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Flash a new recovery?

RodBarnes

RodBarnes

Newbie
Is it possible to flash a new/custom recovery without being able to first get into the stock recovery? I've found lots of articles but none of them address this situation; they've all referred to first going into the recovery to wipe the data, etc.

My situation is the tablet continues to reboot constantly, never getting past the logo screen. I can get it into download mode but my attempts to apply new FW have not affected the behavior; it just continues to reboot. When I put it into recovery mode, it flashes an "Installing system update" page for a split-second and then displays an "Error" page (no other information) for another split-second, and then goes back to the constant reboot cycle.

The constant reboot issue began when it received the latest system update on 2019-11-30. A link to my original post on that is here.

Thanks in advance.
 
Can you direct me to some instructions on how? My attempts to apply TWRP to Odin resulted in FAIL with a RQL_CLOSE in the log.
 
@James L - Model is SM-T380.

The instructions in the link you provided won't work: Step 3) states "Download & install on tablet Magisk Manager APK." Obviously, I cannot do that when it won't get past the logo screen.

Also, step 1) states "Unpack stock firmvare ***.tar.md5 that is currently installed on your tablet (they MUST BE the same!!!)." I'm not sure which version is currently on this tablet. It should be the latest one (as of the end-of-November security release) but I attempted it with that AP (XAR-T380DXU3CSK1-20191125134039) and it made no difference in behavior: The first time it failed, the second time it succeeded (according to Odin) but it still is just constantly rebooting.
 
Running Odin3 (v3.12.3). I do not see an "OEM Unlock" under options in Odin (image attached). I am in USA.
 

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Oem unlock is in developers options. Unless you previously tried rooting the device, it's probably off. If you can boot to the stock recovery after the firmware flash a factory reset should work. If not, it'll more than likely be a hardware issue.
 
I'll give the FW flash another try. One question: Can you clarify whether I need to flash all of the files (AP, BL, and CSC) or only the AP? I've seen articles that say one or the other so it isn't clear.

If it is a hardware issue, then it is incredibly coincidental as this happened immediately upon receipt of the security patch: The tablet was in use and working, the notification for the security patch was received, it was applied, and on the following reboot, it began the continual rebooting. So, the highly likely suspect is the new security patch.
 
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So, I tried Odin again with the AP (Android) and BL (Boot loader) tar files. It failed again, below is log from the attempt. Note that this is a different failure than I received last time.

<ID:0/004> Odin engine v(ID:3.1203)..
<ID:0/004> File analysis..
<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/004> Initialzation..
<ID:0/004> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/004> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/004> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/004> aboot.mbn.lz4
<ID:0/004> FAIL!
<ID:0/004>
<ID:0/004> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)

When I try just the AP (no BL), I get the following failure:

<ID:0/004> Odin engine v(ID:3.1203)..
<ID:0/004> File analysis..
<ID:0/004> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/004> Initialzation..
<ID:0/004> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/004> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/004> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/004> boot.img.lz4
<ID:0/004> FAIL!
<ID:0/004>
<ID:0/004> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
 
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I tried again with all three (BL, AP, CSC -- this package has no CP tar) and I got the same error as before -- after "aboot.mbn.lz4" it reports FAIL.
 
Did you re download the firmware? The 4 files cp, bl, csc, and ap need to be flashed at the same time. being that your firmware did not have the cp file is odd as it is for the modem, wifi.
 
I went to Updato and downloaded from there "SM-T380_1_20191009184227_t5f84dervq_fac".

NOTE: This set, also, did not have a CP component, only BL, AP, CSC, and HOME_CSC. In addition, the two sets had the same CSC and HOME_CSC components but the BL and AP were different with the one I originally downloaded from SamFrew being more recent:

Updato, 2019-10-09: AP_T380DXU3CSI5_CL16521006_QB26089945_REV00
SamFrew, 2019-11-25: AP_T380DXU3CSK1_CL16521006_QB27140172_REV00​

I just now tried to flash it again with the set from updato -- selecting the BL, AP, and CSC components -- and it still fails (see below).

<ID:0/003> Odin engine v(ID:3.1203)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Initialzation..
<ID:0/003> Set PIT file..
<ID:0/003> DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!!
<ID:0/003> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/003> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/003> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/003> aboot.mbn.lz4
<ID:0/003> FAIL!
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
 
Note that the article to which you linked, also mentions only three files -- AP, BL, and CSC. The CP is the modem (right?) so does that apply when it is a tablet which has no phone connection only wifi?

The link in the article is to an old set 7.1. This tablet came with 8.x on it.

I'm using only the stock Windows Defender and I think it very unlikely it is removing anything from this zip. I certainly get no notice about such an action which I would for any other removal.
 
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RodBarnes said:
Note that the article to which you linked, also mentions only three files -- AP, BL, and CSC. The CP is the modem (right?) so does that apply when it is a tablet which has no phone connection only wifi?

The link in the article is to an old set 7.1. This tablet came with 8.x on it.

I'm using only the stock Windows Defender and I think it very unlikely it is removing anything from this zip. I certainly get no notice about such an action which I would for any other removal.
Click to expand...
Here is a Android 9 version i downloaded from Sammobile then uploaded to Google drive.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VliOSo3FmE4Of2KzVLxvXk11a_V9jQHV/view
 
James L said:
Do a factory reset after the firmware flash.
Click to expand...
I'd willingly do that if I can get the flash to succeed. :(

NOTE: The set from Sammobile is identical to the first one I downloaded from Samfrew (still with no CP component); the MD5s and names are identical on all files.

I attempted a flash with the Sammobile and received the same results:

<ID:0/003> Odin engine v(ID:3.1203)..
<ID:0/003> File analysis..
<ID:0/003> SetupConnection..
<ID:0/003> Initialzation..
<ID:0/003> Set PIT file..
<ID:0/003> DO NOT TURN OFF TARGET!!
<ID:0/003> Get PIT for mapping..
<ID:0/003> Firmware update start..
<ID:0/003> SingleDownload.
<ID:0/003> aboot.mbn.lz4
<ID:0/003> FAIL!
<ID:0/003>
<ID:0/003> Complete(Write) operation failed.
<OSM> All threads completed. (succeed 0 / failed 1)
 
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