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Root Trying to S-OFF and hanging in Revolutionary when
- Thread starter littler20
- Start date
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- Tags
- htc desire
I was on holiday I'm afraid, so a bit late here.
If it's in fastboot usb and not responding then it's probably something on the PC rather than the phone. The simplest thing is just to try a different USB port. Otherwise I'd guess drivers (but I don't use Windows for this stuff, so have no real experience of faffing with drivers).
But one thought: you need to be in fastboot usb for flashing recovery, but what about running Revolutionary? The guide doesn't say to be in fastboot mode for that that I can see (I didn't write it, just added details, and it's a long time since I tried Revolutionary myself). So could you try running it with the phone running Android rather than in Fastboot mode? And as Shauny says, turn on usb debugging first.
If it's in fastboot usb and not responding then it's probably something on the PC rather than the phone. The simplest thing is just to try a different USB port. Otherwise I'd guess drivers (but I don't use Windows for this stuff, so have no real experience of faffing with drivers).
But one thought: you need to be in fastboot usb for flashing recovery, but what about running Revolutionary? The guide doesn't say to be in fastboot mode for that that I can see (I didn't write it, just added details, and it's a long time since I tried Revolutionary myself). So could you try running it with the phone running Android rather than in Fastboot mode? And as Shauny says, turn on usb debugging first.
Hi,
Thanks for your help so far.
I tried a different USB port on my laptop, set up a different laptop and tried all four of its ports and failed to run Revolutionary to get S-OFF.
After leaving it for a day I went back to my original laptop, tried again and Revolutionary worked and my phone is now in an S-OFF state.
I didn
Thanks for your help so far.
I tried a different USB port on my laptop, set up a different laptop and tried all four of its ports and failed to run Revolutionary to get S-OFF.
After leaving it for a day I went back to my original laptop, tried again and Revolutionary worked and my phone is now in an S-OFF state.
I didn
you should have set up environment variables if I recollect correctly to be able to run fastboot from anywhere in command.
Seem to remember a way around doing this was to run the command prompt from the same folder that the android sdk tools are in (where the fastboot.exe file is located)
Seem to remember a way around doing this was to run the command prompt from the same folder that the android sdk tools are in (where the fastboot.exe file is located)
You need to install fastboot on your PC. That's described in one of the early steps of the guide.
If you have, then as bazcabs has just ninja'd me to say, you should do it from the directory you installed fastboot in (if you've not set the environment variables so that you can use the command from anywhere).
If you have, then as bazcabs has just ninja'd me to say, you should do it from the directory you installed fastboot in (if you've not set the environment variables so that you can use the command from anywhere).
This from the ADB Fastboot page
http://androidforums.com/desire-all...-updated-1st-june-2011-a.html#”8”
How do I set up my Windows PC to use adb and fastboot?
Download SDK Tools only
Open the .rar file, then drag and drop the folder "android-sdk-windows" to the C: drive
Right click My computer > Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables
under system variables click "path" and click "edit"
at the end of the line add a sem semi colon ";" and without a space put C:\android-sdk-windows\tools - It should look like ;C:\android-sdk-windows\tools then click ok.
http://androidforums.com/desire-all...-updated-1st-june-2011-a.html#”8”
How do I set up my Windows PC to use adb and fastboot?
Download SDK Tools only
Open the .rar file, then drag and drop the folder "android-sdk-windows" to the C: drive
Right click My computer > Properties > Advanced > Environment Variables
under system variables click "path" and click "edit"
at the end of the line add a sem semi colon ";" and without a space put C:\android-sdk-windows\tools - It should look like ;C:\android-sdk-windows\tools then click ok.
Hi
Thanks to your advice I’ve managed to run fastboot and installed the recovery.
I am now able to boot to hboot or fastboot which allows me to get to recovery but I seem to be unable to boot up into ansdroid phone.
Any advice on how to progress and get the phone up and running would be welcome.
Regards
Thanks to your advice I’ve managed to run fastboot and installed the recovery.
I am now able to boot to hboot or fastboot which allows me to get to recovery but I seem to be unable to boot up into ansdroid phone.
Any advice on how to progress and get the phone up and running would be welcome.
Regards
Yeah, the option will be there. It's usually in the top level of the recovery menu. Maybe scroll down if it's not visible (I know that's a stupid suggestion, but I've overlooked the obvious so often myself...).
