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Root Failed to install ROM

R

revbobuk

Newbie
OK. I'm looking for a route back from death. I've got a Desire which was originally locked to 3 UK, succesfully unlocked. Now out of contract, I wanted to root it. So I followed the userguide in the sticky, and that went OK. S-Off, and the Amon-Ra recovery. Even booted OK. I took a Nandroid backup, and I backed up the SD to my PC.

Then I wanted to try a new ROM. Settled on the MildWild, and tried the CM-5.8. Didn't work - seemed to go perfectly, but at the final reboot just stuck on the MildWild boot logo.

Tried another MildWild - V-4.8 - but same there. Wondered if I needed to alter the HBOOT, as it seems that some Roms require specific HBOOT. And that's where it all started to go horribly wrong. After using Fastboot to flash an HBOOT from AlphaRev - CM7r2 - the PC would seem to see the phone in fastboot, but File Explorer wouldn't show it, so I couldn't put ROM images onto the phone.

Recovery would restore the nandroid backup, but it didn't seem to change anything. What did that backup store? Certainly wasn't the HTC Rom, the bootloader, or the recovery.

So I tried an RUU to get back to somewhere functional - and no go. Wouldn't flash the image, but left me with a phone with an HTC logo in the centre and exclamation marks in the corners. If I connect to the PC, fastboot still sees the phone, but that's all.

Is there anywhere to go from here?
 
Hi revbobuk, and welcome to AF :)

Yes, this is fixable :)

The RUU won't work because you have the CM7r2 hboot. The RUU can't replace that, and the HTC ROM is too large to fit in its system partition. For the same reason you can't restore your nandroid backup, which contains the ROM you had at the time (too large for CM7r2) and user apps & data, but not the hboot. To use either of these you should fastboot flash the alpharev bravo stock hboot first.

So where you are now is that the RUU had replaced your recovery with the useless HTC one, tried to replace the ROM but failed through lack of space. So the first thing is to flash the hboot suggested above. After that you can fastboot flash recovery again then restore your backup (or run the RUU, but recovery plus restore will get you rooted and your data back).

The hboot was not the problem with either Mildwild ROM. I don't have enough info to say what was wrong there,but I would guess that either you forgot to wipe the phone before installing or maybe they actually need a partitioned sd card to work (little surprised if so, as it was mostly older a2sd scripts that did that, but it's possible).
 
Revbobuk

I've lost count of the number of people who for some reason or other can't get Mildwild ROMs to boot (myself included). Some persevere and get them working, others give up. There are a number of other ICS themed ROMs which I have found to be very good. I would recommend:

Nick's Phone, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1521514

OxyZM, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1743584

or ReduxZM, http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1540320

Apologies if I'm teaching you to suck eggs but when a ROM thread states a particular hboot is required what they actually mean is any hboot with a /system partition of that size or greater. The Mildwild ROMs will fit on any hboot except Oxygen or dGB so your stock hboot would be fine.

I suggest that you re-read the root memory FAQ. http://androidforums.com/desire-all-things-root/220627-faq-apps2sd-updated-17-02-11-a.html

The Mildwild ROMs and the three listed above have apps2sd+ and/or fit on the CM7r2 hboot, so you have a number of options for increasing memory available.

As a general rule it is easiest to set up a ROM on an larger hboot, take a nandroid back up, fast boot flash a new hboot then nandroid restore.

If you have any questions just ask.
 
Guys - thank you both for clear, understandable answers. I'll have another go, and report back. This is exactly what a good forum should be! Much appreciated.
 
Right. First, I followed the Alpharev sequence and reflashed the stock hboot using fastboot. No errors. Then used fastboot to reboot bootloader, erase cache and reflash the RA_2.0.1 recovery. again, no errors, but it left me in the HTC + exclamation marks screen.

So I tried the same sequence again using AndroidFlasher, reflashed the hboot and recovery. Progress - that again seemed to work fine, with no errors, and left me with the recovery menu on the phone. And from there I selected to restore the nandroid, which once again completed with no displayed errors.

But when I choose to 'reboot now' from recovery, it's back to black htc screen.

Intriguingly, when I then disconnect the USB lead, I get a white screen with pink AlphaRev at the top, usual green text below it

BRAVO PVT4 SHIP S-OFF
HBOOT 6.93.1002
MICROP-0514
TOUCH PANEL-SYNT0101
RADIO-5.11.05.14
Aug 10 2010,17:52:10

Then (orange background) RUU

And two exclamation marks at the bottom. And this screen is unresponsive - won't do anything.
 
So then I reran the RUU - and this time it completed without errors, and the phone reboots right through - right through the three splash screen, to the lock screen. But at this point it insists it doesn't have a SIM card - which it does.

Now when I access the bootloader, it works. Displays AlphaRev, and all the details exactly as described before, but with the proper fastboot menu below that. I thought I would try restoring from nandroid again, but selecting the Recovery option gives me a crash - outline phone with big red exclamation mark. So not there yet!

And the phone still doesn't show up in File Manager on the PC when in fastboot. Is that because the HBOOT drivers don't work with HBOOT 6.93.1002? And why doesn't the AlphaRev stock HBOOT take that back to 0.93.0001?
 
The RUU overwrites everything except the alpharev hboot which is write protected. Therefore you are back to the htc recovery. You are still s-off which is good. Pull the battery and boot into fastboot then reflash your recovery.

