Root Is my phone dead? (single tear...)

[The_Horak]

HELP! I have read threads about this issue, but none have ended with, "It's fixed! Thanks for all the help, guys!" Sadly, they are more bleak.

I flashed Wildstang's latest November OTA Rom along with the Kernal he recommended, as well as the DTR. THAT IS NOT TO SAY THAT I BLAME HIM OR HIS FILES!!!!!! He has always given me great ROMs and add-ons. I am just stating what I did. I have been rooted for some time now, and it has been flawless til now. I was running Clockwork 5.0.2.0 and did a factory wipe, cache wipe, dalvik cache wipe, battery stats wipe, then went into 'Mounts and Storage' and wiped BOOT, SYSTEM, DATADATA, DATA, and CACHE. I then flashed the ROM and the DTR. I booted the phone, let it run, shut it down, and flashed the Kernal, oh yeah, also a .zip that makes the auto brightness setting dim the screen to a lower minimum. Then all HELL broke loose.

The Incredible got stuck on the 'Droid Incredible' splash screen. I pulled the battery, rebooted, and the same occurred. I tried pulling the battery and booting to recovery, and nothing happened except that my phone vibrated 5 times... Okay... I tried again, it worked. I rebooted into Clockwork, and I wiped the Cache and the Dalvik Cache, hoping that would help. It did not.

At this point, I said 'Screw it' and did a factory wipe and cache & dalvik cache wipe, and then went to restore my backup. My backup failed to restore... NOO!!! It got to the /data section, and then said, 'Error Formatting /data' which scared me. I tried to format it myself, THE SAME ERROR! I tried these steps multiple times. I panicked, then calmed down, went home, researched the issue, and REALLY panicked! I read about hardware failure and how fixing through ADB failed. I read that people ended up getting new phones...

I've since tried everything I know, or have the knowledge to do:
- I tried using HBOOT's factory reset - Fail.
- I tried working in Clockwork 5.x, 3.x, and 2.x - Fail.
- I tried flashing the stock recovery, then using HBOOT's clear storage and factory reset - Fail.
- I tried an RUU through HBOOT - Fail.

The closest I got to a fix is the last one. It now boots to the android homescreen, but there are no widgets (which may seem fine, but it's an RUU! It should have the predictable Verizon set-up, with the red swirl wallpaper, the HTC Mail widget, ect...) and just about every app I try to open force closes, followed by the eventual system crash that can only be fixed with a battery pull. This only lets that all happen again. I tried, again, to format /data and /cache (as neither will format), hoping that the booting phone was a good sign; it is not.

I can mount/unmount /data and /cache, but not wipe them. I am S-Off, still BTW. I have tried different SD Cards, as well. The card is not the issue.

Does anyone know a process that will fix my phone? I'd hate to keep shooting in the dark, and I don't want S-On, as that limits my reach into the phone (right?). I, like everyone else, need my phone, so this needs resolution by tomorrow night. Thus, I'm also gonna start to look into a new phone. I can use my brother's upgrade, as I am not due for 6 months. I'm starting a thread about a new phone here.

I'm hoping for the best here, but planning for the worst. I really need you guys right now (sorry to sound so needy). Thank you so much.

 

[sdrawkcab25]

Are you still getting the 5 vibs? There is a thread on how to fix your partitions too, have you tried that?

 

[The_Horak]

I only got the 5 vibs of death once. What does that mean?

I'll look into the partition thread.

 

[The_Horak]

How do you use ADB? haha, I'm gonna die...

 

[sdrawkcab25]

Did you find the "how to fix partitions" thread? Should be able to copy and paste the commands after you get it installed properly.

 

[The_Horak]

I found this: internal storage partitions screwed up

I don't even know how to use the command prompt in windows... I god ADB running in the command prompt, though... Let's see how I do.

 

[The_Horak]

So, I'm following this guide to get to the adb.exe, but I can't get the same results. My Command Prompt opens the adb, but then goes back to the command prompt(I changed some folder names slightly):

C:\>Users\Student\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows-1\platform
-tools\abd.exe
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.29

-s <serial number> - directs command to the USB device or emulator w
ith
the given serial number. Overrides ANDROID_SERI
AL
environment variable.
-p <product name or path> - simple product name like 'sooner', or
a relative/absolute path to a product
out directory like 'out/target/product/sooner'.

