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Root Thunderbolt-root, to GB, to Froyo, bricked.

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dennhop

Newbie
Ok, so got my Tbolt a few weeks ago, and decided after playing with it the first night, to go ahead and root it. Got that done, successfully, with no issues. Was happy with that for a while. Then, I decided to get froggy, and try flashing a ROM onto the phone...specifically, the GB one, that supposedly could run netflix, I think it's BAMF 2.0.5, or 2.5, whatever. (Sorry, I'm not the most phone savvy, just figured I could follow directions, since it seemed to work for me with the root process).
I got GB to run, but then had no signal, due to no radio. When I got the the GB radio flashed to the phone, via bootloader, all I had was a 1x connection, nothing more. So, after doing even more research, I found all the threads that said GB was bad, and get rid of it. [facepalm]
I didn't find a lot of clear instructions on going back to Froyo from GB, so I tried flashing a ROM back onto the phone, at this point I don't remember which one, it was one of the FROYO ones though.
This sent my phone into a bootloader loop, completely bricking it, to the point where I took it into Verizon today. They managed to get it flashed completely back to stock, except now, it will not pick up either 3g or 4g. It's stuck on 1x. anyone have any ideas, before I send it off for an insurance claim?
 
dennhop said:
Ok, so got my Tbolt a few weeks ago, and decided after playing with it the first night, to go ahead and root it. Got that done, successfully, with no issues. Was happy with that for a while. Then, I decided to get froggy, and try flashing a ROM onto the phone...specifically, the GB one, that supposedly could run netflix, I think it's BAMF 2.0.5, or 2.5, whatever. (Sorry, I'm not the most phone savvy, just figured I could follow directions, since it seemed to work for me with the root process).
I got GB to run, but then had no signal, due to no radio. When I got the the GB radio flashed to the phone, via bootloader, all I had was a 1x connection, nothing more. So, after doing even more research, I found all the threads that said GB was bad, and get rid of it. [facepalm]
I didn't find a lot of clear instructions on going back to Froyo from GB, so I tried flashing a ROM back onto the phone, at this point I don't remember which one, it was one of the FROYO ones though.
This sent my phone into a bootloader loop, completely bricking it, to the point where I took it into Verizon today. They managed to get it flashed completely back to stock, except now, it will not pick up either 3g or 4g. It's stuck on 1x. anyone have any ideas, before I send it off for an insurance claim?
Click to expand...

Ok the first thing you did wrong was not research. Flashing radios the wrong way is the fastest way to brick your phone. Rooting is something you need to thouroughly research and be comfortable with before you dive into it. You cannot use a GB radio and flash back to froyo. You had to flash a froyo radio then a froyo rom.

To do this you need to place a froyo rom on your sd somewhere. Then install the PG05IMG on the root of your SD card( on the main part, not in a folder). This file is the radio. You have to obtain it from somewhere (XDA). Now you need to boot into recovery using rom manager or the quick settings that come with a rom. Wipe the phone completely, data reset, cache, davlick. Now install the froyo rom. Now you need to have adb knowledge. This is why you need to research. Once you get into the commands (which i am not going to explain, use google), run adb reboot bootloader. Now it will boot into the bootloader and ask you if you want to run the update. Use your volume rocker and select yes. Wait until it says done. Click the power and reboot. Your back to Froyo safe and sound. If it reboots and you dont have the custom rom, just go back into recovery and flash it.

I was running GB and i headed the warning and returned back to froyo and a custom rom safe and sound with no issues. I wasnt scared i just wanted to be safe. This is a very simple process if you know what you are doing. I made sure i read all the posts on XDA before doing anything. The instructions are all there. Please next time you want to adventure into the amazing world of rooting just do some research first.
 
