Stuck at 3 birds advice
- Thread starter pat4au
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- #17
Tom, the only thing I changed in my steps was to switch to a different ROM (Vegan 1.0 beta 5.1). I tried multiple ROMs that were based on Android 2.3 (CM7, Vegan GE 7.0 RC1) and none of them worked (3 birds stuck). When I tried a ROM based on Android 2.2, it loaded up fine. I have not tried using nvflash yet, but will be soon from the links Matt supplied above. I'm like you in that I like CWM. It's just something I'm now familiar with. But I also understand the importance of using nvflash. It seems as though many of the newer roms in the 1.2 branch don't always use CWM. I'm not technical enough to know, but I think something having to do with these new tabs being shipped just don't like you downgrading and putting on 1.1 based ROMS. As I start using nvflash, I'm curious to see if that changes.
Please let me know what happens with your tab, and if you get that vegan rom on there.
Pat
Please let me know what happens with your tab, and if you get that vegan rom on there.
Pat
- Sep 22, 2010
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Pat, what roebeet has done--at least with BoS and perhaps also some of his other ROMs--is replace stock recovery with CWM. So I find that as I'm flashing through various ROMs, sometimes I see the CWM recovery! I should be more attentive to which builds have it, but my strategy thus far has typically been to nvflash (take it back to stock), and then add on from there. I agree that the CWM-approach is clean and usually easier, but in my case I've had to wipe data (full wipe) enough times that having CWM backups hasn't been an option.
-Matt
-Matt
Matt,
So if I use nvflash it will take my tab back to stock ie:1.2. Then I can use the VEGAN ROM? on 1.2?
The confusing thing is the post on XDA [STICKY] Bootloader information - 1.1 and 1.2 dev branches and what you need to know - xda-developers
That says if you want VEGAN -tab then you need to be on 1.1. So can someone please clairify this?
Thanks
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- #20
Matt, sorry for the remedial question, but I'm trying to understand what I'm doing and not just follow a check list: Is flashing a ROM like placing a full image of everything on the tablet (boot, system, operating files, etc.)? Kind of like taking a working system image and placing it on my tablet? Where as using CWM is like have the base system (modified) in place where you are adding a new customized "operating system" of sorts? I apologize if my terminology is off, I'm still learning the "lingo", I'm just trying to grasp the concepts of using CWM vs nvflashing.
Thanks!
Thanks!
- Sep 22, 2010
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Pat, to be honest you should take what I say with a grain of salt (trust but verify!). Not to undermine myself, but since I can't meet you at Starbucks to help out, you should proceed at your own pace! In any case, generally flashing a ROM in PC terms is like replacing/modyfing the OS, while the BIOS is left alone. I'm sure that's either a rough analogy, or only partly true. The rub is which parts of the filesystem you are replacing. My sense is nvflashing replaces BOTH the recovery system and the ROM, while flashing the ROM (USING the recovery/update) system only replaces the "OS".
Tom, my apologies for not being clear. Each ROM has it's own particular base. VEGAn (last I heard) is 1.1, while roebeet's newer builds (BC and BoS for example) are 1.2. So again, to use VEGAn I'd recommend nvflashing the 1.1 base image (gtab.nvflash.1.1.branch.20110422.zip) and then flashing VEGAn from there (Dave has a great how-to on doing that!)
Both of you, please keep us all posted!
-Matt
Tom, my apologies for not being clear. Each ROM has it's own particular base. VEGAn (last I heard) is 1.1, while roebeet's newer builds (BC and BoS for example) are 1.2. So again, to use VEGAn I'd recommend nvflashing the 1.1 base image (gtab.nvflash.1.1.branch.20110422.zip) and then flashing VEGAn from there (Dave has a great how-to on doing that!)
Both of you, please keep us all posted!
-Matt
- Sep 22, 2010
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No worries, I need to improve my "mod" skills!
Dave is mydave, thread is:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...tion-stable-rc1-most-popular-rom-gtablet.html
-Matt
Dave is mydave, thread is:
http://www.androidtablets.net/forum...tion-stable-rc1-most-popular-rom-gtablet.html
-Matt
- Thread starter
- #24
Matt, that was perfect. That's what I understood it to be, but what you said really clarified it for me. Thanks!
Tom, did you downgrade to 1.1, or are you still at 1.2? If you downgraded, let me know if the ROM above works for you. It's one of the ones I couldn't get working and had to go to an earlier version of vegan to get my tab running.
Tom, did you downgrade to 1.1, or are you still at 1.2? If you downgraded, let me know if the ROM above works for you. It's one of the ones I couldn't get working and had to go to an earlier version of vegan to get my tab running.
- Sep 22, 2010
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The part that I navigated around was the bootloader. I'm assuming that since the 1.1 and 1.2 branches have different bootloaders, that nvflashing with the corresponding base image moves you from one bootloader to the other (i.e., it installs bootloader, recovery, and ROM aka OS). But what happens to the bootloader (and how it's represented in memory) during other forms of flashing...that's still a blur!
-Matt
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
I fully agree wrt BoS, I use it daily. It's 'alpha' status, but I consider it beta. The camera/video/flash/SD problem IIRC, is why it's alpha.
