Database Users

[Q] current rooting/2.3 instructions

As the thread title states, I'm looking for info on the steps to root my stock MT4g, and install the new ROM that's floating around. I'm pretty technically capable, but the info I've found looks slightly dated. When I was active in the iPhone jailbreak scene, using old directions could brick a phone pretty easy, or prevent future jailbreaking. I haven't kept up with this scene enough to be able to know what's dated and what isn't.
This is my current plan, please correct it if I'm missing anything or have it wrong.
(based on wiki.cyanogenmod.com/index.php?title=TMobile_myTouch_4G:_Full_Update_Guide)
I've got ADB going
I need a backup solution for app data right? What's my best option here?
Once backed up, I plan to install busybox, Superuser package & Temporary Root package via ADB
Use gfree to make that root permanent
Install ClockworkMod recovery
Reboot into recovery, and install faux123's ROM
Does that sound correct, and did I skip anything? Any input at all is welcome, I'd like to stand tall on the backs of giants.

There are two popular methods floating around
You can either use the Root.sh method [ Found Here ]
Or the ./gfree method [ Found here ]
Either method will work perfectly. I've used both and can say with confidence they work.
The Cyanogen method can be goofy at times. I've see alot of people say they cannot get it working for them. I'd rock one of the two above. You shouldn't have a problem either way.

Thanks a ton for the info, I'll go at it this evening. As far as backup process, I do the temporary root, use ASTRO to make a zip? Most of the data on my phone lives at google, but I'm wondering the best way to retain apps, or should I just make a list and reinstall from the store after flashing?

lars.oakland said:
Thanks a ton for the info, I'll go at it this evening. As far as backup process, I do the temporary root, use ASTRO to make a zip? Most of the data on my phone lives at google, but I'm wondering the best way to retain apps, or should I just make a list and reinstall from the store after flashing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For backing up apps and data, use titanium backup. for backing up your whole phone, use the backup feature in clockworkmod recovery after you've flashed it via rom manager after permarooting.

lars.oakland said:
Thanks a ton for the info, I'll go at it this evening. As far as backup process, I do the temporary root, use ASTRO to make a zip? Most of the data on my phone lives at google, but I'm wondering the best way to retain apps, or should I just make a list and reinstall from the store after flashing?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The best way to back up your Data and Applications is like mentioned above is Titanium Backup. The free version will work well but i recommend the paid one.
as far as a snap shot of the entire ROM incase you want to go back to it. reboot into recovery > backup/restore > backup. And it will do the rest.

Well I made it halfway there, but didn't nail the whole thing. I've got permanent root access (yay) now, and was able to make backups via Titanium. I then rebooted the phone into "recovery" using the ROM Manager from Clockwork. First boot had a red exclamation mark, I unplugged the handset from the USB and tried a second time. After that, I was greeted with the Orange and black interface, and selected "restore to factory". I then started searching for the cache clearing, which changed verbage between 3.x and 4.x releases of Clockwork. After exploring the menus a little, the phone reboots itself from this screen. My blood-pressure goes up, and I worry my toy just became a b-word. Not all was lost though, and the phone happily booted into the stock t-mobile welcome wizard.
I still have superUser installed, and still have root (S=OFF I guess?). I install ROM Manager again, and do the "Flash ClockworkMod Recovery" (which now shows both current and latest recovery as ClockworkMod 3.0.2.4). When I choose Reboot into Recovery however, it reboots back to the MyTouch 4G logo screen (non-animated one), and hangs. After some reading I tried to force recovery boot via ADB, which produced the same result as the soft reset from ROM Manager. After that I tried doing it the manual way with holding the volume button, which launched me into what I believe is a stock recovery console (white with colored options, uses vol +/- and power to navigate). Choosing "recovery" from that screen *also* produces the white logo screen hang.
So my question now is, in it's current state; how can I get to the Clockwork recovery again? From there I bet installing the image will be easy street, but I believe I'm stuck for now.
Side-note: the phone functions fine on regular boots and pure vanilla mode; I just don't want to stop here when I'm pretty close to my 2.3 goal

Well good news and bad news. I was able to get Clockwork going by reverting it to 3.0.0.5 and just using that version. Was able to install ROMs, tested a few. Phone started freezing after/during installing packages. Started the clear cache/install ROM process, ran into this:
Code:
Flashing Kernal ...
assert failed: write_raw_image("/tmp/boot.img","boot")
E:Error in /sdcard/download/virtuous_fusion-glacier-rom-v1.0.9.zip
(Status 7)
Installation aborted
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14389074
Totally stuck at boot screen, but able to get into Clockwork. All ROM zips off the sdcard produce this or an invalid zip error.

Other guy smight tell you what a status 7 might be, but with the flurry of flashing youre doing, you may have gotten some corruption on your sd
try formatting your sd card in the pc, or use another one so you dont have to back everything up on this one. put one rom zip on the root and see if that helps
also, i would make super sure you wiped/factory resetted every possible data/cache in CWM before flashing the zip
lastly, i would md5 test the download to make sure it matches the web page. Plus, after it's transferred to the cleanly-formetted sd, check it again either thru adb, or do the trans on the pc using an sdcard reader and check it once it's on the sdcard, then pop it into back your phone.
good luck

Thanks a ton for the uber fast reply. When I format on the PC, what format do I use, or is there a specific tool to properly format it for the phone?
When I'm wiping /data it's taking forever and I get the following message back:
Code:
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log/last_log
E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log/last_log
Don't have an adapter at the office today for the sdcard, but I guess I can just grab a new one at lunch? All it would need is a fresh format then the .zip of the ROM in question at the root?

Looks like your partitions are corrupted. Flash PD15IMG to restore the phone to stock, and progress from there.
When you format the SD card, just format it regularly in the PC.

