Develop Bugs

Custom splash image

I have attached all the files needed to do this on windows, mac, and linux at the end of this post. The creation of these apps, goes to the respective people, including Koush, JF, Infernix, and alansj.
Want to get rid of that t-mobile boot image?
Disconnect, over at Gotontheinter.net, has figured out how to do it using the new unlocked bootloader from the g1 dev phone. Below is a quote from the source. ( http://www.gotontheinter.net/node/9 )
"So you want to join the party and flash your own boot image, but its a weird undocumented format and you don't want to spend all year researching it in the source. Well, I'm here to help.
It is actually very simple. Start with an image you want to use, make sure it is 320x480 with 8bpp color. (In my examples, I'll use splash.png: PNG image data, 320 x 480, 8-bit/color RGBA, non-interlaced
Just make sure you have ImageMagick installed, and the utilities from the source build. (Specifically, rgb2565.)
$ convert -depth 8 splash.png rgb:splash.raw
# Make sure it is 460800 bytes long!
$ rgb2565 < splash.raw > splash.raw565
# Triple-check size before flashing! 307200 bytes
$ fastboot flash splash1 splash.raw565
$ fastboot reboot
Lets break it down. the convert turns it from a png (or any supported image format) into a raw 8-bits-per-color no-alpha data file. This file should be 460800 bytes - no more, no less.
Next, rgb2565 converts that file to a raw 565 16bit file (for the framebuffer on the G1.) This file is exactly 307200 bytes long - if its not, you messed up somewhere.
Finally, you use fastboot to flash the splash image and reboot. Instead of the B&W T-mobile logo, now you will see your custom splash screen. Congrats! "
Thanks to Infernix for the following extended how to:
1. find an image you like
2. edit it with your favourite editing suite and scale it to 320x480
3. after scaling it, convert the colorspace to 256 colors (8-bit)
4. Save it as a PNG without alpha channel/transparency.
5. Use the convert tool from the ImageMagick toolkit (use cygwin, or a linux box): convert -depth 8 splash.png rgb:splash.raw
6. Check that the splash.raw file is exactly 460800 bytes!
7. Compile the android tool called rgb2565 (gcc -O2 -Wall -Wno-unused-parameter -o rgb2565 to565.c)
8. Run the conversion command: rgb2565 < splash.raw > splash.raw565
9. Check that splash.raw565 is 307200 bytes. if it isn't, DO NOT FLASH IT ON YOUR PHONE. double-check your steps, something went wrong.
10. Boot your phone in SPL mode (hold camera +power).
11. After SPL shows, plug in USB connector/cord/whateva and push trackball or hit back. SPL restarts and now shows FASTBOOT.
12. If on windows, you need to install http://dl.google.com/android/android_usb_windows.zip
13. Compile android (see http://source.android.com/download) and make sure the fastboot binary (mydroid/out/host/*/bin/fastboot) is compiled (* being your OS)
14. use fastboot devices to check whether if your phone is showing up. if it isn't, try it as root (user might not have permission to access the usb device).
15. Double check that splash.raw565 is 307200 bytes. if it isn't, DO NOT FLASH IT ON YOUR PHONE.
16. Flash the splash image: fastboot flash splash1 splash.raw565
17. Reboot your phone to check: fastboot reboot
The instructions below are for users trying to flash their own boot image using windows.
The instructions below are also JF's work and not my own:
Instructions:
(note: you have to check the USB device in Computer Manager when the phone is in fastboot mode. The computer sees the phone in fastboot mode as a different device than the phone in normal mode)
Download the file and extract it in the same folder as adb. (if you don't have adb yet, it's included in the android SDK for windows. go download it!)
Take out the usb cable and boot up your phone into the SPL (back + power). You have to have the dev bootloader for this to work (white background with 3 skateboarding androids).
Plug in the usb cable, and make sure the display on the phone changes from "Serial0" to "FASTBOOT". If it doesn't, try pressing the back button.
If it asks you to install drivers, then go ahead and use the same usb drivers that you used to get adb working. You can skip the rest of the instructions. Fastboot should be working for you now.
If it doesn't ask you to install a driver, you need to figure out if the correct driver is loaded already.
Right click on My Computer, and click Manage, then go to the device manager
If you see an "ADB Interface" category at/near the top, with "HTC Dream" under it, then you're good to go. Fastboot should be working for you.
If you don't see an "ADB Interface" category, then it's likely that windows loaded the USB Mass Storage driver for it automatically. In the device manager, go down to "Universal Serial Bus Controllers", and see if you have at least one "USB Mass Storage device". If you have multiple ones, you'll need to go through each to find the correct one.
To find the correct one, right click on the USB Mass Storage device and click Properties. Go to the Details tab. In the combo box at the top that says "Device Instance Id", bring up the pull down and choose "Compatible Ids". If that is the correct device, then you will see 3 entries:
* USB\Class_ff&SubClass_42&Prot_03
* USB\Class_ff&SubClass_42
* USB\Class_ff
Once you find the correct device, go to the driver tab, and click "Update Driver". Choose "No, not this time", then "Install from a list or specific location", then "Don't search, I will choose the driver to install", and then choose the same usb driver that you used to get adb to work.
After that's done, you should be good to go. Open a command prompt and type fastboot devices and it should list the phone.
Here is a very good set of instructions for applying this to your phone if you haven't gotten it already: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=467064
Additional Information
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another way to convert to 565 raw, but from ANY format, is to use ffmpeg like so:
ffmpeg -i input.png -f rawvideo -pix_fmt rgb565 output.565
where input.png could be jpg, gif, tiff, etc. whatever you want.
-
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credits for this goes to
Clone137
Heres some info about FFmpeg and where you can download it: FFmpeg
Stericson

“It won't work,” droned Marvin, “I have an exceptionally large mind.”

It's possible to modify the code to show a different startup animation: for example, the cylon strobing eye animation that was present up till Android V0.9.
Check out \frameworks\base\libs\surfaceflinger\BootAnimation.cpp. Just need to redeploy the one surfaceflinger file to see the changes.

Stericson, You ROCK!

I'm getting hung up at this line
fastboot flash splash1 g1-splash.rle
it says g1-splash.rle not found. what'd i miss? everything else has worked like a charm thus far.

Correction in instructions:
$ rgb2565 < splash.raw > splash.raw565
# Triple-check size before flashing! 307200 bytes
$ fastboot flash splash1 splash.raw565
$ fastboot reboot

Stericson said:
This file should be 460800 bytes - no more, no less.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
460800 shall be the size of the file, and the number of bytes in the file shall be 460800. 460801 shalt not the size of the file be, neither shall the size be 460799, excepting that thou then append a byte to 460800.
460802... is right out.
Once the file size 460800, being the 460800th byte be reached, flasheth thou thy boot image onto the G1, who, being naughty in my sight, shall display it.
(note: please read the instructions, and don't actually flash a file that's 460800 bytes long. I had to take some artistic liberties here )

Ok, now the terminal just hangs on
< waiting for device >
Is the phone supposed to be in recovery? I've tried that, but have had the same results. I have the /system mounted and the phone is on a jailbroken RC30 (1.2). And it also is running the Dev 1 bootloader. Any helpful hints?
[edit]
when i do an 'adb devices', the phone is listed...

can I do this using windows? I made an image, with paint shop pro, and used convert to convert it to the raw format and it turned out to be 403,200 bytes, is that wrong? What did I do? Also, can I use rgb2565 on Windows? or do I have to run this in linux? Lastly, when using fastboot, do I boot my phone into the dev bootloader and connect to it via adb shell and then type that command?
Any help would be great!

