Stuck at 3 birds advice

[pat4au]

First time poster here hoping someone may be able to point me in the right direction. I received my G Tablet from woot yesterday. I'm not the most tech savvy person out there, but spent the last week reading forums in preparation. Still a little weak when using the proper terminology. I'll summarize where I am at the top here, and detail what i did to get there below for people who don't want to read further. Sorry for the length, I just wanted to be as detailed as possible. Thanks for any help!

Currently when I turn on my tablet, it gets stuck on the 3 birds. I can boot into CWM, but every ROM that I've tried to install, I end up getting stuck at the 3 birds again. I have a tablet with CWM, but no data on it as far as I can tell due to my steps below. I'm not sure what direction to take next. My ultimate goal is to have my tablet running CM7, have full google apps access, and be able to use Netflix. I am willing to try to get it back to stock and start over, I just don't know where to begin. I'm afraid to use nvflash until someone says I have to, as I don't want to cause unrepairable damage. I'm hoping that I'm just missing a simple step and can try again. Like I mentioned, I'm still learning.
______________________________________________________________

Here's what I've done to this point, starting from the unboxing:

1. Checked to see what bootloader version I received. I was shipped 1.2-4349, so I downgraded to 1.1-3588 using the 4349 Downgrade. When done, i checked settings and everything was as it should be. Played with it, all seemed well. The directions I followed were from [STICKY][ATTN] - 3991 and 4349+ VIEWSONIC-RECALLED BOOTLOADER INFO here - UPD 5/8/11 - xda-developers


2. Next I installed CWM using gtab cwm v08 (internal). I unzipped on my computer and put the recovery folder and update.zip into the root directory of the tablet using the es file explorer, transferring from my mounted PC. I turned off, initiated a standard recovery using vol+ and power, it booted to home, all seemed well. Powered off, initiated recovery, and it loaded CWM (Top of menu says "ClockworkMod Recovery v2.5.1.1-bekit-0.8"). Directions I followed are here, starting at Installing ClockworkMod Recovery: [STICKY][ROM INFO] CM7 Nightlies Discussion - xda-developers


3. Next I continued following the instructions in the link above (Flashing CyanogenMod) I used the latest stable version (update-cm-7.0.3-Harmony-signed.zip). I placed it and the google apps.zip in the root folder, powered down, booted into cwm recovery, wipe data/factory reset. wipe cache partition, install zip from sd card, choose zip from sd card, select cm7 update.zip. I then without booting selected the g apps.zip and chose it (may be the cause of my original problem). Did a reboot and was now stuck at the 3 birds.


In order to fix the problem (I may have screwed it up further) I followed instrctions here: [STICKY][GUIDE] Install ClockworkMod, a ROM, Flash Player, and the Market Fix - xda-developers I started on step 7 since I already had what I believe to be a working CWM. I partitioned SD card (2048, 0). I then used "mounts and storage", then "mount usb", then copied over the CM7 ROM I have listed above. I had to reboot system to get out of CWM recovery, powered off, reboot CWM. Then I mounted system data, install zip from sd, choose zip from sd, and picked my CM7 ROM. I then went to main menu, mounted sd and data again, wipe data/factory reset, rebooted to factory reset, let it sit for 20 minutes, but the birds were still there.

From here, I just don't know what to do next. As far as I can tell, I have a tablet with CWM installed, and no data on it, and that's why it stays at the birds. I'm very hesitant about continuing to try different things in fear of making things worse.

Any links or next steps or directions someone can suggest would be greatly appreciated as I've worn out the search button. Sorry again for the length.

Thank you!

 

[mydave]

Hah ! this is a perfect post with CLEAR background and SPECIFIC issues.

Therefore we hope that we could get you back on track. But, before you jump in to take an advice, regardless from whom, digest it to see if it makes sense. If there is a doubt, stop and consider other options or post question. All tablets are not created equal nor undergone the same usages & flashes. People who posted at forum have one thing in common which is the desire to help out of their goodness. But they all have different background and experience, and mostly they are limited to their own device(s). With that said, let us discuss your situation.

First of all, you will need to learn nvflashing at some point. It is a valuable tool. When you are ready to do it, start with the bekit full restore nvflasing at xda forum [STICKY][ROM] nvflash FULL restore, using bekit's original image (Instructions) - xda-developers. There are other options, but use the solid method as a starting point.