Jack_R1 said:
Looks like your partitions are corrupted. Flash PD15IMG to restore the phone to stock, and progress from there.
When you format the SD card, just format it regularly in the PC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I use the same PD15IMG.zip i did to start, flash it using Clockwork, then start the root > rom process over? I think that it currently tells me it can't find that zip anymore on the white screen pre console, is that expected? I just xfer it to the sdcard prior to fixing?

Yes, that's the right procedure. Move it to the card and start from scratch. Beware not to use the newer Panache/MT4G Gingerbread RUU, otherwise you'll be left with no way to root, or at least harder way.

Ok, so I didn't have a PD15IMG.zip to begin with, I see this thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1059347
and that's proper that I'm flashing the radio itself for this process? Which of those images do I want to grab? I always like to double check when I read warnings that are pretty specific about bricking the device

No! You're flashing a stock recovery image called a pd15img.zip
The radio does not do a restore to stock, the reason you're confused is that in order to flash a radio for those who nmwish to do that, you rename it to the same name as the recovery zip, but it's really just a radio. It just happens to be the filename that the system looks for to restore. Look for the thread posted by either jjackson or football. That's the full image, just over 300 megabytes, or that neighborhood.

acsi007 said:
No! You're flashing a stock recovery image called a pd15img.zip
The radio does not do a restore to stock, the reason you're confused is that in order to flash a radio for those who nmwish to do that, you rename it to the same name as the recovery zip, but it's really just a radio. It just happens to be the filename that the system looks for to restore. Look for the thread posted by either jjackson or football. That's the full image, just over 300 megabytes, or that neighborhood.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Jesus, glad I asked before getting in there.
So I was going to offer you a beer sometime, I think I owe you a few rounds at this point...
Edit: this one right http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=924923 ?

Yup. Read the whole thread. Also look for football,s thread. There are a couple of mentions of undoing gfree first then doing the pd15img. I think jjackson tries to automate those two steps, and football thread just gives you a january-dated pd15img. I can't remember if you rooted gfree or not. Read read read. This is an important step but hundreds have gone back to stock this way without a hitch. That is if you have a good emmc, you have a better chance of avoiding problems...

acsi007 said:
Yup. Read the whole thread. Also look for football,s thread. There are a couple of mentions of undoing gfree first then doing the pd15img. I think jjackson tries to automate those two steps, and football thread just gives you a january-dated pd15img. I can't remember if you rooted gfree or not. Read read read. This is an important step but hundreds have gone back to stock this way without a hitch. That is if you have a good emmc, you have a better chance of avoiding problems...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I rooted gfree originally, and think I may be in the bad place
Fail-PU errors running the update from pd15img. Do I have any options at this point? I bought the phone from Wirefly.com, and since I can't get a recovery image going, I may be fuct here on a return eh?

looks like i'm moving to: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=14487111#post14487111

Good luck Lars. Let us know that they did and if you had to pay.

Need some help restoring - Not A Normal Issue Here!!!

Ok, so I have a Droid X2, and the Droid X and Droid 1 as predecessors. I have never had any major problems, and the few that I couldn't get around I had SBF via RSD for. To my knowledge, there is no form of SBF for the Acer A500 (yet). So heres the issue:
I may have either flashed an update without the proper files to go before it; or I have have forgotton to wipe something. Nonetheless, my A500 wouldn't boot. When I did some research, I went to this site:
{http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/showthread.php?p=2127076#post2127076}
because it seemed in my eyes to have the most pertinent information. I got the update.zip to install and my A500 booted again! However, I could not get to stop two because my insternal SD card was wiped somehow and when I get to the main screen, do the circular unlock, the launcer, and many other programs repeatedly force close, so much so that I cannot do ANYTHING. How would you approach this, and is there a way for me to get into CWM. I have a recent nandroid backup that what 100% functional, and I would hope the MD5 sums would still match....
Any help/advice is greatly appreciated!

you're wrong, this is absolutely normal issue
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
follow this link, this will give you yout tablet back fully operational.
in case of any further prob, this links will help you to perform an Hard/Wipe reset
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132760
good luck

xda-dev2k said:
you're wrong, this is absolutely normal issue
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
follow this link, this will give you yout tablet back fully operational.
in case of any further prob, this links will help you to perform an Hard/Wipe reset
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132760
good luck
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The top link provides a way to install via Acer recovery the new 3.1 OS, but to my understanding its unrootable for now, is that still the case?

the update zip is uploadable even without root.
just like the original OTA firmware. Try it, many other users got back their pads with this one, as you can see in internal posts of the thread

xda-dev2k said:
the update zip is uploadable even without root.
just like the original OTA firmware. Try it, many other users got back their pads with this one, as you can see in internal posts of the thread
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I totally get what you're saying. What I meant is that if I did the update, it completed successfully, that I would then NOT be able to root the device. Obviously that is a better option that a brick! But I'm trying to find out if I can recover to the most updated version that has been rooted.
Maybe I'm wrong and a root program has been made for 3.1?

hey mate, U quite a little lazy readinf threads titles uh...
take a look at this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1138228
pick up the 1.3 version. it will root your "definitely final" version of os, this update U have just uploaded IS the last one available, and it's eligible of any further OTA update...
take care

xda-dev2k said:
hey mate, U quite a little lazy readinf threads titles uh...
take a look at this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1138228
pick up the 1.3 version. it will root your "definitely final" version of os, this update U have just uploaded IS the last one available, and it's eligible of any further OTA update...
take care
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I work 70+ hours a week, I'm certainly not lazy. But that is why I ask these questions hoping for someone to give me a little short cut to the answer. Between work and sleep I have 2.75 free hours a day and do NOT want to spend them reading a forum where its a lot of bs banter in between the actual info. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there that just don't read, but I truly don't have the time.
Also, this is one of the biggest forums for Android out there. Theres no way I could ever read the HUNDREDS of threads just on this device alone....
I do appreaciate your help!!!
I'll give a final report when I have a chance to do it!