Sorry to hear about the trouble you are having, I moved the Thread to the All-Things-Root section. This way you can get some help and hopefully not have to send your phone in.
 
did you flash the froyo radio back via bootloader when you flashed back to froyo? If they flashed it back to stock you werent bricked, you just had bootlooping. have you checked your radio settings (I dont know a direct path in settings but LTEon/off app will get you there)?
 
my impressions from the first post are that a store pushed unrooted firmware back to it.

this being the case,i cant think of anything to try... im assuming the lte switch requires root access,but if it doesnt,thats prolly your best bet.

are you positive that there wasnt a network issue that day? do you know other verizon people that were getting reliable 3 or 4g?

if no 3g after a couple days,and the lte switch does nothing for you,id say chalk it up to a hardware issue.
 
dennhop said:
Ok, so got my Tbolt a few weeks ago, and decided after playing with it the first night, to go ahead and root it. Got that done, successfully, with no issues. Was happy with that for a while. Then, I decided to get froggy, and try flashing a ROM onto the phone...specifically, the GB one, that supposedly could run netflix, I think it's BAMF 2.0.5, or 2.5, whatever. (Sorry, I'm not the most phone savvy, just figured I could follow directions, since it seemed to work for me with the root process).
I got GB to run, but then had no signal, due to no radio. When I got the the GB radio flashed to the phone, via bootloader, all I had was a 1x connection, nothing more. So, after doing even more research, I found all the threads that said GB was bad, and get rid of it. [facepalm]
I didn't find a lot of clear instructions on going back to Froyo from GB, so I tried flashing a ROM back onto the phone, at this point I don't remember which one, it was one of the FROYO ones though.
This sent my phone into a bootloader loop, completely bricking it, to the point where I took it into Verizon today. They managed to get it flashed completely back to stock, except now, it will not pick up either 3g or 4g. It's stuck on 1x. anyone have any ideas, before I send it off for an insurance claim?
Click to expand...
Research research!

Any GB ROM is off limits due to the fact that the radios are bricking phones. It's been like that for a few days now...

[NOTICE] Gingerbread Related Bricking - May 27th 2011 update - xda-developers
 
Sorry guys, just got back from camping over the weekend...

I'll try to answer all the questions about what i did or didn't do, best I can....

1st...again, I didn't research enough before I tried to flash a GB rom. To clarify, though, I had NO issues rooting the phone, which I did a few weeks ago. The root process went fine, it's just when I tried to go to GB and back, is when I had issues.

I flashed the GB rom first, to the phone, and then the GB radio....
when I still couldn't get anything more than 1x with the GB radio, I flashed back to Froyo...
This is where i'm guessing I messed up, because I flashed back to froyo first, and then tried to flash the radio back, but got stuck in the bootloader loop.

When I took the phone into Verizon, they flashed a completely stock rom onto the phone, as well as replacing the SIM card too. We did check other phones in the store, and they were either on 3g or 4g, so the fact that my phone was stuck on 1x, wasn't a network issue.

At this point, I'm back to stock, without a signal, since I had them reactivate my droid, for the time being. I don't know how to check my radio at this point though...
 
Verizon helped you with your rooted phone? That suprises me, I would have thought they would have told you it was your own fault and that your warranty was void.
 
There was no evidence of root, since it was stuck on bootloader, so i n order to get it off, they flashed a whole stock rom onto the phone, taking it back to factory.
 
I have to ask because it's happened so many times... When you weren't getting 3G or 4G service was your back battery cover off of your phone? I know that a lot of people used the "flash ROM then pull battery, power button + volume-down" method to flash the new radio, and I saw at least half a dozen people on xda complain of no data service only to be told that the antenna is actually IN the removable back cover of your phone. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles but I just thought I'd throw that question out there.
 
cmotion said:
I have to ask because it's happened so many times... When you weren't getting 3G or 4G service was your back battery cover off of your phone? I know that a lot of people used the "flash ROM then pull battery, power button + volume-down" method to flash the new radio, and I saw at least half a dozen people on xda complain of no data service only to be told that the antenna is actually IN the removable back cover of your phone. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles but I just thought I'd throw that question out there.
Click to expand...

You good sir, are a lifesaver! (well, at least a money saver!) Never knew that, so today after work, I took my TB to the store, and asked them to reactivate it, to test it out, and it works perfectly fine. Already rerooted, just this time I'm going to stay away from GB roms or anything crazy. Hopefully, they come out with GB soon enough for the thunderbolt. Thanks again!
 
50 minds are better than one. Smart to come to the forums...

its sometimes the smallest thing. Now, you need to get educated on adb command lines. I spent some time on that and it is a lifesaver. Cause if you are going to try new ROMs ... and you will...knowing how to use adb if you get locked up in the boot screen, is invaluable. Sometimes you need it to reboot to recovery because the battery pull won't work.

Keep posting ... it was very useful.
 
I will add if you have an older android phone you could live without I'd practice ADB commands on that.
 
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