OK let me extend the howto:
1. find an image you like
2. edit it with your favourite editing suite and scale it to 320x480
3. after scaling it, convert the colorspace to 256 colors (8-bit)
4. Save it as a PNG without alpha channel/transparency.
5. Use the convert tool from the ImageMagick toolkit (use cygwin, or a linux box): convert -depth 8 splash.png rgb:splash.raw
6. Check that the splash.raw file is exactly 460800 bytes!
7. Compile the android tool called rgb2565 (gcc -O2 -Wall -Wno-unused-parameter -o rgb2565 to565.c)
8. Run the conversion command: rgb2565 < splash.raw > splash.raw565
9. Check that splash.raw565 is 307200 bytes. if it isn't, DO NOT FLASH IT ON YOUR PHONE. double-check your steps, something went wrong.
10. Boot your phone in SPL mode (hold camera +power).
11. After SPL shows, plug in USB connector/cord/whateva and push trackball or hit back. SPL restarts and now shows FASTBOOT.
12. If on windows, you need to install http://dl.google.com/android/android_usb_windows.zip
13. Compile android (see http://source.android.com/download) and make sure the fastboot binary (mydroid/out/host/*/bin/fastboot) is compiled (* being your OS)
14. use fastboot devices to check whether if your phone is showing up. if it isn't, try it as root (user might not have permission to access the usb device).
15. Double check that splash.raw565 is 307200 bytes. if it isn't, DO NOT FLASH IT ON YOUR PHONE.
16. Flash the splash image: fastboot flash splash1 splash.raw565
17. Reboot your phone to check: fastboot reboot
This list together with instructions at http://www.gotontheinter.net/node/9 should get you going.
The tools mentioned here are commandline tools.
I have attached static versions of the tools mentioned for linux x86 to this thread. However I can't guarantee that they will work for you. they should, though.

A quick note: you can save directly to raw format from gimp or photoshop (allowing you to skip the imagemagick step). It just has to be 8-bit (which has been the default when I tried it).
Also, I attached rgb20565 and fastboot compiled for OS X 10.5.

Could someone upload the compiled binaries for Windows for those lazy people out there (me included)?

Here is the compiled binary for rgb2565
I don't have the compiled binary for fastboot, hopefully someone else will post it for you guys...I found it easier, way easier, to do this on a linux box.

After a bit of tinkering, i finally got it. The biggest problem i was having was that after i booted into the SPL, THEN i was supposed to connect the USB cable... i had it plugged in and then tried to boot SPL and nothing happened. Everything is great now. Big thanks

Thanks Stericson for the compiled rgb2565 file(for windows)
Can someone please upload the fastboot binary? I don't know how to compile it myself....Thanks a lot in advance for everyones previous hardwork on this and forthcoming.

to build the file yourself go to the root android source directory (mine is linux, but it looks like this "/home/ryan/android_source"), your's might look something like "C:/Source Codes/android/" or whatever. Once you navigate to that directory (via the command prompt... just go to start > run > and type in 'cmd' and hit enter, then use the 'cd' command to get there... e.g., "cd C:/Source Codes/android/"), once there, simply type 'make' and hit enter and it will start building everything, it might take a few minutes to complete. Then just go into the 'out' directory, then it's under "host/windows-x86/bin" (i'm not sure about the windows-x86 part, it might just be windows or something like it, i'm just assuming based on mine), once in that folder you'll have the fastboot as well as all of the other binary files ready to go. Then you can just type fastboot w/e w/e and it'll work just fine.
Here's my updated bootloader logo:
It's kind of difficult to see, my camera sucks... it's my fraternity letters with the crest in the background. Here's the image i used for it:

big head white robot guy
Id like to have the big head robot one in the first of this post, mind sharing the properly pressed,flipped,shook,stirred and what not, Id just like to dump the tmob splash, really anybody who has tried tested images attach them here, if you don't mind sharing...
just figured I'd ask as I didnt see any posted anywhere I don't always do so well at looking for stuff, at least thats what my wife is always b1tchen in my ear...
bhang

Ok, I'm sure I can do that, but now how do I get the android source onto my windows installation? Do I use cygwin? How, if so?
Thanks so much....
BTW, I've tried googling this, and still am, with no luck, thusfar.

Here's what I finally settled on.
Take 2...

Awesome, thanks for the help!
You mentioned that disconnect figured out how to do it with a dev bootloader - does this mean my rooted rc30 phone should be upgraded to a dev phone bootloader for it to work? Or will I be able to perform it on my modified rc30 v1.2 setup?
thanks
edit: nm, figured it out thanks! here's a pic:

