OTA yesterday and also got a bootloop(stuck in boot screen animation). I couldnt afford losing my photos/videos as i had no backup , so i figured out a super easy to get it to boot without wiping data .
I was unrooted with stock recovery running stock 4.4.2, bootloader was unlocked. I flashed CWM recovery through fastboot and wiped chache+ Dalvik from there then simply rebooted the phone .
I had already tried wiping cache from the stock Android recovery,needless to say that didnt work for me.
If anyone else is having the same problem please try the method above and report back, cheers!

I post this on Google Product Forum 2 days ago. Hope it helps
https://productforums.google.com/for...Q/wDzRUm4b2UsJ
(updated 29/11/2014)[not perfect but it is a SOLUTION]
The idea of this is to downgrade your nexus 4 without wiping your data, which means stuff you will need includes:
1. adb and fastboot on your computer (I am using mac but you can find it on windows as well. There are tones of website and forums telling you the latest method of getting it onto your computer)
2. factory image of nexus 4(I use 4.4.4, since that's what it was. I don't have the time and energy to try to do the same thing with lollipop. you can try can leave a comment).
update: do NOT try to flash 5.0 rom using this method. You will be stuck at boot loop again
3. usb cable
4. nexus 4 with unlocked bootloader(the process of unlocking bootloader will wipe your device)
5. computer
steps
1. unzip the factory image (something.tgz)
2. for me, after unzipping the .tgz, I still find another .zip inside. unzip that too.
3. hold vol+, vol-, and power button simultaneously to enter fastboot mode
4. open terminal(mac)(it would probably be cmd for windows)
5. connect your nexus 4(in fastboot)
6. to make sure it connect successfully, type "fastboot devices". if something like "005040c0d54bb291 fastboot" appears, you are good. Otherwise, try reconnect your device/boot to fastboot again/use another usb cable
7.now we need to tell the terminal to navigate to the location of the unzipped factory image. to do that, i suggest you put the unzipped folder to somewhere easy to find, like desktop. these are some commands to help you navigate:
"ls" allows you to look at whats inside the current directory of the terminal. For example, this is the output after typing "ls" for me:
some folder Photos
nexus4image.tgz how many folders do you have
5.zip occam-ktu84p
more folder occam-ktu84p.zip
after knowing where you are, use "cd" (below) to go to your folder
"cd" means change directory. For example. "cd Photos" will brings me to the "Photos" folder. And then if I type ls, I will see a whole bunch of photos in my photos. If you go to the wrong folder, type "cd ..", and it will bring you back to the previous folder.
8. flash bootloader.
enter the following command, BUT REMEMBER TO CHANGE THE NAME TO FIT YOURS(DIFFERENT VERSIONS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FILE NAME AT THE END(type ls first to help you type the correct name)
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-mako-makoz30d.img
9. reboot bootloader. just copy and paste
fastboot reboot-bootloader
10. flash radio
enter the following command, BUT REMEMBER TO CHANGE THE NAME TO FIT YOURS(DIFFERENT VERSIONS HAVE SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT FILE NAME AT THE END(type ls first to help you type the correct name)
fastboot flash radio radio-mako-m9615a-cefwmazm-2.0.1701.03.img
11. reboot bootloader. just copy and paste
fastboot reboot-bootloader
12. flash system
system.img is located inside the zip, use ls to help you navigate. This steps takes the longest time, total time on this step is 87 seconds while the others are less then 1 second
fastboot flash system system.img
13. flash boot
boot.img is located inside the zip, use ls to help you navigate.
fastboot flash boot boot.img
14. flash recovery
fastboot.img is located inside the zip, use ls to help you navigate.
fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
15. format cache(not the memory, so everything should be fine)
fastboot format cache
16. reboot and wait
this will reboot your device. You probably have to wait for a while to initialise all the apps. after than you are good to go!
fastboot reboot
credit: my friend for giving me this idea + http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexu...image-t2010312 + HelpMyNexus