If -p is not specified, the ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT

environment variable is used, which must
be an absolute path.
devices - list all connected devices
connect <host>[:<port>] - connect to a device via TCP/IP
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number
is specified.
disconnect [<host>[:<port>]] - disconnect from a TCP/IP device.
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number
is specified.
Using this command with no additional arguments

will disconnect from all connected TCP/IP devic
es.

device commands:
adb push <local> <remote> - copy file/dir to device
adb pull <remote> [<local>] - copy file/dir from device
adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
(-l means list but don't copy)
(see 'adb help all')
adb shell - run remote shell interactively
adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections
forward specs are one of:
tcp:<port>
localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
dev:<character device name>
jdwp:<process pid> (remote only)
adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport

adb install [-l] [-r] [-s] <file> - push this package file to the device and i
nstall it
('-l' means forward-lock the app)
('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data
)
('-s' means install on SD card instead of inter
nal storage)
adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
('-k' means keep the data and cache directories
)
adb bugreport - return all information from the device
that should be included in a bug report.

adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosy
stem] [<packages...>]
- write an archive of the device's data to <file>
.
If no -f option is supplied then the data is wr
itten
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks
themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the
device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the defau
lt is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applicatio
ns)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automat
ically includes
system applications; the default is to inclu
de system apps)
(<packages...> is the list of applications to b
e backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then t
he package
list is optional. Applications explicitly g
iven on the
command line will be included even if -nosys
tem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)

adb restore <file> - restore device contents from the <file> backup
archive

adb help - show this help message
adb version - show version num

scripting:
adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specifie
d device
adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device re
ad-write
adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the boo
tloader or recovery program
adb reboot-bootloader - reboots the device into the bootloader
adb root - restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions
adb usb - restarts the adbd daemon listening on USB
adb tcpip <port> - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on th
e specified port
networking:
adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
Note: you should not automatically start a PPP connection.
<tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1
[parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns

adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
<localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:

- If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be u
pdated.

- If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition
is updated.

environmental variables:
ADB_TRACE - Print debug information. A comma separated list
of the following values
1 or all, adb, sockets, packets, rwx, usb, sync
, sysdeps, transport, jdwp
ANDROID_SERIAL - The serial number to connect to. -s takes prior
ity over this if given.
ANDROID_LOG_TAGS - When used with the logcat option, only these de
bug tags are printed.

C:\>adb devices
'adb' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\>devices
'devices' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\> device
'device' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\> -d
'-d' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.

C:\>Users\Student\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\platform
-tools\adb.exe
Android Debug Bridge version 1.0.29

-d - directs command to the only connected USB devic
e
returns an error if more than one USB device is
present.
-e - directs command to the only running emulator.
returns an error if more than one emulator is r
unning.
-s <serial number> - directs command to the USB device or emulator w
ith
the given serial number. Overrides ANDROID_SERI
AL
environment variable.
-p <product name or path> - simple product name like 'sooner', or
a relative/absolute path to a product
out directory like 'out/target/product/sooner'.

If -p is not specified, the ANDROID_PRODUCT_OUT

environment variable is used, which must
be an absolute path.
devices - list all connected devices
connect <host>[:<port>] - connect to a device via TCP/IP
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number
is specified.
disconnect [<host>[:<port>]] - disconnect from a TCP/IP device.
Port 5555 is used by default if no port number
is specified.
Using this command with no additional arguments

will disconnect from all connected TCP/IP devic
es.

device commands:
adb push <local> <remote> - copy file/dir to device
adb pull <remote> [<local>] - copy file/dir from device
adb sync [ <directory> ] - copy host->device only if changed
(-l means list but don't copy)
(see 'adb help all')
adb shell - run remote shell interactively
adb shell <command> - run remote shell command
adb emu <command> - run emulator console command
adb logcat [ <filter-spec> ] - View device log
adb forward <local> <remote> - forward socket connections
forward specs are one of:
tcp:<port>
localabstract:<unix domain socket name>
localreserved:<unix domain socket name>
localfilesystem:<unix domain socket name>
dev:<character device name>
jdwp:<process pid> (remote only)
adb jdwp - list PIDs of processes hosting a JDWP transport

adb install [-l] [-r] [-s] <file> - push this package file to the device and i
nstall it
('-l' means forward-lock the app)
('-r' means reinstall the app, keeping its data
)
('-s' means install on SD card instead of inter
nal storage)
adb uninstall [-k] <package> - remove this app package from the device
('-k' means keep the data and cache directories
)
adb bugreport - return all information from the device
that should be included in a bug report.