[Guide] Eden Midas 8" Tablet

Moderators, please permit me to leave the tablet's Korean name (Eden Midas: 이든 마이다스) here so it shows up in google searches (if you don't have Korean fonts, it will probably show as garbage, but it really does say "Eden Midas" in Korean script).
This thread is intended as a place to collect together information about the Eden Midas tablet. It's quite possible that we will eventually find that the internals are the same as one of the Chinese tablets using the RK2918 chipset, in which case the thread may just turn into a pointer to that other thread.
What is the Eden Midas tablet?
In the form I have it, an 8" tablet based on the RK2918 chipset, with ICS 4.0.3 and kernel 3.0.8+ (whatever the plus may mean). It's quite nice, with a very clean 1024*768 screen. But like most RK2198 builds, severely locked down and marketed just as an entertainment station. At present, it seems to be only sold online in Korea. My build is V1.0.1.IMK74K.eng.root_20120508.165508_HW:1.0.0.0 (I wonder if the HW stands for huawei??).
Rooting[\B]
This is all I've done so far. Here's what I did:
On Linux
What's needed:
You may need to have root privileges on your linux system (you will need to mount some filesystems, and edit a udev rule file - depends on the linux system who is allowed to do these). You will also need rk2918tools ( https://github.com/lamegopinto/rk2918tools) - these are tools collected by lamegopinto, credits inside to the original authors; specifically, you will need ivop's rkflashtool.
In theory, this shouldn't remove your applications, data, and settings. In practice, on my machine, it did. So I'd back everything up first. And take out any external sd card so it's safe. Also, I better warn that I had a few scary moments getting to here, so please make sure you have really good backups. You will need (on your linux system) copies of su, Superuser.apk and busybox.
Connect the tablet by USB to your linux machine (real or virtual). Put the tablet into fastboot mode by holding down the whole +/- key, then pressing the start key for about 3 seconds. Keep holding the +/- key for up to ten seconds. If the system boots or goes into the boot screen (android open robot icon) you need to try again.
On the linux system, type lsusb (if you get an error, you probably need to install usbutils - how you do this depends on the linux system). If you see 2207:290a, you are OK. If you see 2077:0000, you missed fastboot mode and need to try again.
Tell linux about your device. You need to install udev rules.
Code:
cd /etc/udev/rules.d
sudo pico 61-android.rules
then create the content
Code:
# USB devices
SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTRS{idVendor}=="2207",ATTRS{idProduct}=="0000",MODE="0666",GROUP="users"
SUBSYSTEM=="usb",ATTRS{idVendor}=="2207",ATTRS{idProduct}=="290a",MODE="0666",GROUP="users"
This is for fedora 17. On current ubuntu the priority number (the 61 in the file name) probably needs to be different (maybe 51?). In earlier systems, the udev rule format is different, you're going to need to google this. The above rules also include one for adb mode, which will probably turn out useful. If you want adb mode, you will also need to do this:
Code:
pico ~/.android/adb_usb.ini
and create the content
Code:
0x2207
Create a directory called MIDAS inside the directory where you stored the rkflashtools. You need to have probably 2 times the capacity of your sdcard available (if you have an 8GB internal sdcard, I'd aim for 16GB+ free). Go into that directory.
Use ivop's rkflashtool to retrieve the first 2K blocks of memory:
Code:
../rkflashtool r 0x0 0x2000 > headers
This will create a file called headers. It's a binary file, but the important bit is readable. Try
Code:
more header
to read it, and carefully note down the partition locations (note that the order parameter order is the opposite to what rkflashtool uses. [email protected] means that the partition consists of X blocks starting at Y. Whereas for rkflashtool, you specify "rkflashtool (r or w) Y X (< or >) filename". The numbers X and Y are in hex notation (that's what the 0x at the start means). Note also that the MIDAS has a different layout to the tablet Ivop was discussing).
Now retrieve all the other partitions from the device, giving them descriptive names. For root, the only one you will actually need should be system.img. But get the rest just in case, as backups... Please note that there seem to be some funnies with this device, and rewriting partitions often causes it to reinitialise everything. It's probably doing some checksumming... Please keep these image files safe, and don't edit them! But you can gzip them to reduce the space they take up. Please note also that the last partition - usually the user partition - goes to the end of your card. So you need to convert your flash card size into a hex number (e.g. 8GB is 0x200000000 bytes, or 0x10000000 512B blocks). Suppose the user partition starts at 0x32A000. Then you need to put its length as 0x10000000 - 0x32A000 = CD6000 blocks (you may need a hex calculator for this).
Download su, Superuser.apk and busybox (these are all public domain) into your MIDAS directory
Code:
cp system.img system.new.img
mkdir mnt
sudo mount -t ext3 system.new.img mnt
Copy su into mnt/xbin, busybox into mnt/bin and Superuser.apk into mnt/app (simplest is to use a file manager to do this - or use linux commands). At this point, your image is complete!
Code:
umount mnt
../rkflashtool w (the system partition address and length for _your_ system image, which might be different from mine) < system.new.img
../rkflashtool b
Disconnect the USB cables
Your system should now reboot. If you're lucky (I wasn't) it will reboot as a rooted system with all your files intact. If you're semi-lucky, it will reboot as a rooted system, but without your files. Hope your backups were good... If you're really unlucky, it won't reboot. You may need to recreate all partitions from the copies you just made above, and try again. If the system seems completely bricked, the reset button (the tiny pinhole in the back, just above the external sd card door) is your friend. Pressing it and going into fastboot mode can allow you to reload all your partitions (you did make those backup copies of all partitions, didn't you)?
On Windows[\I]
Sorry, I have no idea. If someone drafts a guide, I'm happy to put it up. Alternatively, you can easily install a ubuntu virtual machine inside your windows box. It will probably be easier, and the linux experience won't go astray in working with android anyway.
[Tun Drivers and Openvpn]
For some reason known only to themselves, the manufacturers have removed the Tun drivers from the ics kernel build. The kernel doesn't have the ability to load modules. (This makes sense for phones, maybe, but I can't understand why anyone would remove the ability to load modules in a tablet. Perhaps the Chinese government doesn't want it to be too easy for people to set up vpns?) Anyway, you can install what appears to be a suitable Tun module using Tun.ko installer. It installs OK but when you try to use it, the system freezes for about 10 seconds, then reboots. If anyone finds a version of the 3.0.8+ kernel (maybe 3.0.8- kernel would be a better name), suitable for the Midas and with either a built-in tun driver, or the ability to load kernel modules, please let me know.
Complete Reflashes
Not sure if there are any that will work right now. If you're really stuck, the cyanogenmod version for Cube might work, but it sounds like it is still a work-in-progress.

Do you have the kernel of the tab?
- Oma -

Oma7144 said:
Do you have the kernel of the tab?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry, no - and sorry for the delay in replying, I didn't get notification for the thread.

Dump the firmware and upload the files: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=35298423&postcount=462
- Oma -

disk wiped clean - won't allow me to recover

Hi, I installed Windows 8.1 Preview on my ARM tablet. before installing it I created a recovery USB drive as I thought I would hate Windows 8.1 and want to go back to 8.0.
So I did but before recovering I had the stupidest idea to wipe clean the disk.
there were 3 partitions in it before:
• recovery (around 300mb)
• EFI (I don't remember its size)
• C: (around 54, 55GB).
I can still get access to the blue screen with the big buttons. in Troubleshoot, "Reset your PC" won't work. it gives me a message saying "Unable to reset your PC. A required drive partition is missing"
I still have access to command line and could recreate the partitions but I don't know what would be the correct sizes and file systems for EFI and Recovery. and even if I did I have a feeling that just creating the partitions might not make much difference.
Any ideas, please?
VIDEO: http://youtu.be/KdDLy23CAGk

You cant restore from your USB? In troubleshoot, "reset your PC" tries to reset it from the internal recovery partition, not an external one. There would be a different option for that.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

jtg007 said:
You cant restore from your USB? In troubleshoot, "reset your PC" tries to reset it from the internal recovery partition, not an external one. There would be a different option for that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
no, buddy... that's what I assumed it would happen before wiping the disk.
once I'm in I get the blue screen where I pick the keyboard layout then the second screen has two buttons "Troubleshoot" and "Turn off your PC". In "Troubleshoot" I have "Refresh your PC", "Reset your PC" and "Advanced Options". In "Advanced Options" I have "Automatic Repair" and "Command Prompt".
none of these options do anything even though I can see the recovery drive is being accessed.

If you have a full (~3 GB) recovery image on USB, boot your system from USB and it should be able to restore.
With the USB stick plugged in and the Surface off, hold the "volume down" button and press and release the power-on button. Hold down "volume down" until you see the Surface logo. It will take a while, since it's loading from USB. Once you get to *that* menu, do a reset. When it asks, make sure that you choose to repartition your drives. Don't do the full wipe option--that'll take forever. Just use the "delete my files" or whatever button.
You can know that it's the 8.0 recovery image rather than 8.1 because it will ask for your language before asking for your keyboard layout. (This is because RT 8.1 preview was only released in English. It'll likely change for final.)

Myriachan said:
If you have a full (~3 GB) recovery image on USB, boot your system from USB and it should be able to restore.
With the USB stick plugged in and the Surface off, hold the "volume down" button and press and release the power-on button. Hold down "volume down" until you see the Surface logo. It will take a while, since it's loading from USB. Once you get to *that* menu, do a reset. When it asks, make sure that you choose to repartition your drives. Don't do the full wipe option--that'll take forever. Just use the "delete my files" or whatever button.
You can know that it's the 8.0 recovery image rather than 8.1 because it will ask for your language before asking for your keyboard layout. (This is because RT 8.1 preview was only released in English. It'll likely change for final.)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yep... I tried that. check this video. it shows exactly what is going on.
http://youtu.be/KdDLy23CAGk

try destroy your os partition first.rebuild or format it.

windowsrtc said:
try destroy your os partition first.rebuild or format it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
the disk has been wiped clean. I have created the partitions manually. it didn't make any difference.