This method did NOT work. When I boot into recovery, it always goes to the screen with the triangle and the android. I never see a progress bar....does this matter?
I also tried your other suggestion of "wipe device without recovery" and that didnt work as well.
I know its not a lost cause since it boots all the way up. But every app force closes so I have NO access

YOU have to do things in proper steps !!! ( lack of sleep will do that to you ! )
1/ grab the file from that thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
( remember to unzip it to get update.zip file and placed on your card and flash using normal recovery.... not renaming ! )... assuming you don't have CWM at the moment.
2/ grab the "iconiaroot 1.3" file to root your device ( as CWM and Acer Recovery Installer required root access )
3/ grab the Acer Recovery Installer and proceed to install CWM to your device...
after all those are done... work your way with CWM ( to access CWM ... you need to keep holding the buttons (Power & Volume down) until you see 4 lines of text...and not let go before that !! )
remember to wipe cache & factory reset ( both before and after to ensure 110% cleaned to avoid errors and FC )
good luck !!

UnicornKaz said:
YOU have to do things in proper steps !!! ( lack of sleep will do that to you ! )
1/ grab the file from that thread
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1159443
( remember to unzip it to get update.zip file and placed on your card and flash using normal recovery.... not renaming ! )... assuming you don't have CWM at the moment.
2/ grab the "iconiaroot 1.3" file to root your device ( as CWM and Acer Recovery Installer required root access )
3/ grab the Acer Recovery Installer and proceed to install CWM to your device...
after all those are done... work your way with CWM ( to access CWM ... you need to keep holding the buttons (Power & Volume down) until you see 4 lines of text...and not let go before that !! )
remember to wipe cache & factory reset ( both before and after to ensure 110% cleaned to avoid errors and FC )
good luck !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So I responded to this last night, but somehow it disappeared?? Anyways, thank you for your effort to help me resolve this, but if you look at my initial post, there's no way your description and process would work. First of all, the update above I tried (like I mentioned) and it did NOT work. Also from my description I mentioned that when the tablet does boot, it boots to the home screen (stock green) but, all the important applications, the launcer included, force close so rapidly and repeatedly that I can't do ANYTHING. Thus, I would obviously NOT be able to install any programs, let alone root the device.
Thus the name of this thread....