adb backup [-f <file>] [-apk|-noapk] [-shared|-noshared] [-all] [-system|-nosy
stem] [<packages...>]
- write an archive of the device's data to <file>
.
If no -f option is supplied then the data is wr
itten
to "backup.ab" in the current directory.
(-apk|-noapk enable/disable backup of the .apks
themselves
in the archive; the default is noapk.)
(-shared|-noshared enable/disable backup of the
device's
shared storage / SD card contents; the defau
lt is noshared.)
(-all means to back up all installed applicatio
ns)
(-system|-nosystem toggles whether -all automat
ically includes
system applications; the default is to inclu
de system apps)
(<packages...> is the list of applications to b
e backed up. If
the -all or -shared flags are passed, then t
he package
list is optional. Applications explicitly g
iven on the
command line will be included even if -nosys
tem would
ordinarily cause them to be omitted.)

adb restore <file> - restore device contents from the <file> backup
archive

adb help - show this help message
adb version - show version num

scripting:
adb wait-for-device - block until device is online
adb start-server - ensure that there is a server running
adb kill-server - kill the server if it is running
adb get-state - prints: offline | bootloader | device
adb get-serialno - prints: <serial-number>
adb status-window - continuously print device status for a specifie
d device
adb remount - remounts the /system partition on the device re
ad-write
adb reboot [bootloader|recovery] - reboots the device, optionally into the boo
tloader or recovery program
adb reboot-bootloader - reboots the device into the bootloader
adb root - restarts the adbd daemon with root permissions
adb usb - restarts the adbd daemon listening on USB
adb tcpip <port> - restarts the adbd daemon listening on TCP on th
e specified port
networking:
adb ppp <tty> [parameters] - Run PPP over USB.
Note: you should not automatically start a PPP connection.
<tty> refers to the tty for PPP stream. Eg. dev:/dev/omap_csmi_tty1
[parameters] - Eg. defaultroute debug dump local notty usepeerdns

adb sync notes: adb sync [ <directory> ]
<localdir> can be interpreted in several ways:

- If <directory> is not specified, both /system and /data partitions will be u
pdated.

- If it is "system" or "data", only the corresponding partition
is updated.

environmental variables:
ADB_TRACE - Print debug information. A comma separated list
of the following values
1 or all, adb, sockets, packets, rwx, usb, sync
, sysdeps, transport, jdwp
ANDROID_SERIAL - The serial number to connect to. -s takes prior
ity over this if given.
ANDROID_LOG_TAGS - When used with the logcat option, only these de
bug tags are printed.

C:\>

Simply put... WHAT!?

 

[Deleted User]

By RUU in hboot I assume you mean the PB31IMG file? How did ruu from your computer go? Even if you're on gingerbread, the gingerbread RUU was recently released.

And nothing you do will give you s-on unless you purposely flash the file, so no worries there!

Due to the nature of command prompt, if you run the exe it will report what it needs, then close.

Open command prompt yourself, type:

cd C:\Users\Student\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\platform
-tools\
adb shell

Then follow the guide.

 

[The_Horak]

Yeah, I tried it again, and the same results as posted above occurred. I need to keep doing research... Thank you, by the way.

 

[sdrawkcab25]

Yeah, I tried it again, and the same results as posted above occurred. I need to keep doing research... Thank you, by the way.

you should be typing "adb" followed by a command, not just adb.exe
Try this thread instead:
http://forum.cyanogenmod.com/topic/...ternal-storage/page__hl__ mmcblk0 mkfs ext2

same user, but this is his original thread and shows how he arrived at the solution

 

[The_Horak]

Okay, just a question: Is this something that I did, or is this just bad circumstances? Did I flash the wrong stuff in the wrong order or something?