Try this CMD script. Thanks go to a person in the original "windows RT unlocking" thread, he've uploaded his recovery taken from a developer-unlocked device. Unfortunately I don't remember his nick
Code:
rem These commands are used with DiskPart to
rem erase the drive and create five partitions
rem for a UEFI/GPT-based computer.
rem Adjust the partition sizes to fill the drive as necessary.
convert gpt
rem === 1. Windows RE tools partition ===========
create partition primary size=350
format quick fs=ntfs label="WinRE"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
assign letter="T"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
rem === 2. System partition =====================
create partition efi size=200
rem *** NOTE: For 4KB-per-sector drives, change this value to 260
format quick fs=fat32 label="System"
assign letter="S"
rem === 3. Microsoft Reserved (MSR) partition ===
create partition msr size=128
rem === 4. Windows partition ====================
rem == a. Create Windows partition ===========
create partition primary
rem == b. Create space for recovery image ====
shrink minimum=3600
rem == c. Prepare the Windows partition ======
format quick fs=ntfs label="Windows"
assign letter="W"
rem === 5. Recovery image partition =============
create partition primary
format quick fs=ntfs label="Recovery Image"
set id="de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac"
assign letter="R"
gpt attributes=0x8000000000000001
exit
You should create a CMD file (say, "CreatePartitions-UEFI.cmd"), put it into the root dir of your recovery USB and boot into the command-line mode. Then run it from CMD.
Of cause you can modify the script as you like - for example as you already have the pratitions created, you may need only to use "gpt attributes" commands.
And don't forget that the boot partition (the EFI partition that contains bootmgr.efi file) should be FAT32, not NTFS.
After the script finished - disk W: would be your Windows partition. You should try to extract the recovery WIM file there:
Code:
Dism /apply-image /imagefile:U:\sources\Install.Wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
U: here is a drive letter of your recovery USB. I think that it should be D: or E:. You can determine it with the "list vol" command in diskpart.
S: is your EFI partition. You may need to copy the \EFI subdirectory from your recovery USB to S:\EFI dir and then use BCDEDIT tool to recreate boot entries. read technet or more info, for example here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh265131(v=ws.10).aspx
P.S. I have not tried this script myself - but it looks like being correct. For more info look here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825686.aspx and here: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825221.aspx

mamaich said:
Try this CMD script. Thanks go to a person in the original "windows RT unlocking" thread, he've uploaded his recovery taken from a developer-unlocked device. Unfortunately I don't remember his nick
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
fella... you are a star, an angel.
you saved me from sending the tablet to Czech Republic to do what took me 20 minutes.
I really, really, really appreciate it. the damn thing is working again.
:laugh::laugh::laugh:

Although not completely related to this thread...
I have trouble with restoring from USB on 8.1, though 8.0 works fine. When restored from USB instead of upgraded from 8.0, the OS goes into a mode where the desktop is always black and won't let you change it. This is due to Windows not having a valid product key.
I did some registry trickery to retrieve my 8.0 product key. =) Basically, I copied the Windows NT\CurrentVersion to my Windows 8 PC as a different name, then hacked an existing product key retrieval program to use that name. It seemed to work; it gave a key that my RT accepts.

Myriachan said:
Although not completely related to this thread...
I have trouble with restoring from USB on 8.1, though 8.0 works fine. When restored from USB instead of upgraded from 8.0, the OS goes into a mode where the desktop is always black and won't let you change it. This is due to Windows not having a valid product key.
I did some registry trickery to retrieve my 8.0 product key. =) Basically, I copied the Windows NT\CurrentVersion to my Windows 8 PC as a different name, then hacked an existing product key retrieval program to use that name. It seemed to work; it gave a key that my RT accepts.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would just wipe clean the hard drive with diskpart.
the steps our friend posted worked for me but I ignored the parts it refers to a Windows RE Tools partition. also I used 4000 instead of 3600 for the Recovery Partition.
after the
Code:
Dism /apply-image /imagefile:U:\sources\Install.Wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
step (which is lengthy as it rebuilds the entire windows partition) copy the boot files to the EFI partition from the newly rebuilt Windows partition with
Code:
bcdboot W:\Windows
and finally set the location of the Windows partition with
Code:
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R: /target W:\Windows /index 1
and you're done. don't bother with drive letters and visible drives as they'll sort themselves out when Windows launches for the first time.

I am having the same exact issue after formatting my Samsung XE700T and then trying to restore my laptop with a recovery usb
Can someone please give me a hand with this process, I have tried the script but it isn't working, so I am wondering what I am doing wrong.
A more simple explanation for someone who isn't use to using CMD would be great
Thank you

iSlaker said:
I would just wipe clean the hard drive with diskpart.
the steps our friend posted worked for me but I ignored the parts it refers to a Windows RE Tools partition. also I used 4000 instead of 3600 for the Recovery Partition.
after the
Code:
Dism /apply-image /imagefile:U:\sources\Install.Wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
step (which is lengthy as it rebuilds the entire windows partition) copy the boot files to the EFI partition from the newly rebuilt Windows partition with
Code:
bcdboot W:\Windows
and finally set the location of the Windows partition with
Code:
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R: /target W:\Windows /index 1
and you're done. don't bother with drive letters and visible drives as they'll sort themselves out when Windows launches for the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hI! at the last step you mentioned with setting location of windows partition, i got this error:
"reagentc.exe the recovery image file cannot be placed in the root directory of a volume"
any ideas?

iSlaker said:
I would just wipe clean the hard drive with diskpart.
the steps our friend posted worked for me but I ignored the parts it refers to a Windows RE Tools partition. also I used 4000 instead of 3600 for the Recovery Partition.
after the
Code:
Dism /apply-image /imagefile:U:\sources\Install.Wim /index:1 /ApplyDir:W:\
step (which is lengthy as it rebuilds the entire windows partition) copy the boot files to the EFI partition from the newly rebuilt Windows partition with
Code:
bcdboot W:\Windows
and finally set the location of the Windows partition with
Code:
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R: /target W:\Windows /index 1
and you're done. don't bother with drive letters and visible drives as they'll sort themselves out when Windows launches for the first time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
also, did you have to do anything with the S: efi partition?

Yze said:
hI! at the last step you mentioned with setting location of windows partition, i got this error:
"reagentc.exe the recovery image file cannot be placed in the root directory of a volume"
any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same error ... no news ?

studio37 said:
Same error ... no news ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, before the last command line I create new directory on R:
mkdir r:\osimage
and finally :
W:\Windows\System32\reagentc /setosimage /path R:\osimage /target W:\Windows /index 1

Thanks to all on this thread...!!!
I was able to completely re-format and downgrade to Win RT 8.0.
Fantastic !!

chappatti said:
Thanks to all on this thread...!!!
I was able to completely re-format and downgrade to Win RT 8.0.
Fantastic !!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How? Please write for me a full instruction how you downgrade it? Or video. Thanks!
P.S. sorry for my bad English.:highfive:

ayuda please
hola necesito ayudaa mi me sale ese error k se faata particion para poder recuperra mi tablet ..... me podrias poner paso por paso como lo hiciste soy novato en esto y me sale muy caro mandarlo a servicio tecnico gracias

Take a look at this link for info: eightforums.com/installation-setup/44021-need-help-reinstalling-windonws-8-usb-2.html#post368623

THBK1-10 thread: extend, root, hack !

