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Root Stuck in Bootloader with no OS O_o

F

FR212

Newbie
My Nexus 7 was freezing, restarting, and getting stuck in the logo screen. I eventually did a factory reset in setting while charging and that didn't go well, booting failed. :( Now, I'm stuck in Bootloader with no OS. Fastboot and recovery "adb sideload" are working, but my Lock State is LOCKED. :(

I tried installing TWRP via Fastboot, but I get the following:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.7.1.0-grouper.img
very-twrp-2.7.1.0-grouper.img
sending 'recovery' (8628 KB)...
FAILED (remote: Bootloader is locked.)
finished. total time: 0.028s

My screen in Bootloader:

Fastboot Mode
Product Name - grouper
Variant - grouper
My Version - ER3
Bootloader Version - 4.23
Baseband Version - N/A
Serial Number - 0**************9
Signing - not defined yet
LOCK STATE - LOCKED

My Screen in Recovery Mode:

Android system recovery <3e>
KTU84P

Can I use Fastboot or recovery "adb sideload" to install Android? or did I go too far and bricked my Nexus 7 (2012) for good? Any help :confused:, would be nice.
 
I get the following:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem unlock
...
(bootloader) erasing userdata...
(bootloader) erasing userdata done
(bootloader) erasing cache...
(bootloader) erasing cache done
(bootloader) unlocking...
FAILED (remote: (Unknown error code))
finished. total time: 7.930s
 
Flash Stock + Unroot...
------------------------------------------------------------------


erasing 'boot'...
OKAY [ 1.156s]
finished. total time: 1.157s
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
erasing 'cache'...
OKAY [ 3.079s]
finished. total time: 3.080s
erasing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 0.219s]
finished. total time: 0.221s
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
erasing 'system'...
OKAY [ 0.009s]
finished. total time: 0.010s
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [ 0.009s]
finished. total time: 0.010s

sending 'bootloader' (2100 KB)...
FAILED (remote: Bootloader is locked.)
finished. total time: 0.016s
rebooting into bootloader...
OKAY [ 0.020s]
finished. total time: 0.022s

< waiting for device >
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
archive does not contain 'tos.img'
Creating filesystem with parameters:
Size: 30734811136
Block size: 4096
Blocks per group: 32768
Inodes per group: 8192
Inode size: 256
Journal blocks: 32768
Label:
Blocks: 7503616
Block groups: 229
Reserved block group size: 1024
Created filesystem with 11/1875968 inodes and 161774/7503616 blocks
Creating filesystem with parameters:
Size: 464519168
Block size: 4096
Blocks per group: 32768
Inodes per group: 7088
Inode size: 256
Journal blocks: 1772
Label:
Blocks: 113408
Block groups: 4
Reserved block group size: 31
Created filesystem with 11/28352 inodes and 3654/113408 blocks
--------------------------------------------
Bootloader Version...: 4.23
Baseband Version.....: N/A
Serial Number........: 015d3248fe340a09
--------------------------------------------
checking product...
OKAY [ 0.030s]
checking version-bootloader...
OKAY [ 0.018s]
sending 'boot' (4994 KB)...
FAILED (remote: Bootloader is locked.)
finished. total time: 0.152s
 
I'm starting to suspect that my Nexus 7 could have a hardware failure, some problem with the EMMC flash memory chip is my guess. Can anyone confirm this? thanks.
 
FR212 said:
I get the following:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem unlock
...
(bootloader) erasing userdata...
(bootloader) erasing userdata done
(bootloader) erasing cache...
(bootloader) erasing cache done
(bootloader) unlocking...
FAILED (remote: (Unknown error code))
finished. total time: 7.930s
Click to expand...

Hey FR212, sorry for being a little late here, but are you using a USB 3.0 port for doing this?

It might help to try to use a USB 2.0 port from your PC and/or a different USB cable--I have personally experienced issue using the fastboot utility from a USB 3.0 port on my PC.

Let us know!
 
scary alien said:
Hey FR212, sorry for being a little late here, but are you using a USB 3.0 port for doing this?

It might help to try to use a USB 2.0 port from your PC and/or a different USB cable--I have personally experienced issue using the fastboot utility from a USB 3.0 port on my PC.

Let us know!
Click to expand...

It made no difference, same results. :( I'm learning towards hardware failure, EMMC flash memory chip is my guess. :mad: Any other suggestions?
 
FR212 said:
It made no difference, same results. :( I'm learning towards hardware failure, EMMC flash memory chip is my guess. :mad: Any other suggestions?
Click to expand...

Sorry again for the long delay...but I have a question for you: when you issue the "fastboot oem unlock", do you see/get the prompts on your device asking you if it is indeed okay to unlock your bootloader?

You have to acknowledge that it's okay to do so by using the volume toggle to select "YES" and pressing the power button to confirm that selection, otherwise I'm thinking you will see what you're experiencing.

(I'm guessing you did indeed see this but didn't report it--but I thought I'd ask for completeness and verification sake).
 
scary alien said:
Sorry again for the long delay...but I have a question for you: when you issue the "fastboot oem unlock", do you see/get the prompts on your device asking you if it is indeed okay to unlock your bootloader?
Click to expand...

Yeah, that does show up. After selecting "YES" the following show up on my PC.

C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot>fastboot oem unlock
...
(bootloader) erasing userdata...
(bootloader) erasing userdata done
(bootloader) erasing cache...
(bootloader) erasing cache done
(bootloader) unlocking...
FAILED (remote: (Unknown error code))
finished. total time: 7.930s

And on the tablet screen it show the bootloader screen with the words unlocking... on the top left, but nothing happens.
 
Any more suggestions? Or is my Nexus 7 bricked/damaged for good? I would like some confirmation, thanks.
 
FR212 said:
Any more suggestions? Or is my Nexus 7 bricked/damaged for good? I would like some confirmation, thanks.
Click to expand...

Well, given our lack of success in getting the bootloader unlocked and your initial report of "My Nexus 7 was freezing, restarting, and getting stuck in the logo screen.", it certainly doesn't look good and does seem to point to a hardware issue :(.

There is a utility and methodology for pre-saving some key files from your N7 before you have a problem and potentially allowing you to unbrick:

Generate Nvflash Blobs for Original Nexus 7 and Other Asus Tablets with Flatline

Flatline - Unbrickable Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi + 3G) | Nexus 7 | XDA Forums

but it does appear that you had to have saved-off these device-specific files prior to experiencing an issue :(.

That's all I got...anyone else?
 
Hey scary alien, Sorry for the slow reply.

I work in tech support for a software company, so I know exactly what you mean about users (or at my job, IT support people) not providing much information about the problem they're experiencing!

I've taken a look through some other threads as you suggested, but yeah, it doesn't look like anyone's been able to establish a fix for similar issues. I've tried switching out the cable, made sure it's not USB 3.0, and have tried another PC, as I did see that being the cause for similar issues to mine, but sadly it didn't make any difference here.

The tablet is under warranty so I can return it, but I doubt they'll have any more 2012 Nexus 7s (which I personally think are quite nice!), and I also just thought it would be good if I could fix it. You never know though, they might switch it out for a newer Nexus 7. At the very least I've learnt a hell of a lot about messing around with Android, so I suppose there is a silver lining!

Thanks for your help anyway dude! :)
 
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