Secondly, you did good to downlevel the bootloader before trying 1.1 base rom. Your selection of CM7 as the first rom to flash is a challenge. If I am not mistaken, the latest CM7 stable is Gingerbread. Gojimi, a well known developer, has stated : If you have issues booting the first time (ie. boot loops) and you have never run any other gingerbread build before then you probably need to NVFLASH to stock before you can run any GingerBread builds as there is a partition issue from factory on your device.... NVFLASH to stock will repartition everything for you. Others who had error flashing CM7 had to do the same. You may want to visit Cyanogenmod forum.

Alright, since you want to explore other options prior to nvflashing, I would, if it is my own tablet, follow this thread from step 1 thru 11 http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...tion-stable-rc1-most-popular-rom-gtablet.html. As for step 12, use the CM7 file.

Let us know and hope that it would work out for you.

Dave.

 

[pat4au]

Thanks, Dave! I tried doing your last suggestion 3 or 4 times with no luck. I did it twice with CM7, and twice with VEGAn. I skipped the first 3 steps as I appear to have a working CWM. Should I do it anyway? Also on the Clear Dalvik-stage, before i choose Yes - Wipe Dalvik Cache, I get the message "E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 (File Exists)". Does that mean anything? It still says "Dalvik Cache wiped" afterwards. I also skipped step 11 as I have 3588.

I plan to start learning about nvflashing with the links you supplied. It looks like that will be my next step unless you can think of anything I may have missed, or you think I should still perform the steps I omitted. Thanks again!

PS- How do you thank someone? I couldn't find the "Thanks" button.

 

[dublea]

Good to see you got some help pat4au. I had been waiting for your post after we spoke on the phone. Good to see someone has led you in a good direction. I'll read up myself and maybe when you are down in my area I can try to help get that tab back in working order, unless you get it running before then! Good luck to ya. Also, the thank button is located right under the user details, thumbs up icon next to "Thanks" You could even search the page for the txt to find it ^_^

 

[pat4au]

Dublea, I really appreciate your time today, and for steering me to this site. My problem isn't fixed YET, but I can feel my sanity returning!

I feel really stupid saying this, but I do not see the thank button, nor do I see the thumbs up icon next to a "Thanks". I earlier did a txt search, and I searched the site to no avail. When you say user details, I assume you mean by your user name? For instance, for you I see your name, then senior member, 3 colored bars, 5 achievments, your avatar, then your stats (mem #, join date, posts, points, level, thanks). I've opened the page in chrome and firefox, but it looks the same. I know some site restrict certain actions till you have a higher post count. Could this be such a thing? I feel like an idiot but I simply am not seeing it...


EDIT - I SWEAR that it was not there before, and now it is. Maybe staring at the computer screen for 48 straight hours causes partial blindness...

 

[Adelamarc]

Hello Pat,
Don't be afraid to learn or try nvflash, its pretty easy. I've recovered from a softbrick a few times now.

Since you want to be on the 1.1 branch, I suggest looking over these directions from Fuganator http://www.AndroidTablets.net/forum...Mod, Custom ROM, Flash Player, and Market Fix

I followed Fuga's directions the first time I flashed my tablet and used the gharmony rom.

If all else fails check out the disaster recovery forum for the gtab over at slatedroid.com

Good luck,
Mark

Sent from my Brilliant Corners using Android Tablet Forum

 

[mydave]

Hello pat4au, much sorry to hear that the problem being stuck at 3-birds logo still persists.
Let's discuss our strategy for the next steps to see which one makes sense to do.

Firstly, the message "E:Can't mount /dev/block/mmcblk0p2 (File Exists)" is, although annoying, harmless and could be ignored. Some experts said that has to do with the limitation of 512 MB memory, others said that relates to the external sd card. Even some developers, such as Roebeet & Pershoot, acknowledged it to be the norm.

The importance at the moment is the root cause. What have been written ? How much were written ? Why the written data have not been executed properly ? What prevented a normal start-up ? Yours is not the first one that had problem downleveled from 4349 by using this [STICKY][ATTN] - 3991 and 4349+ VIEWSONIC-RECALLED BOOTLOADER INFO here - UPD 5/8/11 - xda-developers. I've seen others who experienced the same. Without knowing the root cause, our path for the next steps would include a lot of guessworks.