NVFlash is very similar to a clean install of the OS (partitioning new hard drive, repartitioning), while flashing in recovery is like a re-install (leaving existing partitions alone and just formatting C: ). There are some differences, but that's the gist.
I noticed are some warnings posted in this thread, and that can be scary to newbies. I want to say that it's nearly IMPOSSIBLE to PERMANENTLY damage the gTablet (yes, if you flash 1000's of times, you can wear the flash out). Now this is not true for all devices, but it is for this particular tablet. It's as robust as an iPhone. For anyone who's had experience upgrading or jailbreaking an iphone, you've probably seen the itunes recovery logo before. It's similar with the gtablet. If you really FUBAR it (ie. bad nvflash), it'll automatically boot into APX mode (special recovery mode used by nvflash) waiting for you to fix it.
Again, don't worry about breaking this device, you really can't (not that I've seen or read). If you really mess it up, use the bekit 0.8 nvflash image, it'll fix everything. It may take some time to learn about nvflash, but it's well worth it. Before you nvflash however, use the gtablet_backup script to backup your tablet (save it all if you want, but your goal is to save the BCT partition in particular, it contains hardware information). I keep the backup of my own tablet just to be safe. I don't know if it's really necessary, but I feel better knowing I have it.
So dive right in, don't hold back because you feel you might break something. You're device might be down for a few days while you fix it, but if you're doing this, it's not a production device yet anyway.
The rest of this post is directed mostly at the OP, but everyone please read:
As for the OP's 3-birds. The 3 birds logo appears during the early bootup (compare to PC BIOS), the logo is supposed to go away after the OS boots. Since it's not, that means it cannot find the system kernel (LNX nvflash partition, IIRC). Once the kernel loads, the image will change to whatever the ROM maker set ("Bottle Of Smoke" in the case of BoS 4.x, blank or 'ANDROID' for CM7 I think). Your bootloader might have gotten messed up (1.1 vs 1.2). It also might be because the partition layout is bad, as was previously mentioned. Either way, you'll want to use the bekit nvflash image, that should fix everything.
Once you use the bekit image, you'll need to update to the latest TapnTap UI version (to get the 3588 recovery). How you do that can vary, you can either flash the update.zip using the recovery, or connect to the internet and use the OTA updater (unless it switches again to 4349).
From 3588, you can start over and go back to ROM selection. If you want to play with 1.2 ROMs, but also want to try CM7, you'll have to get a special build of CM7. I don't recall where it is, but it's not on the main cyanogenmod site.
I personally have tried just about every ROM out there on my tablet (G-harmony, VEGAn-TAB/GE, CM7, TnT-Lite, BoS, and others I'm forgetting). Yes, I've semi-bricked my tablet a few times. I had to use nvflash to recover. Boy did I get scared the first time I did it, I didn't want a $300 paperweight. But as I gained experience, I learned what I said above: you can't break it.
I just want to save the new people time and nerves. So feel free to experiment, that's why you got the tablet, and that's why you're here!
If you do get into a bind (in OP case), there's plenty of posts here, on SLD, XDA and others of people who have been in the same situation. If you can't find your problem, there's lots of people you can ask (again OP, as you have) who have lots of experience and are willing and eager to help.
If anyone's interested, I'm also on SLD (Phoenix84) and XDA (Phoenix84118).
EDIT:
NVFlash does do that, but flashing via the stock recovery also does ALL of that. For the record, Clockworkmod (CWM) does NOT flash the bootloader (or recovery either, I think). That is THE reason people don't recommend using CWM to flash between ROMs. Inexperienced users may not know its limitation or forget they're using CWM (BoS comes with it by default, for other reason). Since it doesn't support the bootloader, the next time you boot, it'll fail and you'll be stuck at the 3 birds logo.
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- Sep 22, 2010
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Oh gee, ANOTHER guy from norcal...I miss my good old days in SF and Berkeley.
Seriously, thanks for joining in and offering the reassurance. The more success stories we hear the better!
-Matt
Seriously, thanks for joining in and offering the reassurance. The more success stories we hear the better!
-Matt
I did the same thing as you did. I downgraded to 1.1 and then tried the newer version of VEGAN.
So after discussing on this thread, I went home and put the VEGAN 1.00 BETA 5.1 on and it worked.
Couple of things. I do not like the look....sorry I'm picky. When I install an app from the market it looks stretched. I know I know it was developed for a phone not a 10.1 inch table. So now I am looking into do the nvflash and trying a newer version. I'll let you know what happens from there.
- Sep 22, 2010
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Check your apps and see if you have Spare Parts installed. If so, one option is to turn off "Compatibility Mode" at the bottom, which may help (unless of course you're not running it, or it isn't checked!).
-Matt
I agree with your statement that it seems very difficult to brick this device.
So is there a step by step guide for using NVFlash on the G Tab? And since you've tried all the different ROM's which one can you recommend?
Sorry for highjacking this thread. I'll start a new one after this question.
Thanks
So is there a step by step guide for using NVFlash on the G Tab? And since you've tried all the different ROM's which one can you recommend?
Sorry for highjacking this thread. I'll start a new one after this question.
Thanks
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