ibrooks123 said:
So I responded to this last night, but somehow it disappeared?? Anyways, thank you for your effort to help me resolve this, but if you look at my initial post, there's no way your description and process would work. First of all, the update above I tried (like I mentioned) and it did NOT work. Also from my description I mentioned that when the tablet does boot, it boots to the home screen (stock green) but, all the important applications, the launcer included, force close so rapidly and repeatedly that I can't do ANYTHING. Thus, I would obviously NOT be able to install any programs, let alone root the device.
Thus the name of this thread....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And obviously you are suffering from lack of sleep !!
The update.zip ( after extraction ) from that thread can be flash either normal recovery or CWM recovery.
and here's the added tool to wipe without a recovery:http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1132760
Therefore... what's stopping you ??
and please re-read my steps above.. after flashing... you will need to root and re-flash CWM using ( Acer Recovery Installer)
maybe you're not clearly looking at the picture...
there are 2 recoveries ( normal Acer stock recovery and CWM recovery )... DO NOT mistake Acer's stock recovery for the program called Acer Recovery Installer.
what Acer recovery Installer does is install CWM recovery for you and also backup/restore your original Acer recovery.
and you cannot use the program until you are rooted ( step #2 above )
FYI ... each recovery boot differently !!
Stock recovery -->> hold Power & volume down ( closest to the power button ) until some text appear 2-3 lines )
CWM recovery invoke differently.... ( hold Power & Volume down until you get 4 lines of text... do not let go anytime earlier then that )
~~~
extract that update.zip file ( my guess is this is where you went wrong... you didn't extract ? )
when you extract... make sure only the update.zip is put on your MicroSD card ( format FAT32 ).... no sub-folder...etc
Then insert into device and use the stock recovery method above.
if all else fail... get a different microSD card !!
then follow steps #2 and #3 from my previous post .
again... what's stopping you ??

I did the steps that E.B. recommended initially (directions followed religiously). Then I did what you posted (twice now,again, religiously - and yes I know how to, and properly extracted the update. !). Furthermore, I also tried a totally different SD card. 8gb pny VS 16gb San disk.

[Q] another brick story

I have been working on this for the past few days and for the life of me cannot figure out the problem. I'll start by just laying out a sequence of events.
Bought A500 about a month ago. OTA'd to HC 3.1 4.010.13_com_gen2
Decided not to wait for OTA 3.2 and rooted with iconiabreak.
Did not do a backup (like an idiot, i know)
Flashed Taboonay 2.0 with Thor's 2.1 kernal.
Saw awesome post to get rid of cell standby by deleting phone.apk and telephony.apk....do i did that.
Realize i am an idiot and then run a Nandroid backup.
Was happy for a few weeks when i see that Vache had updated taboonay to 2.1b and decided i wanted to do that.
Downloaded the files and started to flash with CWM. Factory, cache, dalvik wipe. Run Taboonay zip.
Get stuck in bootloop at Taboonay boot screen. $#!t......
Think "it's ok, ill just do an update.zip and go back to 3.1"
Try almost all the files on Vache's full package and update thread.
I put each one on an ext sd card and throw it into recovery boot. The Android guy with gears shows up and it looks like it is going to work.
The progress bar gets about 90-95% of the way when everything just stops. Gears animation, progress, everything.
It then reboots and gets stuck in a bootloop at the android screen. Load a different update.zip and same thing happens each time.
I try to just do a normal recovery boot, but CWM isnt there anymore and i get the ! android.
Normal reboot gives me a bootloop.
So i am stuck and asking if it is the phone and telephony apks that caused everything? if that were the case, how would i be able to load them back up since im totally locked out. I havent tried adb since im out of town for a few days. Thanks for any help that anyone can lend me. Ill try to answer any questions for any information that might be needed.

bumping for great justice~
I've tried decrypting update.zip files and vice versa.
still no luck..

try the fall back to 3.0.1
Check under development section for iconia a500. You'll see a thread for going from 3.2 to 3.0.1.
As i readd about this rom, it seems it's used in difficult cases (it removes the locks created by 3.2 stock), so it could be worth giving it a try.

rorohajj said:
Check under development section for iconia a500. You'll see a thread for going from 3.2 to 3.0.1.
As i readd about this rom, it seems it's used in difficult cases (it removes the locks created by 3.2 stock), so it could be worth giving it a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply.
I don't think that will be a viable option for me since i'm not able to get my UID. i've plugged my tablet into the computer and gotten the "hardware found" bubble. It prompts me to look for drivers (which i havent be able to find) and, i assume because it's in a bootloop, wont show up on the computer.
Does anyone know why the update.zip files would fail at 90%? I think that's really the thing that boggles my mind and is most frustrating.

Did you at all have your A500 connected to your computer prior to this happening? If so then you can get the UID from by way of the Windows registry. Then you should contact SC2K and get him your UID he should be able to help you get your A500 back from the dead.

jeffw111 said:
Did you at all have your A500 connected to your computer prior to this happening? If so then you can get the UID from by way of the Windows registry. Then you should contact SC2K and get him your UID he should be able to help you get your A500 back from the dead.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately, no I never plugged my A500 into my computer.

quick update:
I was able to use a different computer and found something interesting.
While trying to transfer or open a decrypted update.zip file, i get an error message saying, "Please insert the last disk of the Multi-Volume set and click OK to continue". Clicking OK just brings it back and i am forced to click cancel.
Anyone have any idea what that would mean??? It doesnt happen when I open or transfer the non-decrypted file. Only the decrypted file using Thor's Acer Update Decrypter application on HC 3.1 and 3.2 files.
While loading the decrypted update.zip on the A500, it almost instantly shows the ! android guy, while the non-decrypted files go 90-95% and then reboot into bootloop.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

first off if you can get into recovery to flash anything.You are not bricked.
Take your SD card put in a android phone format it.
Put the card in your computer.copy a full update.zip file from dev section.likes on a post by Thor.put card.back in tab and flash.
If it stall fails repeat with a different SD card.seems smaller ones do best.
Good luck.

erica_renee said:
first off if you can get into recovery to flash anything.You are not bricked.
Take your SD card put in a android phone format it.
Put the card in your computer.copy a full update.zip file from dev section.likes on a post by Thor.put card.back in tab and flash.
If it stall fails repeat with a different SD card.seems smaller ones do best.
Good luck.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your reply, first off.
I'm sorry I didn't make it clear that I had done all of those things during the events of the first post EXCEPT try a different sd card.