My first guess would be to nvflash using full restore bekit original image in the link that I provided earlier [STICKY][ROM] nvflash FULL restore, using bekit's original image (Instructions) - xda-developers. Perhaps this is the safest approach without creating further damage. But it is not without risk. Use a stable computer or laptop and stay calm during the process.

The second guess would be to manually install stock 1.1.3588 http://tapntap.http.internapcdn.net/tapntap/viewsonic/update-smb_a1002-3588-user.zip or [ROM - 1.1] RETIRED - TNT LITE alternate 1.1-based GTAB firmware - [G-TABLET\ZPAD T2] - SlateDroid.com to make sure that the tablet is back to working condition with the native froyo base firmware. If this is successful, then we can discuss the installation of CM7 again.

There are some other approaches. After written up, I decided not to discuss about them at the moment so not to confuse you. So consider these, and see that makes the most sense and what makes you feel most comfortable with.

Let us know, and very good luck to you.

Dave,

P.S. Appreciated the 'thank-you'.

 

[pat4au]

Mark and Dave,
Thanks for the continued advice. Here's where I currently am: I have a running tab after installing the Vegan 1.0 beta 5.1 ROM (it was one I had previously already downloaded). I assume it's working for me because it's based on Froyo and not Gingerbread. It seems as though any GB based ROM I run will not work with my tablet and that seems to be my problem. I'm going to start playing with this since it's working and I have yet to use my tab since receiving it 3 days ago. Opinions on other 2.2 based ROMs that people are running would be great and how they compare to this Vegan 1.0 beta 5.1. Now to see if it will run Netflix (one of the main reasons I wanted a tab). I would be really interested in hearing if anyone else who received the latest Woot G Tablet that shipped with 1.2-4349 has had success doing what I did (downgraded and tried to install a gingerbread ROM like CM7).

My next step was to NVflash my tab as has been suggested. The only reason I haven't yet (and I still may) is that it seems like a lot of the problems people were encountering were with 1.2 shipped tablets, like mine. I'm going to keep reading more on this, but would like input if anyone has it.

Another train of thought is that I really wanted to go the 1.1 branch because I wanted CM7 based on a friend raving about it. However, the more I read it seems as though while all the best ROMs currently are for 1.1, the 1.2 branch that mine came with is going to be the near future. With that in mind, I thought about following this procedure: [GUIDE] Fool proof install for stock 4349 (1.1 to 1.2 upgrade path) - SlateDroid.com
This I assume would basically allow me to return my tablet to stock the way it was shipped, without having to nvflash, then perhaps start with the 1.2 branch. It's just being patient until new ROMs get developed. Opinions welcome!

Thanks again, everyone. I've really enjoyed this community.
Pat

 

[Adelamarc]

Pat,
Check out the brilliant corners rom. Its a 1.2 based rom hosted at slatedroid. There is a Netflix hack for Brilliant Corners. It has snappy performance, flash working and a working android market. Search for Netflix at slatedroid and you'll find a post in the gtablet forum about getting it to work.

Cheers,
Mark

Edit: I did some more digging and installed the Netflix hack. While Netflix does work, it suffers from color banding. This means you get a nice green bar at the bottom and the colors of the movies are off.

Sent from my Brilliant Corners using Android Tablet Forum

 

[pat4au]

Thanks, Mark. I think that's the way I'm going to go. I'll wait till next weekend till I do it to read up some more on it.

Thanks again,
Pat

 

[gadgetrants]

Howdy Pat! Welcome to the forum, and congrats on taking the plunge with your gTab. If you'll indulge me, I have a suggestion:

On the path to looking for the right ROM, your gTab will take a lot of abuse. You'll increase your comfort and confidence quite a bit if you set aside a few weeks to first play "somewhat aggressively" with it, and by that, I mean install a ROM, nvflash it, install another ROM, nvflash it. Go from 1.1 to 1.2, and back to 1.1 Seriously! I think most users get stuck at some point (it's happened to me half a dozen times), perhaps in a boot loop or some other minor dilemma, and being able to take your tablet all the way back to stock 3588 or 4349 is not only an invaluable skill, but will also help you keep a cool head if and when it seems hopelessly stuck.

nvflash takes about 2 minutes to run, and it's pretty foolproof once you have the USB driver working and the directory on your PC set up. It's an equalizer that fixes all user goofs!