Battery out and pressing power button takes me to where I used to get to when I held down power down and pressed the power button.
When I had first loaded 4eXT recovery, it asked me to ‘enter the wipe menu and format system’. I did that but I now guess that doing that has wiped out the system and I will somehow have to reload it?
When I had first loaded 4eXT recovery, it asked me to ‘enter the wipe menu and format system’. I did that but I now guess that doing that has wiped out the system and I will somehow have to reload it?
nicka3200
Android Expert
Ok so you have no system to boot. The best way to proceed would probably to install a rooted stock ROM via recovery without wiping user data (factory reset). Hadron can probably recommend one.
Alternatively you can flash another custom ROM but you will need to do a full wipe this losing all your data.
Alternatively you can flash another custom ROM but you will need to do a full wipe this losing all your data.
Damn, just typed a long reply on tapatalk and the stupid thing failed to load it!
Will be back later when on a computer.
Whatever you do, if you did not wipe data as well take a backup from recovery now. There are ways of recovering data from that, even though the ROM is gone.
Will be back later when on a computer.
Whatever you do, if you did not wipe data as well take a backup from recovery now. There are ways of recovering data from that, even though the ROM is gone.
Not my day - the wretched laptop just trashed my second attempt at replying. Apologies if this is a bit terse, but it's the third time I've tried to type this!
OK, firstly apologies for the mess. There is actually a warning about this at the end of the guide, but I'll have to make it more prominent
So, options:
1) Just in case, did you take a backup from recovery before formatting things? If so, restore that backup now and you are back where you were when you made the backup.
If not, I'm going to assume that you only formatted system, i.e. have not formatted /data (or done a factory reset). If that's not the case and you wiped data as well, then just choose a custom ROM (below) and install it, as you no longer have anything to lose.
Assuming that you have not erased data, go into recovery and take a backup now. You've got no ROM, so you can't just restore the entire backup, but it means you will have your data backed-up, which gives us more options for recovering them.
There are then 2 approaches you can take:
2) Install a custom ROM.
The All Things Root Guide sticky post has a link to a list of ROMs at XDA-developers. You can choose a ROM from that list, copy it to your SD card (either using a card reader, or you can mount the card over usb from inside recovery), then install the zip using recovery. This will give you a new system.
The catch is that system data are generally incompatible between different ROMs, so you usually do a factory reset when changing ROM. We don't want to do that, because we're trying to save your data. So the trick is to choose a ROM that's sufficiently close to your original one that the data are compatible and we don't need to wipe. So what you are looking for is a "rooted stock ROM" that's based on as close as possible to the android version you were running before. Then you install without wiping, and with any luck it will boot. Then you can back everything up properly!
To recommend a ROM I'd need to know what your previous software was - at least whether it was 2.2 or 2.3, ideally more precisely if you know (that only applies for 2.2 - there is only one official 2.3 for the Desire). The biggest problem is that these are so old now that many of the download links are now gone, but I still have copies of a couple I could get to you via PM and dropbox. Please just tell us whatever you can about the software you were running (including when it was last updated) and we'll see what we can do.
If we can't get one which boots without a wipe, the other option is to wipe anyway, then buy the paid version of Titanium Backup. This can retrieve data and apps from a recovery backup, which is why I said to take one of those before we start. It should get your user apps back. If contacts are saved with Google they are safe. Messages are trickiest - you can try restoring these (and, if necessary, contacts) via Titanium, but if the ROM is not compatible it may not work. This is another reason for picking as close a ROM to the previous one as possible.
3) There's one other option, which is a ROM Update Utility (RUU). This will erase the phone an install a complete set of official software. It will also overwrite your recovery, so you'd need to reinstall that afterwards. But you will still be S-Off, so you won't need to run revolutionary again.
That will get the phone going, but it will erase your data. This is where the backup comes in: if you have a recovery backup of your data you can run the RUU, reinstall 4Ext, then restore the data from the backup. Provided the android version in the RUU is close enough to the original software this should work. Personally I'd be tempted to try the rooted stock ROM approach first, but this gives another option if that doesn't work for any reason.
We get RUUs from shipped-ROMs - that link is for GSM handsets (which I'm assuming you have. Please say if not, though we have many fewer options for CDMA). Since you've run Revolutionary you should be able to use most of those, but what you want is the RUU (not OTA) that's closest to your previous software. You run the RUU by putting the phone in fastboot mode, connecting it to a PC, then running the RUU .exe on a PC (the 2.3 RUU is inside a zip, so unzip to get the .exe).