Boot into recovery, connect to computer via usb and within recovery select mount sd card. Download a ROM (try Nicks phone as I can guarantee it works) and put it on your sd. unmount sd, wipe data, wipe cache, install ROM zip, reboot.
 
Great stuff - good progress. Reflashing the recovery (again!) allowed me to restore the nandroid backup. I have everything back in place now. But two problems left at this point. First, I have no superuser app - I appear to be no longer rooted. And can't fix that with Revolution, because my hboot version is no longer one it works with. Second, the phone insists that it has no SIM card. Any ideas?
 
I guess you took the nandroid before rooting, so flashing the file Nicka suggests should fix that (or the one you used to root originally, which is probably the same).

SIM thing is odd. Is it not recognising it is present, or not connecting to the network? Do you have a 3 SIM you can test with (in case it thinks it's locked again)? Changing ROMs or running RUUs shouldn't affect that, but as the phone has been unlocked it's something to check. Which RUU did you use?
 
Try taking the sim out and cleaning the contacts. If it feels at all loose you could try create a shim by sticking a couple of layers of cellotape on the back so that it fits a little tighter into the slot.
 
Re file manager, if the phone is in fastboot mode the only things a computer can do with it are send fastboot commands or run an RUU. To mount the sd card you need either to be running android or in the custom recovery (then select the usb storage option, wherever that is in Amon Ra).

All current apharev hboots are 6.93.xxx. That's part of the trick that stops an RUU replacing them (there is a special "downgrader" one that can be replaced by an RUU if needed). The "stock" refers to the fact that that one gives you the standard partitions - it's actually the same as the one revolutionary installs, apart from the name.

Don't worry, lots of details here. It took me months to work everything out myself ;)
 
The Superuser thing sorted - that's all good. But the phone isn't recognising any sim, even ones that work fine elsewhere. The RUU I used was

RUU_Bravo_Froyo_H3G_UK_2.25.771.1_Radio_32.48.00.32U_5.11.05.14_release_149217_signed.exe

which seemed correct as it had the right Radio version, and was for 3 - are there others?

(smacks head and cries 'D'oh!!' as he takes SIM out and re-inserts it the right way round...)
 
Is it now working?

If yes then don't worry about the RUU as the only part still on the phone is the Radio. The rest was removed when you restored the nandroid.

Do you still want to try a custom ROM? I presume the goal was to gain extra space.
 
I do indeed plan to try again. Which ROM would you suggest? I'd really like to gain some space, and be able to install a few more apps. I like the Sense UI - but then I've got nothing to compare it with, as this is the only smartphone I've ever used. It's a little frustrating that many of the ROMs mentioned don't seem to have screenshots / websites detailing their capabilities, just a thread on the xda forums which always has 500 pages of posts!
 
If you like sense but want more space you'll need to partition your sd card and flash a rom that supports apps2sd+.

Personally I prefer AOSP ROMs. Most, if not all, will fit the CM7r2 hboot you flashed earlier. Try a few. Set them up on your current hboot, see how you get on. If you decide to keep it then nandroid Back up, fastboot flash hboot, nandroid restore.

There is some discussion here which might interest you http://androidforums.com/desire-all-things-root/494383-aosp-rom.html?highlight=Desire+AOSP
 
revbobuk said:
I do indeed plan to try again. Which ROM would you suggest? I'd really like to gain some space, and be able to install a few more apps. I like the Sense UI - but then I've got nothing to compare it with, as this is the only smartphone I've ever used. It's a little frustrating that many of the ROMs mentioned don't seem to have screenshots / websites detailing their capabilities, just a thread on the xda forums which always has 500 pages of posts!
Click to expand...

Sorry, I've just re-read your post.

Personally I would recommend Teppic74's rom if you like sense. The link to the ROM download is broken but I put a copy in my Dropbox for someone else recently.

For AOSP I would recommend dGB for maximum space or Redux2 for a few more features. Again the Redux2 link is broken but I have a copy.
 
That's been a really helpful process for me. I've currently got a rom (OxyZM) installed, and I'm evaluating it. One thing I hadn't expected - apps I've paid for in the past no longer appear in 'my apps' - I have to go find them, and when I do the Play store knows I've paid for them. Makes sense.

Huge thanks toi everyone who has helped me.
 
One of the big advantages of root is the ability to back up you apps. There is an app called Titanium Back Up available from Google Play which will back up all your apps and their data. It will then restore them when you change ROMs and the market will know they are there. Caution, do not restore system app data between different ROMs as this can cause problems.

Other useful functions of titanium are that it can clean up dalvik cache and integrate system app updates into the ROM, however I would always take a Nandroid back up before doing anything to the system.

Titanium is free but an unlock key adds additional functions and is well worth it.
 
So - today successfully completed the last step, changing hboot to CM7r2, and restoring the OxyZM rom. Astonished by how much more room there is, and it's good that one of the major issues I had before - email not coming in when space was low - has now gone. It feels like a new lease of life for the phone - I've always liked the size & feel of the Desire, and now it works well again. Fast, too. It'll be interesting to see if battery life has been affected at all.

Once again, thanks to everyone for the help.
 
Battery life should be improved but it may take a couple of charging cycles for the battery stats to reflect this.

IMHO smaller ROMs with custom hboots is the way to go. I've had too many problems with SD cards to rely heavily on them in a way an ext partition does. That said your ROM supports apps2sd+ if you decide you want even more space. plus of course it supports froyo style move to SD.
 
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