 

[sdrawkcab25]

Okay, just a question: Is this something that I did, or is this just bad circumstances? Did I flash the wrong stuff in the wrong order or something?

it's possible something flashed wrong (the dtr), or wiping the partitions in the mounts section might of screwed something up.

Don't even know if the above solution will work for you. It could even be a hardware failure.

 

[iowabowtech]

Okay, just a question: Is this something that I did, or is this just bad circumstances? Did I flash the wrong stuff in the wrong order or something?

Not sure but I'be seen 3 or 4 instances of this lately and its troubling. The only thing I can come up with is a serious error on /data and or /cache partitions. However, a partition diagnostic on the last one I dealt with came back as all systems normal!?! I've ended up at the "solved, messed up partitions" thread as my last ditch idea but even that failed last time it was tried. It's worth a shot though if you are out of options.

I would get the sdk on the root of your c drive so the path/ commands are easier to type and will jive more with most all posted adb instructions you'll run across. Cyanogen wiki has a nice sdk how to page.

 

[The_Horak]

So, this is the furthest that I've gotten now: I tried to push the first of the 6 parted files to my phone, but I got an error message. Check my screenshot out:

(By the way, is there an easier way to show you guys what Command Prompt is saying?)

What does it mean that permission is denied? I know my phone is set to debugging on (though it was hell fighting the phone's constant force close popups to do it), and I know that I have the right drivers. I also was able to get ADB to see my phone, I believe. When I typed in 'devices' it gave back one result. Honestly, I don't know my phone's SN.

 

[The_Horak]

Does ADB know that I'm rooted?

(the photo link isn't working. I tried the command to run the daemon with root permissions, but I am told: "adbd cannot run as root in production builds'

Is this the reason that I do not have permission? I definitely have S-Off.

 

[sdrawkcab25]

Does ADB know that I'm rooted?

(the photo link isn't working. I tried the command to run the daemon with root permissions, but I am told: &quot;adbd cannot run as root in production builds'

Is this the reason that I do not have permission? I definitely have S-Off.

Never heard of that problem before, don't think you would have to downgrade to the engineering build. I'm gonna PM someone that has some more experience messing with the partitions.

 

[scotty85]

hmm... where to start

I'd hate to keep shooting in the dark, and I don't want S-On, as that limits my reach into the phone (right?).

correct! whatever you do,do NOT turn s back to on. this severly limits your options for solution. i have an inc i bought cheap to mess with that behaves similarly,and havent had much luck since its factory s-on still

Okay, just a question: Is this something that I did, or is this just bad circumstances? Did I flash the wrong stuff in the wrong order or something?

personally,i feel its an error with clockwork,and a big reason i always use al alternate recovery on my devices when i can. ive been pretty distrustful of it since it bricked numerous erises back in the day by destroying partitions with bad flashes.

So, this is the furthest that I've gotten now: I tried to push the first of the 6 parted files to my phone, but I got an error message. Check my screenshot out:

(By the way, is there an easier way to show you guys what Command Prompt is saying?)

the way *I* like to look at ADB sessions is to copy/paste them into a code box. right click in your cmd window. click mark. highlihgt everything in white,then hit enter. now,in the post that youre wanting to display the code here on AF,click the # up top of the message reply box. this will get you the

 tags. just paste your code between them

[CODE]this is how it will look
but the box will be scrollable so it doesnt take up alot of room in the post.

a couple of things about the SDK.
-you need to have the fastboot and adb files in the same folder. usually folks will copy and paste everything in "platoform tools" and place it in "tools"
-youll need to put the files that you want to push into that same folder, unless youve put the sdk in your path... then you can put them anywhere(i have a folder called flashables) to keep it simple for now,prolly best thing is to just put everything into that same folder.
-you will also need to change to the directory where adb and fastboot live. for example,if you put the android sdk on the root of C,and you have adb and fastboot in the "tools" folder,you will need to:
-open the cmd window
-cd c:\android-sdk-windows\tools

at wich point,your command prompt will change.heres what it looks like(red are my inputs):

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation.  All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Scott>[COLOR="Red"]cd c:\android-sdk-windows\tools[/COLOR]

c:\android-sdk-windows\tools>[COLOR="red"]adb devices[/COLOR]
adb server is out of date.  killing...
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
HT117HJ00242    device


c:\android-sdk-windows\tools>

notice how C:\Users\Scott> changed to c:\android-sdk-windows\tools>

also note that "android-sdk-windows" is what the download was called when i did it. you can change the namd so its easier to cd to. if you want,you can call it just "sdk" or "android" or whatever.