Hopefully one of those methods will let you not only get the phone working again (which is the easy bit, though it may not feel it right now!) but also keep your data intact.
So as I say, if you tell us what you were running previously we can provide some more specific suggestions.
(P.S. You are right - I don't know the meaning of the word "terse"
)
OK, firstly apologies for the mess. There is actually a warning about this at the end of the guide, but I'll have to make it more prominent
So, options:
1) Just in case, did you take a backup from recovery before formatting things? If so, restore that backup now and you are back where you were when you made the backup.
If not, I'm going to assume that you only formatted system, i.e. have not formatted /data (or done a factory reset). If that's not the case and you wiped data as well, then just choose a custom ROM (below) and install it, as you no longer have anything to lose.
Assuming that you have not erased data, go into recovery and take a backup now. You've got no ROM, so you can't just restore the entire backup, but it means you will have your data backed-up, which gives us more options for recovering them.
There are then 2 approaches you can take:
2) Install a custom ROM.
The All Things Root Guide sticky post has a link to a list of ROMs at XDA-developers. You can choose a ROM from that list, copy it to your SD card (either using a card reader, or you can mount the card over usb from inside recovery), then install the zip using recovery. This will give you a new system.
The catch is that system data are generally incompatible between different ROMs, so you usually do a factory reset when changing ROM. We don't want to do that, because we're trying to save your data. So the trick is to choose a ROM that's sufficiently close to your original one that the data are compatible and we don't need to wipe. So what you are looking for is a "rooted stock ROM" that's based on as close as possible to the android version you were running before. Then you install without wiping, and with any luck it will boot. Then you can back everything up properly!
To recommend a ROM I'd need to know what your previous software was - at least whether it was 2.2 or 2.3, ideally more precisely if you know (that only applies for 2.2 - there is only one official 2.3 for the Desire). The biggest problem is that these are so old now that many of the download links are now gone, but I still have copies of a couple I could get to you via PM and dropbox. Please just tell us whatever you can about the software you were running (including when it was last updated) and we'll see what we can do.
If we can't get one which boots without a wipe, the other option is to wipe anyway, then buy the paid version of Titanium Backup. This can retrieve data and apps from a recovery backup, which is why I said to take one of those before we start. It should get your user apps back. If contacts are saved with Google they are safe. Messages are trickiest - you can try restoring these (and, if necessary, contacts) via Titanium, but if the ROM is not compatible it may not work. This is another reason for picking as close a ROM to the previous one as possible.
3) There's one other option, which is a ROM Update Utility (RUU). This will erase the phone an install a complete set of official software. It will also overwrite your recovery, so you'd need to reinstall that afterwards. But you will still be S-Off, so you won't need to run revolutionary again.
That will get the phone going, but it will erase your data. This is where the backup comes in: if you have a recovery backup of your data you can run the RUU, reinstall 4Ext, then restore the data from the backup. Provided the android version in the RUU is close enough to the original software this should work. Personally I'd be tempted to try the rooted stock ROM approach first, but this gives another option if that doesn't work for any reason.
We get RUUs from shipped-ROMs - that link is for GSM handsets (which I'm assuming you have. Please say if not, though we have many fewer options for CDMA). Since you've run Revolutionary you should be able to use most of those, but what you want is the RUU (not OTA) that's closest to your previous software. You run the RUU by putting the phone in fastboot mode, connecting it to a PC, then running the RUU .exe on a PC (the 2.3 RUU is inside a zip, so unzip to get the .exe).
Hopefully one of those methods will let you not only get the phone working again (which is the easy bit, though it may not feel it right now!) but also keep your data intact.
So as I say, if you tell us what you were running previously we can provide some more specific suggestions.
(P.S. You are right - I don't know the meaning of the word "terse"
)Seems strange that you’re (Hadron) apologising to me and describing yourself as terse when I’m the twonk who took the option to wipe system. It’s me who should be apologising and thanking you and the others who are freely giving me the benefit of your expertise.
My phone is a GSM,, Orange branded, HTC Desire which had been upgraded OTA to 2.2.
I’ve now taken a recovery backup, backed up the sd card to my laptop and am looking to flash a stock/custom ROM that lets me reformat the sd card and get round the lack of memory for apps. I’ve got all the data I need on the pc backup so am happy to reformat the sd card and/or do a factory reset.
regards
My phone is a GSM,, Orange branded, HTC Desire which had been upgraded OTA to 2.2.