Hello,
I'm the proud owner of an hybrid monster, called THBK1-10.
This is basically an affordable tablet, running both Windows 8 and Android 4.2.2.
10.1 display, running x86 Atom 4cores, 2Gb RAM, 32Gb eMMC, USB host enabled. It is shipped with an external keyboard/touchpad (no port, no battery, no extended storage on it). More informations: http://www.thomsoncomputing.eu/dualboot.html
Windows 8 comes in x86 flavor...
The boot process let you choose Windows or Android.
There is no play store. My main goal actually is:
- (ok) rooting Android part
- (ok) installing Play Store
- (ok) increasing space
- (nok) installing a recovery (CWM/TWRP) allowing you to flash non-signed updates
- (nok) running Linux from an external USB drive
Partition layout: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54095052&postcount=8
Rooting / play store guide: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55513404&postcount=23
Known clones: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54282229&postcount=10
Increasing space with external SD: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54914759&postcount=17
Timezone issue Android/Windows: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=54945950&postcount=19
BIOS default (SlateDroid): http://www.slatedroid.com/topic/106594-thbk110-default-bios-values/
Have fun !

I know there are EXT2 drivers for Windows, and EXT3 is just EXT2 + Journaling (the journaling is an important feature, but it's not part of the security model). However, I'm not sure if any of those drivers can modify file permissions. Alternatively, one could of course hex-edit the Android partition and try to tweak the file permissions that way, but that would require much more understanding of the EXT filesystem than I have. The source code is all open, though...

Thank you. Here is what i did:
a) trying to handle EXT3 fs from Windows
-> with Ext2Fsd, i have accesses to all the partitions, including /system and /data, but unfortunatly, permissions are not correct
-> i trying with other tool (Explore2Fs) not luck
-> ltools seems to provide a lattr util that could do it, but i'm unable to see the files (certainly because of the GPT partition
b) trying to use VirtualBox with raw disk access for handling, with a linux guest, permissions:
-> up to partition 7, this seems correct
-> from partition 8 (/system), i can mount it in RO but it crashes in RW
c) trying to boot to any linux supporting EFI32 and GPT
-> thanks to paperwastage, i could achieve it (thread here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2500078 )
-> i have strange troubles: the system only detect mmcblk0 to mmcblk7, and is throwing an error (error -110 + unknow command)
-> both, in clonezilla and ubuntu
d) tryed to use so android local tricks to force change mode, but once, i'm stuck with no eXecute flag. I dig around the local.prop or any stuff that would help me to achieve this goal. The recovery is not available (nor i found it) and the only thing i can do is factory reset.
It really seems only Windows got the proper drivers for this eMMC. This could explain why i had hard time to dump it (and, actually, i would not try to restore b/c i'm not sure everything is backuped correctly and don't want to brick my tablet), and why i could only write from Windows and why it cuts at partition7 (i have at least 12 partitions. NTFS windows main is the #11 iirc)
What i could try actually:
-> double check with newer ubuntu (when i started "install to disk", it seems it could detect the whole disk, have to look again)
-> double check with local THBK install (copy 3 apks bundled with the tablet, but perhaps a command script is available to be executed ?)
-> double check with virtual box & raw disk acces (i focused on /system, but perhaps /data is ok ?)
-> recompile Ext2Fsd to have different default properties
-> dig the hardware to see if a real recovery boot is not available, or change the recovery to something more usefull than factory reset
Thank you if you have more and more ideas

Quick notes:
- THBK1 does NOT connect to PC/MAC
- THBK1 does NOT have USB Debug activated. The micro-usb is aimed to put a (normal) cable, not an OTG one nor a charging cable. You can reach ADB only over Wireless.
-> Currently trying TowelRoot with different parameters, but for now not successfull. Basically this is a 4.2.2 kernel so i could expect a low resistance at exploits, it worths to be tested

Good news, i was able to boot from an USB stick (with EFI), and while the MMC is not accessible, i found a trick to change permissions.
I have now full R/W support on EXT3 partition.
But sadly SU is not enough to gain root accesses.... damn.
Anyone able to find doc or explain how root access is triggered ?

I found an update, and i'm now able to flash the whole system partition. Sadly, i could not flash another update.zip, so i guess this is signed (and sadly it is).
I have also tryed z4root, towelRoot exploits, not working.
Basically i could somehow bypass the sign system in applying myself the content of the update.zip (as long as it deals with /data and /system files & perms). I'll try that for at least google apps.
edit: ok i have now play store and the whole google suite is working after a big playstore update (talkback, vocal syntgetisis and so on). Only google+ is FCing but it should only be a matter of installation. I should remove it and reinstall it from the market.
Only thing missing is root
Status on Android forum side: http://forum.xda-developers.com/android/help/hacking-thbk1-10-getting-root-t2804631/post53896017

As today, the tablet is now rooted. It works flawlessly.
Next step is the handling of recovery to flash non-signed zip files. It would ease the process of installing GAPPS or rooting the tablet.
But i'll take a break before
TODO list, from top to crazy:
- recovery
- test and deploy various system tweaker sur as Xposed framework
- bugfix vibrator (only working when you hit Windows button, not in apps)
- new rom, new kernel

Here is the actual partition layout:
Code:
Model: MMC BIWIN (sd/mmc)
Disk /dev/mmcblk0: 30.9GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 269MB 268MB fat16 ANDROID!bootloader boot, hidden, legacy_boot
2 269MB 337MB 67.1MB ANDROID!panic
3 337MB 873MB 537MB ext4 ANDROID!factory
4 873MB 2484MB 1611MB ANDROID!fake
5 2484MB 2618MB 134MB ext4 ANDROID!config
6 2618MB 4229MB 1611MB ext4 ANDROID!cache
7 4229MB 5303MB 1074MB ext4 ANDROID!logs
8 5303MB 7450MB 2147MB ext4 ANDROID!system
9 7450MB 11.7GB 4295MB ext4 ANDROID!data
10 11.7GB 11.7GB 1049kB ANDROID!misc
11 11.7GB 11.8GB 33.6MB ANDROID!boot
12 11.8GB 11.9GB 134MB ANDROID!recovery
13 11.9GB 11.9GB 33.6MB ANDROID!droidboot
14 11.9GB 12.3GB 315MB ntfs Basic data partition diag
15 12.3GB 12.5GB 273MB fat32 EFI system partition boot
16 12.5GB 12.7GB 134MB Microsoft reserved partition msftres
17 12.7GB 30.9GB 18.3GB ntfs Basic data partition msftdata
I'm not able to read the partition w/o filesystem (2, 4, 10, 11, 12, 13).
I tryed with yaffs2, but i'm not able to see them (and since it is not MTD...)
I'm working on dd image of the 32Gb MMC.
In example, hexdump of partition 12 shows it is a kernel. Certainly the recovery kernel directly flash, i should dig this.