sorry i didnt notice this thread sooner,id have just had you download "miniadb_inc" from the root thread and used that-it prolly would have been less confusing for you. the sdk is a lik overwhelming when you first are trying to get it working since youve gone this far,we will continue on this path.

let us know when you are able to change directories and get a reply from adb devices

 

[scotty85]

i tried to run thru the commands in post #7,so i could give you an idea what the commands should be. however,my phone is unrooted and s-on,so i keep getting:

failed to copy 'e2fsck' to '/sbin//e2fsck': Read-only file system

i ran zergRush to get temp root(the only thing that works reliably on my junk phone) and have tried to mount /system as read/write with the following:
mount -o rw,remount -t ext2 /dev/block/mmcblk0p25 /system,but its apparently not remounting it r/w. im not 100% sure that command is right,so ill have to research more into that later.

since your s-off,it may just work for you. i have to get ready for a dr appt,then work,but here are a few tips that may get you thru it.

the post says you need a working recovery,so go ahead and reflash clockwork in hboot. you might go ahead and flash the superuser .zip,if it will let you. im not sure if being rooted is required for this or not.

extract parted. copy and paste(or drag and drop) all 6 of the files inside sdparted into your "tools" directory

open your command window,change to your android sdk tools directory. do an adb devices to make sure youre online

then i think your commands will be something like:
adb push e2fsck /sbin/
adb push mke2fs /sbin/
etc.,for all 6 of those files

then

adb shell(here is where im not sure if youll need a #,or if $ is good enuff)

cd /sbin/ (you may need a longer path,for example /system/sbin/)

chmod 0755 e2fsck
chmod 0755 mke2fs
etc.,for all 6

parted /dev/block/mmcblk0 mkfs ext2

then fix things as described in the thread. then hopefully you can get to recovery and flash a new rom,or run an ruu and get working again

ill try and watch during the day,but iowa and sdraw should be able to help you as well.

good luck!

 

[iowabowtech]

The problem with your adb commands posted (OP) is that you need to place the 6 binaries into the platform-tools folder before pushing them to /sbin.

 

[iowabowtech]

Also, you do need root in order to get into shell. Like scotty said, try flashing superuser by way of clockwork.

 

[The_Horak]

Okay, cool. Scotty85, I wish I could click the 'Thanks' button 50 more times, haha. I do have superuser on the phone, so we will see. I was unable to get to my phone today. I will tomorrow. Please keep an eye on this thread, as I will give feedback ASAP. You all rule.

 

[scotty85]

awsome. looking fwd to seeing if it works out for you. its sometimes hard to give detailed replies on my phone at work(i deliever auto parts,so depends on wether im on the road or not) but ill do my best to watch and help if i can

 

[The_Horak]

Well, I reflashed Clockwork and Super User, just in case. I made all the files I need sit in the same 'tools' folder, also. I'm still getting "Permission Denied." I read that I may need to run ADB as an administrator, but I don't know how to do that through the Windows Shell. Is there some truth to that? Here's my ADB results (Thanks Scotty85):

c:\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\tools>adb devices
* daemon not running. starting it now on port 5037 *
* daemon started successfully *
List of devices attached
HT09FHJ03038    device


c:\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\tools>adb push c:\andro
id-sdk\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\tools\e2fsck /sbin/
failed to copy 'c:\android-sdk\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\tools\e
2fsck' to '/sbin//e2fsck': Permission denied

c:\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\tools> adb push e2fsck
/sbin/
failed to copy 'e2fsck' to '/sbin//e2fsck': Permission denied

c:\Android-SDK\android-sdk-windows\android-sdk-windows-1\tools>

 

[iowabowtech]

Can you access Clockwork now by going into recovery via hboot? If so, open CW and goto the mounts option, then mount /system. Once that's done, retry the adb push command. Should let you write to /sbin.

 

[scotty85]

might also need a more completel path. something like

adb push e2fsck /system/sbin/

(or wherever it is,im not sure where sbin is located)