[HELP] Bricked Umi Zero

Hello. Sorry for my english. I want flash my phone via rootjoy to Arcatarc's MIUmIZERO and i only can see miui logo. next i want back to stock rom from needrom via sp flash tool, i followed instructions and i stop, when red status back not change for 20 minutes. and i can't charge my phone, can't conected to pc, can't turn on, looks like dead. How unbrick my phone? please help
problem solved

how did you solve it? please let me know as i am in the same boat

If it's stuck on the MIUI screen then it's possible the bootloader wasn't flashed properly.
If you can reboot the phone in fastboot you can flash the bootloader via PC.

it is dead . the phone wont turn on . the pc wont recognise it anymore , it was fine ... untill i tried to flash stock through sp flash tool .
i was running antarcts emui,.... tried flashing using the method on umi digi forum : http://umidigi.com/forums/topic/how-to-restore-rom-version-3-03-2/ ... preloader was unticked, and when i tried firmware uopgrade option...nothing happened, and the phone was dead after that.

thepopos said:
If it's stuck on the MIUI screen then it's possible the bootloader wasn't flashed properly.
If you can reboot the phone in fastboot you can flash the bootloader via PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I managed to make it boot.
The problem is I have twrp and some chinese recovery . And I cant go back to stock.
Fastboot cant flash recovery for some reason ... so I can go back to rootjoy.

use adb side load an try to flash a working rom, the original one from umi website or emui.

can you get in recovery mode? volume (+ or - try both) and power button for some seconds
if yes go adb side load, (check google) and transfer an original rom, then flash it again in the recovery

My Umi Zero is bricked, because I cannot mount /system. I can get into the TWRP, but I cannot do anything, even restore my backup because of this. Does anyone have idea what to do?

Pospa420 said:
My Umi Zero is bricked, because I cannot mount /system. I can get into the TWRP, but I cannot do anything, even restore my backup because of this. Does anyone have idea what to do?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If the system is unstable with popups etc or with damaged partitions you can get past that with TWRP.
Boot into recovery Wipe/Advanced Wipe. Then after that is completed, without rebooting, Format Data. That should sort out your partitions.
Then Install ROM from the recovery. It will need to be on the device. If your new ROM is not already there plug in a USB lead and transfer the zip file from your pc.
If you want to re-install your backup, do that instead.
If that doesn't work Backup in TWRP, even though there is no system. Then copy your Nandroid backup (must have been made via TWRP) and paste into the same folder as the Backup you just made, overwriting if asked.
I have had to do all this myself!
Good luck

Hi all!
I have the simular problem.
Umi Zero can not start.
But recovery seems to be working.
1) TWRP recovery 2.8.2
After full wipe, my TWRP recovery write "Unable to mount /SYSTEM"
The same message I have if I try to flash original 3.10 ROM via TWRP.
It is impossible to mount or format or repair SYSTEM via recovery
But it is possible to see files in FileManager and go to Fastboot and ADB mode
2) ADB and Fastboot mode.
Impossible to flash any partition.
"boot" - checksum error
"recovery" - "not support flash" message
"system" - filesystem created, start "erasing" and freeze. If I disconnect phone, have got message "failed (too many links)"
adb sideload does not work also
3) SP Flash Tool
I tried with full 3.10 ROM and with CRT 3.0 recovery
Download mode and Format+Download mode.
The same result: yellow bar finished and got message "Checksum error" or something like that.
All this experiments change nothing in phone. I still have TWRP recovery and "unable to mount /SYSTEM" message.
Any advices?
I am not English-speaking guy, as you guess), sorry.

It looks like memory become write-protected...