Guide: installing Google Apps and Rooting the tablet
THIS POST IS DEPRECATED. See http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=55513404&postcount=23
:good: /!\ Please click thanks or offer me a coffee with donate if it was usefull for you /!\ :good:
This is rather technical, but i can help if you are stuck. Thank you for your comments.
Here is how you could install Google App suite to the THBK1-10 and certainly many ones based on Inside H2O bios, board name: CARD_B (see above for detailled specs)
Basically, to install some stuff, the concept is to get rid of all the caveats (special MMC drivers, EFI 32 bits with GPT, etc...) through actual Windows 8.1 installation. Everything takes place through classic Windows desktop. For convenience, personnally worked with TeamViewer, doing this with the dock/touchpad is pain in the ass. You can void your warranty and break the android part of your tablet, so operate carefully, i'm not responsible of what you do !
This leads to 3 phases:
a) accessing EXT4 Android partitions
b) transfer files from Windows to Android
c) change permissions
a) Accessing EXT4. I used coLinux to access and handle Android EXT4 partitions:
- download and install coLinux http://sourceforge.net/projects/colinux/files/latest/download?source=files. At the 'Choose components' screen, uncheck 'Root filesystem image Download', and accept everything (including TAP drivers)
- download and unzip Debian Squeeze image in coLinux folder (c:\program files\colinux). Warning, this leads to a 2Gb file, ensure you have proper space. You could unzip it in your external SDcard, but you would have to change the path to rootfs and swap in above squeeze.conf
http://sourceforge.net/projects/col... 6.0 Squeeze/Debian-6.0.1-squeeze.7z/download
- test it: click on the squeeze.bat file into c:\program files\colinux (if you have an error co-slirp, simply close colinux and restart it). Once you have the 'debian login:' prompt simply type root then enter. You are now under coLinux.
First, install your local keyboard (if needed)
Code:
apt-get update
apt-get install console-setup locales console-data
In case you miss the point for the keyboard:
(choose select keyboard from full list / pc azerty or whatever...)
Code:
dpkg-reconfigure console-data
- you should now update your /etc/apt/sources.list file:
Code:
nano /etc/apt/sources.list
- fill with the following lines (remove all before)
Code:
deb http://ftp.fr.debian.org/debian/ squeeze main contrib non-free
deb http://security.debian.org/ squeeze/updates main contrib non-free
- update your apt repository:
Code:
apt-get update
- you would like to sync the clock from Linux with Windows: edit /etc/default/rcS and change UTC=yes to UTC=no
Code:
nano /etc/default/rcS
You can exit coLinux, we have things to tweak now.You can then download the attached Squeeze.conf, and put it into your colinux folder, replacing the old. Remember, if you have changed the path for rootfs and swap, you must change them to reflect your current installation.
Squeeze.conf:
Code:
kernel=vmlinux
cobd0="c:\program files\coLinux\rootfs_2gb.img"
cobd1="c:\program files\coLinux\\swap_128mb.img"
cofs0="C:\share"
cobd8=\Device\HarddiskVolume8
root=/dev/cobd0 ro
initrd=initrd.gz
mem=256
eth0=slirp
b) transfer files from Windows to coLinux
We would create a share folder at the root of C:\.
You must have C:\share folder.
- Create a directory in /mnt
Code:
mkdir /mnt/win
- then mount the folder into your coLinux
Code:
mount -t cofs cofs0 /mnt/win
FOLLOW THE ABOVE ONLY FOR GAPPS:
- You must now download the google apps files. The operation is done under Windows:
download Android 4.2.2 ones: http://goo.im/gapps/gapps-jb-20130812-signed.zip and extract all the file into C:\share
This folder must contains the whole gapps (you 'll see folders named: system, META-INF, optional...).
You must directly DELETE 3 files and 1 folder:
file system\app\GooglePlus.apk
file system\app\LatinImeDictionary.apk
file system\lib\libjni_latinime.so
fodler system\tts
If everything is ok, browsing /mnt/win/ from coLinux (not windows)
Code:
ls /mnt/win
should show the share directory content (META-INF,system,optional,...).
FOLLOW THIS ONLY IF ROOT:
- You must now copy su binary to your tablet: download attached files, unzip, copy it to your windows desktop shared folder
Nota: this file is extracted from Koush' superuser APK. This is the x86 su binary. Feel free to replace with newest version if available or if you fear something
FOLLOW THIS IF ROOT & GAPPS
c) access to Android partition
- create a system folder in /mnt
Code:
mkdir /mnt/system
- mount android to system
Code:
mount /dev/cobd8 /mnt/system
- check you are ok with
Code:
ls /mnt/system
You must see app, bin, usr, etc .... folders.
*** at this point, /mnt/system contains ALL your android system. NO MISTAKE ! ***
FOLLOW THIS ONLY IF GAPPS
- part 1: removing files. Browse to /mnt/system/app and CAREFULLY delete the 8 files (some could be missing, don't bother):
Code:
cd /mnt/system/app
rm Provider.apk
rm Provider.odex
rm QuickSearchBox.apk
rm QuickSearchBox.odex
rm SetupWizard.apk
rm SetupWizard.odex
- part2: copy. Copy the files from Windows to Android - it could take up to 2 minutes -
Code:
cp -rp /mnt/win/system/* /mnt/system
- then fix the permissions:
Code:
chmod -R 755 /mnt/system/addon.d
chmod 755 /mnt/system/app/*
sync
At this point, this is over. You can exit from colinux, reboot to Android, and come back to windows uninstalling coLinux, if anything is ok
The whole GAPPS are installed. Enjoy !
FOLLOW THIS ONLY IF ROOT
- copy attached x86 su binary to android
Code:
cp -p /mnt/win/su /mnt/system/bin
- then fix the permissions:
Code:
chmod 755 /mnt/system/bin/su
chmod u+s /mnt/system/bin/su
ln -s /mnt/system/bin/su /mnt/system/xbin/su
sync
At this point, this is over. Reboot, you can now download and install superuser https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdfilter=superuser&fdid=com.koushikdutta.superuser
Your tablet is now rooted. Enjoy !

Know clones (feel free to help):
- Danew i1012 dual boot (strictly identical to Thbk1)
- VOYO A1 (Windows 8 only).
- Cube U100GT (Windows 8 only)
Certainly clones:
- Ramos i10 pro (dual boot)
- Pipo W1 / Work W1 (Windows 8 only)
- ColorFly i106 (Windows 8 only)
- Toshiba WT8-AT01G (Windows 8 only)

Graveen said:
Know clones (feel free to help):
- Danew i1012 dual boot (strictly identical to Thbk1)
- VOYO A1 (Windows 8 only).
- Cube U100GT (Windows 8 only)
Certainly clones:
- Ramos i10 pro (dual boot)
- Pipo W1 / Work W1 (Windows 8 only)
- ColorFly i106 (Windows 8 only)
- Toshiba WT8-AT01G (Windows 8 only)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Considering getting a voyo a1 or a pipo w2. But 99% of my interest in windows 8 tablets is running old windows games on them. What's your experience with win 8 and older games for windows? Touchscreen make anything unplayable? Thinking old command and conquer or Warcraft 1-3 etc. With some RPG thrown in.
I hate the idea of being limited to just windows, but I'm hesitant to spend too much on what might not work like I hope.