So I went out today and bought a PNY 2GB sd card as opposed to the SanDisk 4GB i was using. I formatted it in my Atrix 4G and threw a full update.zip file in there. The first file I tried (from Vache's http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1113878 thread) was Acer_A500_4.010.38_COM_GEN1 (HC 3.1). Since I was able to open the .zip without decrypting it I loaded it only the sd card. It did the same thing as before (loaded to about 90% then freeze, reboot) except this time I got a "Boot verification failed..." message in bright red letters up at the top left of the Acer screen. Since it didn't work, I loaded Acer_A500_7.006.03_COM_GEN2 (HC 3.2) onto the sd card. Again, since I was able to open the .zip file, I assumed that there was no need to decrypt it. Loaded the sd card and put the tablet into default recovery (not CWM recovery which I no longer have). The same problem keeps happening: it loads to 90%, freezes then reboots. This time, however, it went into a bootloop at the "android" screen.
I've tried decrypted versions of those files, but I always get an error message while trying to open them and when trying to flash them in default recovery, it almost instantly goes to the ! android guy since I'm assuming those files are already decrypted and decrypting them again is bad.
Hopefully if I try enough files, I'll find the one that works...
Until then, if anyone has any ideas as to what I might be doing wrong or should be doing differently, please let me know!
Thanks.

there is a thread that has instructions on going from the OTA 3.2 to downgrade. To 3.1.look for that tthread and windows software. On that thread it talks about that error your getting.
Since I have not had this issue .can't say for sure if it will help.
Good luck sorry I can not do more to hhelp
Just a dingy blonde here.

erica_renee said:
there is a thread that has instructions on going from the OTA 3.2 to downgrade. To 3.1.look for that tthread and windows software. On that thread it talks about that error your getting.
Since I have not had this issue .can't say for sure if it will help.
Good luck sorry I can not do more to hhelp
Just a dingy blonde here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your suggestion.
I was able to find my UID from an old CWM backup file and tried this method. I attempted it last night with no success. I was actually in the middle of making a reply saying how heartbroken I was and that I was basically giving up. I decided to try it one more time and made a slight adjustment from my method last night. In the UID file, I had my UID in there as 0x0blahblahblah and kept getting the incorrect UID error in the program. When I tried taking out the first 0x in the program, it gave me an incorrect format error. That is where I was messing up.
Instead of 0x0, all i needed was 0blahblahblah in the UID file.
Attempted the upgrade utility again, and viola! It worked like a champ.
So thanks again to all that helped out and offered suggestions and to all the Devs for their outstanding work. I've definitely learned a lot from this experience.

Important/Urgent: Who has a STOCK Verizon tab 7.7 (SCH-i815)

I need help! I need a stock, unmodified recovery partition image.
Anyone here with a vzw tab who DOES NOT yet have CWM installed?.
PLEASE contact me.
Thanks!

electron73 said:
I need help! I need a stock, unmodified recovery partition image.
Anyone here with a vzw tab who DOES NOT yet have CWM installed?.
PLEASE contact me.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have one that hasn't been moded but have no idea how to get you what you want. PM me if you know how to download and send to you and I'll do my best to help.

I'll check my laptop at home tonight. I believe I kept my heimdall backup before flashing cwm
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2
Just checked, mightve deleted it. Sorry man

aximtreo said:
I have one that hasn't been moded but have no idea how to get you what you want. PM me if you know how to download and send to you and I'll do my best to help.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh that would be awesome! Are you rooted? Let me find the commands in the meantime, I read somewhere it's a simple one command in terminal to extract the recovery partition into a file on sd card...

WHAT AN ORDEAL !!!!
But in the end: SUCCESS!
I managed to get my tab updated with the Verizon OTA update.
The problem is definitely CWM !!! A rude awakening is in store for everyone with the P6800 CWM installed, because it a) fails to verify the checksum of OTA files correctly on the i815, b) it thinks the tablet is a P6800, so the OTA file fails to run if it assert checks for "SCH-i815" hardware AND lastly c) modem updates don't work because the device /dev/cdma_update doesn't exist, so the modem.bin firmware_update call fails !!!
In short, I had to fumble the OTA file apart and do the update manually in two runs:
First file, kick the checksum, hardware check and modem update out, then manually run the ZIP through CWM. The zip subsequently (LUCKILY) updated the stock recovery and overwrote CWM with a new fresh stock recovery.
Second file had everything kicked out BUT the modem udpate and LTE patch, so with the STOCK recovery this file ran through just fine, updated the modem and then applied the LTE delta patch.
Phew!!!
Of course I had to manually restore root after the update, had backed up with voodoo, auto restore failed, so terminal and hacking it was...
Now I have the tab running on clean stock FD01, baseband and LTE FD01, rooted and stock recovery.
No more CWM, no more "hacking" with the ROM until some dev finally releases a "correct" CWM and at least ANY factory ODIN image is available to bring the tab back to stock if needed!!!
Kinda sick of the non-support for this tab. So much going on for the Galaxy Note and pretty much every other device. I'm starting to regret having bought this "special" Verizon version

Awesome find and great to know for whenever ics does come out. Could you please post the recovery img you got?
Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

OK after getting so many responses I decided to just post everything here in hopes that it will help others, too:
All files are here:
http://www.mywo.org:88/XDA/sch-i815/index.php
Step by step procedure to update the Verizon Tab from ..FA02 to ..FD01 build IF YOU ARE stuck with CWM installed on your tab and the original OTA fails with errors:
Upload the SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.1.zip to the INTERNAL(!) SD card. This is important because CWM contains a bug that will only allow you to install from ZIPs stored on the INTERNAL SD storage.
Upload the SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.2.zip to the EXTERNAL(!) (micro SD) card. This is important, because after the factory recovery is restored, it will correctly (and only) look for ZIPs on the EXTERNAL card.
Best way just copy both files to both locations
Fire up CWM and do "install from ZIP" and select SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.1.zip
It should run (takes a while) and eventually tell you all is done. BOOT the tab. It should boot fine but in system it will show the new Android build FD01 but the baseband (radio) will still be the "old" one.
Now press and hold power and vol up again until you see the default Samsung recovery menu. Choose install from ZIP and select SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.2.zip. This will now upgrade the baseband only. When done, reboot and enjoy being back on the "factory upgrade path" with the tab.
I hope someone more savvy than me can "fix" CWM to work properly with VZW tabs (accept the checksum, not fail the check for "SCH-i815" and provide the correct /dev file links for radio upgrades). Until then, I recommend just leaving the tab as-is and not tinkering with the ROM. Not that there is any custom ROM available anyway :-(
I also pulled the NEW factory recovery image FD01_recovery.img with the following command:
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 of=/sdcard/FD01_recovery.img bs=4096