YrP said:
Hi all!
I have the simular problem.
Umi Zero can not start.
But recovery seems to be working.
1) TWRP recovery 2.8.2
After full wipe, my TWRP recovery write "Unable to mount /SYSTEM"
The same message I have if I try to flash original 3.10 ROM via TWRP.
It is impossible to mount or format or repair SYSTEM via recovery
But it is possible to see files in FileManager and go to Fastboot and ADB mode
2) ADB and Fastboot mode.
Impossible to flash any partition.
"boot" - checksum error
"recovery" - "not support flash" message
"system" - filesystem created, start "erasing" and freeze. If I disconnect phone, have got message "failed (too many links)"
adb sideload does not work also
3) SP Flash Tool
I tried with full 3.10 ROM and with CRT 3.0 recovery
Download mode and Format+Download mode.
The same result: yellow bar finished and got message "Checksum error" or something like that.
All this experiments change nothing in phone. I still have TWRP recovery and "unable to mount /SYSTEM" message.
Any advices?
I am not English-speaking guy, as you guess), sorry.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi
Did you Advance Wipe and Format Data?
I found that worked.
Alternatively, you could use Rootjoy to put just about any ROM on. CM 12.1 works ok.
Once you have a stable installation, install a custom recovery like TWRP 2.8.7 from Needrom. I used Mobileuncle, an app from the Playstore. However, I looked just now and it doesn't seem to be available.
I have tried Rashr, but couldn't get it to work.
Once you have it all stable you can flash the ROM you really want via TWRP.
Good luck

Advance Wipe and Format Data or flashing new stable ROM via TWRP did not work for me. The same result- unable to mount /system.
Rootjoy and Mobileuncle could be used if phone is working. My phone works in recovery mode only.
I tried to flash different recoveries but did not find the way to do this. As I wrote, Sp Flash Tool, Fastboot and Adb Sideload did not make any changes to my recovery. I think, flash new recovery will help if I found the way)
Or if I discover the method to test and\or repair /system partition from PC
But thank you for answer)

@YrP
Rootjoy works from your pc

Yes, Rootjoy- works)
But for establish connection phone must work too.
And not in recovery mode.

@YrP
I have already done all this with my daughter's Zero.
However, it's in bits at the moment while we wait for a part from China. So I can't go through the process with you live, step by step.
I am in the UK.
If you send the phone to me I will try and fix it for you.
PM me if you want to go ahead and I will let you have my address.

I am in Ukraine, it is too far from UK)
I will keep trying to find the way to fix it by myself.
But thank you very much for your attention and advices.

@YrP
I have got my daughter's phone back together and fixed (mostly).
Did you manage to get your Zero going?
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA-Developers mobile app

@goldbear
My UMI is still bricked(
It is flash memory problem, I think.
I am trying to find the tool to remap internal memory, to move SYSTEM part to other physical place. But did not find it yet.
What was your way?

Zero stutters, processes crash or the phone will not boot into System
Have you already tried a Factory Reset or re-installed the ROM?
What can you do?
You could try the following. However, if your phone blows up, orders a takeaway or elopes with your girl-friend, please don’t blame me.
1. Provided you already have TWRP custom recovery installed and your phone is powered down boot into Recovery: hold the volume down and power buttons until the Zero logo appears then let go
2. Select Wipe/Advanced and select Dalvik Cache, System, Cache and Data. Slide to execute
3. Select Format Data/ type yes and slide to execute
4. Reboot into Recovery without installing a new ROM
5. Select Backup, choose SD card rather than internal storage and give the file a memorable title like Blank Backup and date. Select Boot, Logo, Recovery and Uboot. Slide to execute
6. The next step requires you to have a Nandroid backup made via TWRP already made of a stable ROM. If it isn’t stable or you don’t have one I have attached a clean backup below. It’s derived from Cyanogen Mod 12.1. This is based on Lollipop 5.1, with Gapps and rooted. I have found this to work. As the title of the file suggests, it’s a factory reset, ie no personal data included. Download it to your pc unzip and save it.
7. Connect your phone to your pc via USB cable and open Windows Explorer
8. Find your stable backup or the one below and drill down until you see the folder with 15 files, starting with data.info and ending with uboot.emmc.win. Select all and Copy.
9. Open another window and find the TWRP folder on the SC card of your phone. Drill down to the same folder containing similar files as to step 8 above. Click in folder and Paste. When prompted select Copy and Replace, all and Ok
10. If your pc doesn’t show your phone and the SD card, in recovery select Mount and USB storage.
11. In Recovery select Restore and the Blank Backup (or whatever file name you gave it, now populated with usable ‘data’). Slide to execute
12. Give it time to load and boot up
13. You should be good to go!
If you don’t like CM 12.1 installing a new Launcher from the Playstore, like Cheetah will make it run smoother. Everything after that is down to you.
Of course, you could flash another ROM via TWRP
The backup below was made via TWRP 2.8.6. This is also attached below. You can install this via a previous version of TWRP as an image. Unzip it first.
Assuming this doesn’t wreck your phone and you like the guide please click Thanks below.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByoLjFrSKxLwc01UUWZBZEQtbWs/view?usp=sharing
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByoLjFrSKxLweGhqNGJuVGV1a0U/view?usp=sharing