StridAst said:
Considering getting a voyo a1 or a pipo w2. But 99% of my interest in windows 8 tablets is running old windows games on them. What's your experience with win 8 and older games for windows? Touchscreen make anything unplayable? Thinking old command and conquer or Warcraft 1-3 etc. With some RPG thrown in.
I hate the idea of being limited to just windows, but I'm hesitant to spend too much on what might not work like I hope.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly,i installed Steam and played some to test. But, alas, it is not successfull. If you can wire a BT pad, let's say it is ok, but else, generally, the touchpad is not suitable, really.
Of course some point'n clic games should work nicely. But except theses, you 'll be forced to add keyboard/mouse. Or, as i mentionned, a bluetooth gamepad, with some keyboard mapping, such as XPadder, could work fine.

Graveen said:
Honestly,i installed Steam and played some to test. But, alas, it is not successfull. If you can wire a BT pad, let's say it is ok, but else, generally, the touchpad is not suitable, really.
Of course some point'n clic games should work nicely. But except theses, you 'll be forced to add keyboard/mouse. Or, as i mentionned, a bluetooth gamepad, with some keyboard mapping, such as XPadder, could work fine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So basicly, the hardware ran things OK, but the interface sucks, oh well. Probably not worth the headaches of dealing with windows again. I'd imagine it's a real PITA to fix things if it gets a virus.

StridAst said:
So basicly, the hardware ran things OK, but the interface sucks, oh well. Probably not worth the headaches of dealing with windows again. I'd imagine it's a real PITA to fix things if it gets a virus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Like a windows. The 'dock' is allowing light computer use, and Office 2013 home is shipped for free with the tablet. But yeah, Windows legacy is the key when dealing with windows

Hey mate,
I have one of these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390900023783?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649
are you implying that I should be able to get it to dual boot Windows and Android following your guide?
Thanks
Karl

Hello Karl,
Yes it should be possible if strictly identical.

Increase data space with Link2SD
You can dedicate a part of external SD to increase /data size. Link2SD is ok for this, and will, in the free version, allows you to move APK to external partition.
Your tablet MUST be rooted !
1) ensure you have a FAT32 partition (primary, 1st position)
2) ensure you have an EXT2 or EXT4 partition (primary, 2nd position)
3) install Link2SD https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.buak.Link2SD
You can now use Link2SD which 'll create links and move your APKs to your new EXT partition.
Personnaly, i have a 32Gb SD with 24Gb FAT + 8Gb EXT4 partition.

Increase data space with Link2SD : Good news !!! You are the Boss. THNK1-10 is available at Carrefour (an another good news)

Time is changing between windows and Android
You can simply set timezone to GMT+0 and disable network time.
On Debian, you set UTC to YES, but need to seek where it takes place in Android.

bu3304 said:
Increase data space with Link2SD : Good news !!! You are the Boss. THNK1-10 is available at Carrefour (an another good news)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
carrefour or conforama.
thomson carrefour and /danew in conforama.
even saw on internet that MSI is also having this tablet and just sticking there logo on it. atleast looked like this tablet.
---------- Post added at 12:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 AM ----------
hum. i think i will go for the new asus transformer book t100 with atom z3775 processor.
i like the battery life of the asus.
but prefer the acer switch 10 in terms of look and the magnetic dock
but yeah choice of 11 hours of battery or 8. makes a difference
and the new 3775 or 3745. cpu

TOLTESPR / SM-N910P hard brick trials and solution (mmc_read failed)