So in case anyone with a botched recovery wants to restore factory (Samsung 3e) recovery. This was actually the reason I had to go through all this... There is NO factory recovery image ANYWHERE to be found. I can't believe that I should be the first one ever to post one?? Anyway, hope it will help
I'm still quite new here, so I do really appreciate every click on that "thanks" button
P.S. for tinkerers and devs I also uploaded the original, untouched OTA file (0559c0e4e08e.update_SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.bin) as it came from Samsung or Verizon or whatever and ended up in the /cache partition.

THANK YOU!
Electron,
You sir, are a BOSS! Thank you so very much for doing the work, and sharing it. You just made things one hell of a lot easier on me, and anyone else that follows.
Regards,
-Rob

Also want to say thanks. You rock, dude. I wouldn't have known how to revert **** on my own.
Also, I feel like we need a sticky or something for sch-i815 owners to go to for device specific stuffs, especially since there is little knowledge/info out for this device.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

hmm i only ever installed ROM manager ... but i did root it ... problem is ... now i don't have a CWM recovery to flash the file ... any ideas?

phigmeta said:
hmm i only ever installed ROM manager ... but i did root it ... problem is ... now i don't have a CWM recovery to flash the file ... any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're in luck! You don't need to go through the whole ordeal because you do NOT have CWM! You can just update the regular intended way. Go into settings, about phone and then click check for system updates. If it presents you the OTA update, just do it the regular way.
My complicated "hack" is only necessary if you DO HAVE CWM installed.

Im sorry I did not explain well what my issue is.
I do not have CWM installed, however i did delete a few appilcations using titanium backup. This causes updates to not take. I would really like to just take it back to factory and start over (this time with less stupidity on my part)
I of course would assume that once its at factory i can then install updates again.
Right now when i try i get the "!" droid sign and a reboot

phigmeta said:
Im sorry I did not explain well what my issue is.
I do not have CWM installed, however i did delete a few appilcations using titanium backup. This causes updates to not take. I would really like to just take it back to factory and start over (this time with less stupidity on my part)
I of course would assume that once its at factory i can then install updates again.
Right now when i try i get the "!" droid sign and a reboot
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey
OK unless someone can tell us how to "make" an ODIN flashable ROM for you, here is what I would do (and please don't get scared because it sounds a bit convoluted).
First, you need to be rooted. This is obviously the case.
IMPORTANT since you don't have CWM installed yet, SAVE your factory restore.img before proceeding, this saves you a lot of hassle later!
Open the android terminal, type su (accept the prompt) and then type (or copy/paste)
dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 of=/mnt/sdcard/factory_recovery.img bs=4096
Check that you have a "factory_recovery.img" file on your sd card now it should be about 8M big.
Now you're safe to install CWM from the forum, look for the other thread(s) where this is being discussed and follow the instructions for the P6800 "international" version with 3G. CWM Thread here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1613638&highlight=cwm&page=3
Then (thanks to nicduim!) there is a full factory (rooted) CWM image floating around on the forums here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1613638&page=6
Which I used to restore my tab to "almost factory" with the missing bloat apps back in place.
I have a copy on my server here: http://ww.mywo.org:88/XDA/sch-i815/ it's the "2012-05-06.22.48.58.ZIP"
unzip that and put the contents on your INTERNAL SD card in the folder clockwordmod. So on your internal SD you should have /clockworkmod/2012-05-06.22.48.58 and inside there the files boot.img, recovery.img etc.
Use CWM recovery to restore this backup. If you never used CWM before. Press power button and volume up and hold both until you see the menu screen with text. You can go up/down with the volume buttons (go slow, it's very laggy) and with the power button you "select" an option. Select the "restore from backup" option and point it to the only folder being offered, the 2012-05-06.22.48.58.
The restore takes a while, then reboot the tab. Now you're back to stock! Last thing you need to do is get rid of CWM again because in the end it's still a bit buggy and will prevent the OTA update from running properly.
Since you luckily have a backup of the factory recovery in form of that factory_recovery.img file, just install and open terminal again, type su and then type (or copy)
dd if=/mnt/sdcard/factory_recovery.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p6 bs=4096
This overwrites CWM with your original Samsung Android recovery.
Now you just reboot as usual, connect to the internet and wait until the popup message shows up that a system update is ready, accept it and enjoy
If you don't want to wait for the automatic OTA, you can also stop before killing CWM and use my convoluted 2-step manual update which will get you to the exact same condition as the official OTA.
Hope all this makes sense

I was already on stock FD01 when I tried installing CWM for the P6800 that's floating around here somewhere. Odin said it was a success, but it looks like it didn't take. I've done it a few times, but still ended up w/ the stock recovery. However, after reading through your thread, I do not see a /dev/cdma_update in my I815 either. Is it possible that my attempt to install CWM (although unsuccessful) wiped out this file, among others?
Right now, I'm still at stock FD01 (rooted) and everything seems to be working. When I tried doing an OTA update, it just tells me that I have the latest update and no newer update is available.
One other thing, if I have to, I only have the stock recovery right now since CWM didn't take, can I simply flash both zip's using the Samsung stock recovery to put everything back in stock?
SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.1.zip
SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.2.zip

AlpineMan said:
I was already on stock FD01 when I tried installing CWM for the P6800 that's floating around here somewhere. Odin said it was a success, but it looks like it didn't take. I've done it a few times, but still ended up w/ the stock recovery. However, after reading through your thread, I do not see a /dev/cdma_update in my I815 either. Is it possible that my attempt to install CWM (although unsuccessful) wiped out this file, among others?
Right now, I'm still at stock FD01 (rooted) and everything seems to be working. When I tried doing an OTA update, it just tells me that I have the latest update and no newer update is available.
One other thing, if I have to, I only have the stock recovery right now since CWM didn't take, can I simply flash both zip's using the Samsung stock recovery to put everything back in stock?
SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.1.zip
SCH-I815_FA02c_To_FD01.2.zip
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh wait, so you are saying that in "About device" your Android is 3.2
Baseband i815.04 V.FD01 I815FD01
and your Build number is already at HTJ85B.I815FD01.SCH-I815.I815FD01 ?
That would mean you are already updated. In this case, it should be pretty easy to fix your problem. Which apps did you delete with Titanium? I can back them up from my system and make them available for you. All you'd need to do is drop the backup files into your Titanium backups folder and then fire up titanium and restore them!