Nexus Player Stuck In Bootloop

Hello,
I'm hoping to get some help with my Nexus Player that has been down since N Preview 1.
To preface this, yes I've been rooting and romming for years, I would not consider myself a "newb" in the slightest but no matter what I try, I can't get this working.
I enrolled in the dev program and did the OTA for Preview 1. It got pretty laggy so I went into settings and just had it reboot. Ever since I rebooted it, it's been stuck in a boot loop.
I tried the following things in this order using stock recovery only because for some reason I can't get it to flash a custom recovery (and yes, bootloader is unlocked):
1. Wipe cache via stock recovery
2. Factory reset
3. Flash factory marshmallow image via bootloader
4. Manually flash each partition separately
5. Wipe individual partitions and then reflash their respective images
6. Nexus Root Toolkit automated "Back to stock" feature
7. Flash Google's OTA Zip file
8. Ask for help on XDA.
Regardless of what I do or how I do it, I get errors in the command prompt when flashing via fastboot and when I try to do anything via stock recovery I get the error that you see in the video.
Any help would really be appreciated.
https://www.youtube.com/embed/RVctbNjKnRE

Here's a follow up video that shows the errors that I'm getting in detail.
Thanks again for your help.

Is there really anyone that can help me?

Which method did you use to try to flash a custom recovery? Nexus Root Toolkit fails for that function but I have had success when I use the fastboot flash recovery command manually. If you manage to get TWRP 3.0.2-0 to flash and reboot in to it, you can try flashing the latest system.img file from the recovery mode's GUI (after you've saved the file on to an external storage device).

Thanks. I'm know I tried to flash twrp manually at some point but I'll give it a shot. I may also try the "Boot into Custom Recovery" that a lot of the toolkits offer. Although, I'm pretty sure I've tried that in the past too.
I'll update with results.

GabbyWC said:
Which method did you use to try to flash a custom recovery? Nexus Root Toolkit fails for that function but I have had success when I use the fastboot flash recovery command manually. If you manage to get TWRP 3.0.2-0 to flash and reboot in to it, you can try flashing the latest system.img file from the recovery mode's GUI (after you've saved the file on to an external storage device).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright,
I tried flashing via fastboot and the command prompt completes and says it's finished but when I reboot to recovery I just get the standard Android recovery.
I tried locking the bootloader so I could then unlock it and force a factory reset but it wouldn't even allow me to lock it.
Again the command prompt made it seem like it worked just fine but it didn't actually do it.

Try the fastboot boot recovery (filename) command as an alternative. I suggest not using the current version of Nexus Root Toolkit for anything recovery-related when it comes to the Nexus Player. In other words, use the AndroidSDKSlim package and try things manually with the command prompt.

Okay. I'll give it a shot.

GabbyWC said:
Try the fastboot boot recovery (filename) command as an alternative. I suggest not using the current version of Nexus Root Toolkit for anything recovery-related when it comes to the Nexus Player. In other words, use the AndroidSDKSlim package and do things with the command line utility.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That command won't even work for me.
Fastboot boot recovery [file path to twrp]
https://goo.gl/photos/mYKGkxEfsaJE6gXK7

According to the attached picture, the actual command may be slightly different. Based on your most recent pictures, however, it seems that you may not be going through the manual process as I would expect. What I mean, for example, is:
1) Download AndroidSDKSlim.zip and extract it to your C: drive. Copy the twrp.img file to the platform-tools folder.
2) Use the search function of Windows 10 to load cmd.exe.
3) Navigate to the platform-tools directory by using the cd (directory path) command.
4) After you've navigated in to the platform-tools folder, try the recovery flash command I suggested earlier or the one shown in the attached screenshot.