If you get to the point where you're playing with different ROMs on a daily basis, then I would strongly recommend you hop over to slatedroid, and try the 4.0 alpha of Honeycomb (i.e., "Bottle of Smoke").

[ROM - 1.2] Honeycomb for GTAB 1.2-based firmware - [G-TABLET\ZPAD T2] - SlateDroid.com

It's true that there are older and newer versions of the BoS ROM, but 4.0 is a great place to start in terms of stability. Again, it's meant to play with and learn from, since it's an alpha build. The reason I suggest it is when you run a HC ROM for the first time, your jaw will drop and you will be briefly speechless. It's a beautiful, fun thing to see on the gTab.

-Matt

 

[pat4au]

Matt,
Wow, that BoS does look amazing. I'll probably wait till I'm not such a newbie to try it since it seems like it's not fully stable yet, but by following your suggestions in the post above I'll get there. Thanks for the advice. I don't mind reading, but it's nice to have a place where some of you "vets" don't mind pointing us new guys in the right direction. Thanks again!

Pat

 

[gadgetrants]

Hah, you should have seen me the day I decided to root my Droid!!! I was TERRIFIED! I was sure I'd permanently destroy it...but it all worked out. And I think the gTab has turned out to be the more forgiving device of the two, in terms of the mistreatment it endures. Take your time, and don't let me (or anyone else) rush you! No point in taking the next step until your comfortable (says the most neurotic guy in the forum!).

(FWIW, I have had near-perfect stability with BoS 4.0. The three things that don't work are: camera, Flash, and hardware video acceleration. None of those happen to be deal-breakers for me, so 4.0 has become my daily-use ROM. In particular, it's not soft-booting like the 3.x versions did, and wifi is rock solid. Anyway, that's my experience so far. I know if I started reading the gigantic BoS thread at slatedroid from scratch, it would be nearly impossible to sort out how each update of BoS performs!)

-Matt

 

[tawright]

Mark and Dave,
Thanks for the continued advice. Here's where I currently am: I have a running tab after installing the Vegan 1.0 beta 5.1 ROM (it was one I had previously already downloaded). I assume it's working for me because it's based on Froyo and not Gingerbread. It seems as though any GB based ROM I run will not work with my tablet and that seems to be my problem. I'm going to start playing with this since it's working and I have yet to use my tab since receiving it 3 days ago. Opinions on other 2.2 based ROMs that people are running would be great and how they compare to this Vegan 1.0 beta 5.1. Now to see if it will run Netflix (one of the main reasons I wanted a tab). I would be really interested in hearing if anyone else who received the latest Woot G Tablet that shipped with 1.2-4349 has had success doing what I did (downgraded and tried to install a gingerbread ROM like CM7).

My next step was to NVflash my tab as has been suggested. The only reason I haven't yet (and I still may) is that it seems like a lot of the problems people were encountering were with 1.2 shipped tablets, like mine. I'm going to keep reading more on this, but would like input if anyone has it.

Another train of thought is that I really wanted to go the 1.1 branch because I wanted CM7 based on a friend raving about it. However, the more I read it seems as though while all the best ROMs currently are for 1.1, the 1.2 branch that mine came with is going to be the near future. With that in mind, I thought about following this procedure: [GUIDE] Fool proof install for stock 4349 (1.1 to 1.2 upgrade path) - SlateDroid.com
This I assume would basically allow me to return my tablet to stock the way it was shipped, without having to nvflash, then perhaps start with the 1.2 branch. It's just being patient until new ROMs get developed. Opinions welcome!

Thanks again, everyone. I've really enjoyed this community.
Pat

Pat, I'm in the same boat. I got mine from Woot too. Can you please tell me the steps you took to resolve this issue. I'm stuck at the birds and followed the same exact steps you did.

Thanks
Tom

 

[gadgetrants]

Tom, I've been able to jump between 1.1 and 1.2 with nvflash. The two stock images are here:

[RECOVERY] nvflash FULL restore, using either 1.1 or 1.2 based images - [G-TABLET] - SlateDroid.com

What I suggest trying (if you haven't already) is flashing either one, and when you reboot, go into recovery (power plus volume-up). Once in the recovery system, look around for the option to clear data. It will do a clean wipe of your system, but I've found it always works to get rid of the boot-loop problem.

-Matt