The /dev/cdma_update node is only required WITHIN CWM recovery, so that is nothing for you to worry about. The zip files above won't help you because they are incremental updates requiring your system to be at FA02, not FD01 !

Yes... I'm already in the latest update. I already backed up the bloatware using Titanium Backup before uninstalling. So I just need to restore them back in order to receive and apply OTA updates in the future?
Sent from my SPH-D710 using Xparent ICS Blue Tapatalk 2

Please Help
Hi. I'm rooted and removed all sorts of bloatware with Titanium. I did this a long time ago and did not back anything up because I'm used to running hardware with custom ROMs available, and not relying on OTA updates.
Since there aren't any custom ROMs for the i815, I'd like to get ready for the upcoming ICS update. To do so, I want to get FD01 loaded onto my device, but I can't update because I've apparently removed too much of the required bloatware.
Does anyone know WHAT pieces of bloatware I'd need to reinstall in order for the OTA update to apply? I'd assume I can restore them and then apply the update and re-root.
If anyone can help pinpoint what missing APKs might help, I'll give them a shot. And, to the extent I figure anything out, I'll repost here in the hopes that it helps someone else.

electron,
Your instructions worked ... thank you so much

@jkrell... the failed attempt at installing the update should return an error message(s). You just have to read through them until you find the culprit(s). Apparently I uninstalled a few odexed files that were needed. I couldn't update until i hunted them down and restored them.
I guess we all jumped at the opportunity to install the cwm recovery image, that we didn't even think about cmda updates....ooops. So far i had to do a complete factory restore after the update. I was getting soft bricked to the point where I had no choice. Good thing I sent all titanium backups to actual sd card, i was able to salvage 97% f my data..... with the exception of a few downloads i forgot to move.
Gamecih doesn't work anymore (either version). No more automative data hacks I'm not sure what's going on. I uninstalled adfree..used titanium backup to uninstall both versions and reinstalled both several times. Oh well.
It really sucks not having nandroid backups but it's not worth the trouble of having to do this everytime an OTA modem update gets pushed to my tab. Needless to say, I won't be odining the cwm based recovery image again.
I'm with the O.P. I wish i hadn't wasted my money on this tab. No true cwm for this tab, so no dev will ever waste thier time with this tab. The sch i815 will soon be forgotten about and some other tablet will be all the hype before summer ends....that's just how it is. 21 months left on my contract.... [email protected]#k my life. Lol

Thanks Smitty.
When I try to update, I just see the "!" logo and then the device reboots. Is there a log file somewhere I can look at to see what the errors are?
I hear ya on the gloom and doom, but this device has only been out for just over 3 months now. I'd expect a recovery and some custom ROMs to come eventually. I doubt I'll go the custom ROM route unless CyanogenMod is supported, because I have no complaints about the tablet's performance thus far. It's speedy, smooth and the battery lasts forever.
In my book, this is a great tablet and I'm satisfied with the purchase.

Acer 500a Rooted and unable to update

I have an Acer 500a I just bought off carigslist. Initially I thought it would be fine but then I realized I was inheriting someone elses problems. I hope someone may be able to help.
Within the first few hours I was noticing google Play crashed a number of times and struggled to update from Market. Somehow the update went through but now there is a system update that won't go through. I'm able to down load it and when i restart the computer to complete installation the screen goes black and says: booting recovery kernel in the corner. I then see a picture of an android and a load bar which after 2-4 seconds the android is on his back and an exclaimation mark is coming out of his belly.
My android version is 3.2
Kernel version
2.6.36.3+
Build number
Acer_a500_7.006.01_COM_GEN2
I'm pretty sure its rooted and i think that might be why its not playing nice with google market and system updates. I called the old owner and explained the problem and he just said he had it rooted and he thought he unrooted it. There is an ap called superuser in aps. (although if it were rooted would'nt I be able to uninstal some of thecrap software it comes with like GOLF HD? -- it won't let me).
The system update is for Acer_a500_7.014.01_COM_GEN2 8.88mb
My problem is all of the force closes I'm getting and the inability to update the system. Any thoughts? I don't have a usb cord to connect it to a desktop either =(

I am a bit out of practice, but...
Should be pretty simple to fix. From what I am seeing, you are running a stock rom. Just because the superuser.apk is installed on the system does not mean it is rooted, but it probably is.
Hit the market, grab "Root Checker" - simple tiny program to let you know for sure if your tab is rooted or not.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=burrows.apps.rootchecker&hl=en
From what I understand - automatic system updates will fail when trying to apply them to a rooted or modded system. Probably why you cannot auto-update.
My advice at this point would be to:
1) Since you just bought it, just do a factory wipe on it. That will remove all the stuff the prior owner had running on it and will result in a unrooted tab that should be able to get auto updates without a problem.
2) Un-Root it. Once the tablet is unrooted, the system should update without any issue.
As for your Play Store issues - I have never heard of or personally seen any issues caused with installing apps from the store on a rooted device. I have seen a few apps that will refuse to run on a rooted device - but that does not sound like your problem.
I would go with option 1 - just factory wipe the thing. Prior owner may have made tons of changes to the OS that we will never know about, and may have handed you a unstable system. Start fresh. Wipe it out.
Hope this helps you out! Let me know if I can answer any questions.

k thank you so much for the quick reply! I downloaded the root checker and it Is rooted. I did a factory wipe as found in the settings privacy tab when I bought it. That factory reset did not unroot and only cleaned out some of the aps on the device. Is there a better or more surefire way to unroot it? If I reset with the volume down key will it hard reset it?
Thank you for you help!
Draight

Okay.
I am about a year out of practice with my a500 - but from what I am think, if a factory reset still results in a rooted device - the prior user installed a stock ROM that comes pre-rooted.
I highly doubt being rooted is causing the issues you are running into.
At this point if you just want to get back to stock you can probably just install the Acer Recovery Manager from the market and use it to reflash a stock unrooted ROM. Or I see a few guides about how to manually restore back to stock over in the dev section for the a500.
Others will correct me if I am wrong, but I think Acer Recovery Manager should take care of your problem.
Hope this helps!
(Edit: Or you can just download the official stock 4.x rom (ICS) from the dev section and flash that. 3.2 is pretty slow and wonky in my experience, you should be able to just download a 4.x ROM and flash, since you are rooted. Again, I am way out of practice. Don't do anything before reading up!)
(Edit again: I think I was making this harder then needs be. Just flash any stock 3.2 unrooted ROM, done. After you do that the automatic on the air update should kick in for you and update you to ICS)