I’ve now taken a recovery backup, backed up the sd card to my laptop and am looking to flash a stock/custom ROM that lets me reformat the sd card and get round the lack of memory for apps. I’ve got all the data I need on the pc backup so am happy to reformat the sd card and/or do a factory reset.
regards
OK, no need to format SD just to get the phone going. However, partitioning will wipe the card, so you need the backups before for that. The good news is that 4Ext recovery does a decent job of partitioning SD cards, which is simpler that installing GParted if you don't already have that. Then you just need a ROM that supports a2sd using that partition (lots to choose from!).
If you want to just get the phone going while you choose the best ROM for your purposes, I've got a copy of a rooted stock 2.2 ROM in my dropbox. This is one which you might be able to just flash without a reset. I'll send you the link in a PM. If it works it will look just like an unbranded version of the ROM you had before, but already rooted.
For info, it's one of Teppic74's rooted stock Froyo ROMs - the thread it comes from is in that XDA thread I linked, in the rooted stock ROMs section, but the download link for the ROM is no longer working, though the add-ons can still be downloaded from the thread.
If you want to just get the phone going while you choose the best ROM for your purposes, I've got a copy of a rooted stock 2.2 ROM in my dropbox. This is one which you might be able to just flash without a reset. I'll send you the link in a PM. If it works it will look just like an unbranded version of the ROM you had before, but already rooted.
For info, it's one of Teppic74's rooted stock Froyo ROMs - the thread it comes from is in that XDA thread I linked, in the rooted stock ROMs section, but the download link for the ROM is no longer working, though the add-ons can still be downloaded from the thread.
Hi Hadron
I tried to load the ROM you sent but it kept failing so I downloaded a Cyanogenmod Rom and it loaded up easily. I even managed to install a zip of the Google apps to get Market back on.
Still got the ‘low memory’ problem. I think I need to wipe the phone, partition the sd card properly with 4eXT and then load apps back on in an orderly fashion. If you can point me to a thread that would help me, that would be great. Thanks for all your help so far.
Regards
All back up and running with a Cyanogenmod 7.2.0 ROM installed.
I’ll close this thread now, with many thanks to all who have helped me get to this stage.
I tried to load the ROM you sent but it kept failing so I downloaded a Cyanogenmod Rom and it loaded up easily. I even managed to install a zip of the Google apps to get Market back on.
Still got the ‘low memory’ problem. I think I need to wipe the phone, partition the sd card properly with 4eXT and then load apps back on in an orderly fashion. If you can point me to a thread that would help me, that would be great. Thanks for all your help so far.
Regards
All back up and running with a Cyanogenmod 7.2.0 ROM installed.
I’ll close this thread now, with many thanks to all who have helped me get to this stage.
Glad to hear it's working. 
If you look in the first post of this XDA thread you'll see a section "legacy app2sd" at the bottom of the post. This has 2 ways of adding ext partition support. You may not even need to wipe the phone - these scripts usually detect whether you have a partition on the card and move apps to it on boot (so first boot after installing will be slow!).
In fact when I used CM7 I added the DarkTremor script (official rather than beta I think). You can use command line instructions to configure it: open a terminal emulator and type
su
a2sd install
to start it up and move apps to sd. "a2sd cachesd" will move the dalvik cache as well, which will give you more space if needed.
So take a nandroid before installing an a2sd script and give it a try. If there's a problem you can always wipe and reinstall apps, but I don't think it will be needed.
I say "script", which is the second option, because I've never used the simple2ext app, but others have said that works well too.
If you look in the first post of this XDA thread you'll see a section "legacy app2sd" at the bottom of the post. This has 2 ways of adding ext partition support. You may not even need to wipe the phone - these scripts usually detect whether you have a partition on the card and move apps to it on boot (so first boot after installing will be slow!).
In fact when I used CM7 I added the DarkTremor script (official rather than beta I think). You can use command line instructions to configure it: open a terminal emulator and type
su
a2sd install
to start it up and move apps to sd. "a2sd cachesd" will move the dalvik cache as well, which will give you more space if needed.
So take a nandroid before installing an a2sd script and give it a try. If there's a problem you can always wipe and reinstall apps, but I don't think it will be needed.
I say "script", which is the second option, because I've never used the simple2ext app, but others have said that works well too.