Greets all,
Apologies in advance for the longer post.
TLDR: Writing the debrick-n910p.img image to SDcard using Windows (10 x86_64) for me caused my hard bricked SM-N910P / Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 4 to endlessly boot-loop (displaying BOOT RECOVERY MODE / CHECK BOOT PARTITIONS.. / COPY FROM T-FLASH.. / BOOT RECOVERY / WRITE 188416 sectors / REBOOT). I found my solution for this issue to be that as long as I wrote the debrick-n910p.img image in Windows (10 x86_64), then booted into Linux and wiped the GPT data structures on the SDcard only to convert the SDcard to basic MBR (+DOS compatible flag), then created & formatted a single 32GB partition as FAT32, then and only then, write the debrick-n910p.img image file to the SDcard in this way, I was able to save my hard-bricked phone flawlessly!
I ran into the "mmc_read failed" issue that many posters to this site have experienced. I wanted to add the solution that worked for me along with the issues I ran into, as a reference for myself if I ever need it again in the future, and to pass on the information in the event others may find it helpful.
In all my trials and research I never found a point-by-point / exact instructions for the SM-N910P / Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 4, nor anyone running into the same issue(s) that I did. that's what this post is => links to others solutions, my experience, and my solution for a hard-bricked SM-N910P / Sprint Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
SCENARIO: After ~6months of owning my phone I bought from craigslist it started experiencing random lagging, then random reboots, and ultimately the phone failed to boot into the OS one day. So I booted up TWRP, did a full-wipe and fresh OS load. after the OS flash (like I've done a million times, nothing different/strange) the device was set to reboot, then the screen went dark, and never came back on. just poof. it would flat-out not boot again; no LED during charging, nothing would happen when attempting to power on the phone, or any attempt to try booting recovery (Home+Vol-Up+Power) or to Odin/Kies download-mode (Home+Vol-Down+Power). To me the phone was dead, I considered it the "true brick". Yet, I wondered at the most curious thing that would happen when I connected the phone to my computer via the microUSB cable without the battery; I would hear the "new device attached" Windows chime, and Device Manager would list a new "Qualcomm HS-USB QDLoader 9008" device. otherwise, the phone remained dark, and completely void of any life.
At this point I started researching to purchase a replacement cellphone when a website caught my eye with the title "Qualcomm Snapdragon Unbrick Guide, Snapdragon’s are UNBRICKABLE".
I skimmed over the text, and began thinking it possible to revive my (broken?) phone - I just desired a straight-forward HOWTO describing the procedure how I could resurrect my phone, and I figured I would be on my way.
In the end, I found some promising posts, and the very SM-N910P debrick image itself (see below for links), but never found a step-by-step for my exact model of phone.
N910P Debrick Image + Useful Links
Mega Link to the N910P debrick image (128MB)
Samsung N910P Galaxy Note 4 Sprint USA Repair Firmware (N910PVPU4COG5_SPT4COG5_Sprint_USA_v5.1.1_Repair_Firmware.zip)
Win32DiskImager (Project Homepage) (v0.9 binary)
dd for windows
Galaxy Note 4 Unbrick/Debrick.img for N910G/F/T/W8 [unbrick] [unbrick image]
[*]- Inside, a reference For N910P refer this thread​
Galaxy Note 4 N910T FIXED HARD BRICKED
SM-N910P (US-Sprint) debrick.img
All instructions seemed to state I needed a 16GB or larger SDcard, so I went out and purchased a brand new 128GB MicroSDXC card, specifically Samsung MicroSDXC EVO Memory Card w/ Adapter 128GB (2017 Model) - Model: MB-MP128G / Model Code: MB-MP128GA/AM
The gist of all the reports on how to fix my issue was to write the N910P debrick image to a micro SDcard and magically the phone would come back to life. And so, I did just that. In my case using Windows 10 x86_64 - using the suggested applications to write the image to the SDcard: Win32DiskImager and/or dd for windows, then popping the SDcard into the "dead" phone, attaching the battery to the phone and pushing power - or one of the 3 finger salutes (recovery/download-mode) - then the magic would happen, the screen would show the following text:
Code:
BOOT RECOVERY MODE
CHECK BOOT PARTITIONS..
COPY FROM T-FLASH..
BOOT RECOVERY
WRITE 188416 sectors
REBOOT
But, unfortunately for me, that is all it would do, I would keep seeing that text over and over... If I let the "COPY FROM T-FLASH.." appear then press one of the 3 finger salutes (recovery -or- download-mode), the phone would just reboot before it displayed the rest, and continue back in it's loop:
Code:
BOOT RECOVERY MODE
CHECK BOOT PARTITIONS..
COPY FROM T-FLASH..
BOOT RECOVERY
WRITE 188416 sectors
REBOOT
This just kept occurring over, and over with infinite reboots. Yet, ALL the documentation said it would ultimately boot into download-mode, I just had to "put it in the freezer to let the phone cool" (never mind that the phone wasn't hot AT ALL) for an hour or something similar?? All my searching found nobody else with this issue (at least no one reporting it). So I am reporting it and also reporting how I fixed my sorry state of affairs.
As I noted above, I was using Windows 10 x86_64 as the OS and Win32DiskImager, as well as dd for windows, to write the debrick image to the SDcard up to this point. This was my process:
:: Windows 10 ::
place SDCARD in drive
format the SDCARD (drive d:/f:, whichever) through Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) via RIGHT-CLICK on drive -> Format ...
capacity 119GB / Filesystem: exFAT / Allocation Size: drop-down = Default Allocatio-- n Size
CHECK Quick Format
click Start button
click OK
click OK when finished
click Close button
in Windows Explorer (explorer.exe), RIGHT-CLICK on SDCARD drive -> Eject
eject SDCARD from computer
- EITHER Win32DiskImager OR dd for windows, only do 1.
:: Win32DiskImager ::
run Win32DiskImager as Administrator
DEVICE = drive of the SDCARD (D:/F:, whichever)
IMAGE FILE = click FOLDER icon, select "debrick-n910p.img"
click WRITE button
click OK
at Write Successful = click OK
more then likely (win10) a ****-ton of Explorer screens pop up, with errors like "You need to format the disk in Drive ? before you can use it" pops up
IGNORE ALL THIS, ALT-F4 to close ALL the pop-ups and errors
OR just REBOOT, as at this point we are done
Shutdown Windows (10) -> REBOOT
:: dd for windows ::
open "cmd" as Administrator
dd --list
dd if=debrick-n910p.img of=\\.\Volume{3fde94fa-d22d-11e7-b791-806e6f6e6963} bs=1M
Once the debrick-n910p.img file is finished being written to the SDcard, 27 partitions (what appears to be mostly duplicate) will show up and all drive letters will get filled, being displayed as mostly unreadable, that is just the nature of what the debrick image is.
My Solution to this situation was as follows:
:: LINUX ::
boot linux from USB -or- CD (I booted a handy USB stick with Qubes OS v4-rc3, choose Troubleshooting -> Rescue a Qubes System)
upon boot, choose "3" to be dropped to shell
mount windows folder that holds the debrick N910P image = mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/sysimage
place SDCARD in drive
fdisk -l << make sure your SDcard shows up (/dev/mmcblk0) is there
cgdisk /dev/mmcblk0
delete ALL paritions (using "d" on each highlighted partition)
"New"
Fist sector = hit ENTER (choose default = 2048 for me)
Size in sectors = 32G
Hex code = 0700 (Microsoft basic data)
Partition name = hit ENTER
"Write"
type "yes"
"Quit"
gdisk /dev/mmcblk0
should display = "Found valid GPT with protective MBR; using GPT"
"x" (extra functionality (experts only))
"z" (zap (destroy) GPT data structures and exit)
"Y" (Yes to continue)
"N" (blank out MBR)
fdisk /dev/mmcblk0
"p" (print parition table)
"c" (toggle dos compatibility flag)
should show DOS COMPATABILITY FLAG SET (DEPRICATED)
"d" (delete partition)
MAKE SURE NO PARTITIONS EXIST!
"n" (new partition)
"p" (primary)
hit ENTER (default = "1")
hit ENTER (first sector, my default was 63)
"+32G" (last sector, this creates 32GB partition)
"a" (toggle bootable flag, should show "the bootable flag on partition 1 is enabled now")
"t" (partition type)
"c" (W95 FAT32 (LBA))
"w" (write table to disk and exit)
Format the new partition, FAT32
mkfs.fat -F 32 /dev/mmcblk0p1
Goto the folder containing the debrick N910P image
cd /mnt/sysimage/Users/$USER/Downloads/SM-N910P-trltespr
dd if=debrick-n910p.img of=/dev/mmcblk0 bs=1M
sync
Eject sdcard and place in your Note 4 phone
This time, when I put the battery in the phone, I got the same text as before:
Code:
BOOT RECOVERY MODE
CHECK BOOT PARTITIONS..
COPY FROM T-FLASH..
BOOT RECOVERY
WRITE 188416 sectors
REBOOT
And then, it did a REAL reboot, and went directly to download-mode!
I tested this multiple times - as long as I wrote the debrick image in Win10, and then erased the SDcard and formatted it as Fat32 without using GPT just a basic MBR, and wrote the debrick image that way in linux it worked flawlessly!
let it boot, then do it's reboot
should be able to go into RECOVERY = Home+Vol-Down+Power !!!
:: Boot Windows ::
unzip "N910PVPU4COG5_SPT4COG5_Sprint_USA_v5.1.1_Repair_Firmware.zip"
run Odin3 3.09
click PIT button -> select "TRLTE_USA_SPR.pit" -> click OPEN
click AP button -> select "ALL_SPT_N910PVPU4COG5_N910PSPT4COG5_CL5303209_QB5691107_REV00_user_low_ship_MULTI_CERT.tar.md5" -> click OPEN
phone should be in DOWNLOAD mode (home+vol-down+power -> UP to continue) and connected via microUSB, Odin3 should be detecting it with a BLUE ID:COM lit up on top-left
click START button in Odin3
when finished it will reboot, and all should be well
- One last note, about the "mmc read fail" error, I took this gentleman's advice:
As a side note....
IF YOU HAVE THE MMC READ FAIL MESSAGE!!!
Which consists of Random Reboots, Heating Issues when theirs hardly no apps on, or even Lag or Glitchyness.
The Temp FiX that I've been using everyday and haven't had these issues since was downloading this app
WakeLock Manager and setting to PARTIAL LOCK! on Level 4.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And am currently running Wake Lock - PowerManager from Google Play as suggested, just to be safe - and so far, I have not YET had to deal with that horrid business again (so far, fingers crossed).
And there ye have it, that is my story, my tribulations, and my fix. Thank you to all who came before me, and for everyone's good advice = Good luck to all, and have a great rest of 2017.

XORr0 said:
[*]mount windows folder that holds the debrick N910P image = mount /dev/sda2 /mnt/sysimage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi man, thank you for the post, but can´t mount the sysimage
Help me please!!!

Mega Link a la imagen de debrick N910P ( 128MB )
the files are not there if it is not too much trouble to provide me with the: confusing files: confusing