Thanks for taking the time to work with me on this. I downloaded the program you suggested and tried to use a stock rom. When i went to reboot I had a picture of an android looking up at an exclaimation mark. It was froze like that until I restarted it. Now its back to the way it was, rooted and unupdatable.
I'm probably going to try to just wipe it all over but do i need to plug it into my computer somehow? I dont have a usb connector for the tablet, just the wall charger plugin. can i just download a rom and use the utility to try install it? when I reboot it am I supposed to be pressing the volume button?
I've read a few other forums but usually they sound pretty intense...

draight said:
Thanks for taking the time to work with me on this. I downloaded the program you suggested and tried to use a stock rom. When i went to reboot I had a picture of an android looking up at an exclaimation mark. It was froze like that until I restarted it. Now its back to the way it was, rooted and unupdatable.
I'm probably going to try to just wipe it all over but do i need to plug it into my computer somehow? I dont have a usb connector for the tablet, just the wall charger plugin. can i just download a rom and use the utility to try install it? when I reboot it am I supposed to be pressing the volume button?
I've read a few other forums but usually they sound pretty intense...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm..
Try the thread I linked two in my second edit of my last post. You just need to grab the stock and unrooted 3.2 - put it on a MicroSD card as update.zip - then reboot with vol rocker and power switch to get the system to flash the update.
That *should* work just fine.
(Edit: Forgot the link! http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1839313 - there you go)

Thankw, I am going to try it after readingna bit more. Do I need to have clockworkmod installed for all of this?

draight said:
Thankw, I am going to try it after readingna bit more. Do I need to have clockworkmod installed for all of this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Just snag the stock unrooted 3.2 ROM - place it in the root of the MicroSD card as update.zip
Power down.
Power up with VOL + and POWER key held at the same time (you can let the vol rocker go when you see text appear in the upper left corner)
Should be all you need to do. Worst case; it does not work and returns you back to where you are now. Worth a shot.
If that does not work, let me know so I can do a few mins of homework and help you further. Been a long time since I have changed ROMS or had any issues with my a500.
I have bricked it twice by not following directions all the way or just making simple mistakes, but from what I have found there is always a way to recover.

Just tried it. I copied the boot zip to sd card and renamed update.zip and reset..It looked like it was going to download after showing some text in the corner and then an exclamation mark appeared above the androids head... I left it and after a few.min it rebooted back

draight said:
Just tried it. I copied the boot zip to sd card and renamed update.zip and reset..It looked like it was going to download after showing some text in the corner and then an exclamation mark appeared above the androids head... I left it and after a few.min it rebooted back
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hmmm. Odd.
Like I said, I am rather out of practice.
Someone more experienced them me: please help me point Draight in the right direction here?

Thanks for trying to help. =(
I wish that my tablet wasn't having such issues. I;m going to try to scramble around the forums and see if I can find some advice...If anyone has a suggestion please let me know.
Thanks again entropy,
Draight

Update:
So I've been tinkering around with it a bit more and I found a usb cord that plugs it into my computer. I keep finding boken links on this site so Im struggling to find an update I can use to flash to. I downloaded a different super user program which allowed me to temporarily unroot my device. I then restarted it and no root checker says its no rooted and I cannot find the superuser program. I think I have somewhat unrooted it -- but I think the real issue now is the recovery tool. I keep reseting it - hard reset, or factory reset and it wipes everything away but when i try to update it gets about 1/3 of the way up the bar then it stops with an '!' Mark above the droid. Im kind of annoyed at this point and hoping for some new links or some ideas on how to repair the recovery piece.
Draight

Go to the Dev section, and grad a couple of the ICS Update roms. You will see them listed for the a500. Make sure they are the FULL update roms. Should be about 3-400mb. These contain a FULL ICS Update Rom, and not a patch file.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1816560
Then, go to the Themes and apps forum. You'll see a sticky that has the Acer Update Decrypter.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1869505
Now, unpack the decrypter, and select one of the ICS Updates. Then hit Start. Take a couple minutes, but you will have a duplicate file with the word "decrypted" added to it.
Wait, you are not done yet.
Using a program like 7zip, or even Winzip, open the decrypted file. DO NOT EXTRACT, just open it and pull the update.zip to your PC's desktop.
Copy that update.zip file to your Ext SD Card of the tablet. Don't be putting it in any folder, just copy it to the root of the card.
Now, you still ain't done.
With the tablet off. Press and hold Vol+ and then PWR. Hold them both untill you start to see text about installing blah blah blah, then release the buttons.
If it completes, and you can reboot into ICS, then you are good to go.
If something fails during installation, then decrypt the other update Rom file you downloaded, and do the same procedure. Usually one of the 2 or three should work for you.
Note these are for the a500, and not the a501.
One more thing. It's advisable you get your UID number before doing these things. You probably won't need it, but it's nice to have written down in case you need it in the future. Inf to get it is at;
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1624645
MD

Thanks! I am downloading a few of the FULL ICS roms:
*Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1 : http://d-h.st/uAy
Acer_A500_1.031.00_PA_CUS1: http://d-h.st/idO
Acer_A500_1.041.00_WW_CUS1: http://d-h.st/Yt5
*Acer_AV041_1.054.00_WW_GEN1: http://www.theandroidcollective.org/...00_WW_GEN1.zip
*Acer_A500_7.014.16_041.206.01_COM_GEN1: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_bk...hVc1RVcHc/edit
The I downloaded the ones ending with Gen1. Once they are downloaded I will continue with the instructions. Thank you so much for your help! I will post how it goes later tonight.
Draight

I just decrypted both:
*Acer_AV041_1.054.00_WW_GEN1:
*Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1
Both get get to the third bullet quickly and the bottom says DONE! It takes like 4 seconds. I don't think the Decryption key of $12 is working
[*] Opening file: Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1.zip
[*] Decrypting using key $12
[*] Writing decrypted file: Acer_A500_1.031.00_WW_GEN1_decrypted.zip
I try to extract something from the decrypted file and it says the file was not downloaded properly and I should try redownload it...it says its not a proper archive

wahoo!
So that worked! I down loaded the file Acer_AV041_A500_1.033.00_PA_CUS1 and extracted the update. I palced the update on the sd card and booted with the power and sound volume pressed down. it went through the installation procedure and restarted twice before saying it was upgrading my aps and BOOM its got ICS and everything looks great. Thank you so much for your help and I hope that this paper trail is able to help someone in the future

My problem is that I'm on ICS and I'm rooted, but I just can't download a custom recovery. I've tried, and I haven't gotten anywhere
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2