GabbyWC said:
According to the attached picture, the actual command may be slightly different. Based on your most recent pictures, however, it seems that you may not be going through the manual process as I would expect. What I mean, for example, is:
1) Download AndroidSDKSlim.zip and extract it to your C: drive. Copy the twrp.img file to the platform-tools folder.
2) Use the search function of Windows 10 to load cmd.exe.
3) Navigate to the platform-tools directory by using the cd (directory path) command.
4) After you've navigated in to the platform-tools folder, try the recovery flash command I suggested earlier or the one shown in the attached screenshot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've uploaded what I did to YouTube.

Okay, I watched your video. The picture I attached in my previous post says to type in fastboot boot twrp.img whereas you still left in the word recovery before the file name.

GabbyWC said:
Okay, I watched your video. The picture I attached in my previous post says to type in fastboot boot twrp.img whereas you still left in the word recovery before the file name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Holy moly, didn't even notice! I'll try now and report back!

GabbyWC said:
Okay, I watched your video. The picture I attached in my previous post says to type in fastboot boot twrp.img whereas you still left in the word recovery before the file name.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Alright! I tried it and instead of rebooting into a recovery, it just reboots the bootloader.

Which recovery does it boot in to if you then use the bottom button to access recovery mode immediately after this step?
---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
If that still doesn't let you in to the custom recovery, I'll quote WugFresh on something else you can try with his Nexus Root Toolkit (if you haven't already done so).
2. The toolkit can be used to flash these factory packages, but if you are experiencing "system.img" not found errors, due to a possible issue with google's package - simply enable FORCE FLASH MODE, which is in the toolkits main options menu (just make sure you have selected the correct device before flashing).
3. If you experienced any weirdness or you device is messed up, simply use "Flash Stock + Unroot' with "Softbrick mode" to restore your device back to stock (you can also use this to flash Lollipop directly - which, as I just mentioned - may be good to enable force flash mode first).

See next post.

GabbyWC said:
Which recovery does it boot in to if you then use the bottom button to access recovery mode immediately after this step?
---------- Post added at 04:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:39 PM ----------
If that still doesn't let you in to the custom recovery, I'll quote WugFresh on something else you can try with his Nexus Root Toolkit (if you haven't already done so).
2. The toolkit can be used to flash these factory packages, but if you are experiencing "system.img" not found errors, due to a possible issue with google's package - simply enable FORCE FLASH MODE, which is in the toolkits main options menu (just make sure you have selected the correct device before flashing).
3. If you experienced any weirdness or you device is messed up, simply use "Flash Stock + Unroot' with "Softbrick mode" to restore your device back to stock (you can also use this to flash Lollipop directly - which, as I just mentioned - may be good to enable force flash mode first).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I get the stock Android recovery if I reboot into recovery immediately after that step using the hardware button.
Also, I've tried the force flash through NRT, I've tried manually flashing each image via NRT (and via command prompt via fastboot). It seems to be able to write every single partition EXCEPT the system partition, and clearly it's having issues getting a recovery to stick too.

It's unfortunate that none of these troubleshooting ideas has worked for you. If a preview image of Android N caused this, I'm starting to think that a factory image of a stable Android N release may be necessary to fully flash the device.

GabbyWC said:
It's unfortunate that none of these troubleshooting ideas has worked for you. If a preview image of Android N caused this, I'm starting to think that a factory image of a stable Android N release may be necessary to fully flash the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think that will work. Regardless of what image I'm flashing that shouldn't change the fact that I can't write to the system partition at all or that a recovery won't stick.

GabbyWC said:
It's unfortunate that none of these troubleshooting ideas has worked for you. If a preview image of Android N caused this, I'm starting to think that a factory image of a stable Android N release may be necessary to fully flash the device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I've waited all this time to flash the stable Nougat build on this Nexus Player and I'm still seeing all the same errors.
When I boot into stock recovery and "adb sideload" the update I get errors saying "unable to mount cache" and when I try to flash via fastboot I get errors saying it can't write the system partition.
I wish we could get some more attention to this thread, this is beginning to seem like it's impossible...