[G2 and Desire Z Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] emamid:
Similar-sounding problem

I've attempted to install ClockworkMod and CM7 on my G2 with Gingerbread 2.3.4, and have wound up putting it in a semi-bricked state. (Whole process went fine on my old G2 last year, but had to return that due to a wifi problem). Here's what I've done so far:

1. Started the root/CW process (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/TMobile_G2:_Rooting). Once I got to the psneuter step, I got "Failed to set prot mask (innappropriate ioctl for device)", which I figured meant I needed to do the downgrade, since that was the only difference I could see between my new G2 and the old one (which had Froyo when I went through this process).

2. Downgraded to Froyo (http://wiki.cyanogenmod.com/wiki/HTC_Desire_Z:_Firmware_Downgrade_(Froyo). That seemed to go just fine.

3. Re-did the root/CW process. That also seemed to go just fine, until I rebooted into CW, at which point I got:

E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/command

E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/log

E:Can't open /cache/recovery/log

E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/last_log

E:Can't open /cache/recovery/last_log

At this point, attempting to select any of the items in the CW menu just showed the hat-with-ring logo, no text. I figured I must have screwed something up, and decided I'd best roll back to stock (I'd just done that on my old G2, so I could send it in, and that process had also worked fine).

4. Rolled back to the original PC10IMG.zip (http://theunlockr.com/2010/12/01/how-to-unroot-the-t-mobile-g2-htc-vision/ but without the OTA part). When I rebooted, I got the green-on-white "HTC" screen, for at least 10 minutes. Retried several times. Using power-volumedown, I could still get into recovery, which was still Clockwork, but with the same errors as in step 3. I could still connect via ADB (when in Clockwork) and get a root shell with that, at this point.

5. Big goof: I decided I should rollback to stock recovery. Did that using the http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=834545 guide. Rebooted. Phone still sticks at the initial HTC screen, forever. Using power-volumedown, I can get to the screen whose name I do not know, the one that's white with three skateboarding androids at the bottom, and the "Fastboot, Recovery, Factory Reset, Simlock, System Info, Image CRC" menu.

6. Recovery now takes me to what I presume is stock recovery, which has a "E:Can't mount /cache/recovery/command" message at the bottom of the screen. Menu is "Reboot system now, Apply sdcard:update.zip, Wipe data/factory reset, Wipe cache partition." Factory reset and wiping the cache partition, then rebooting, still results in the eternal HTC screen.

7. If I do reboot and do power-volumedown to get back to the three-skateboards screen (someone please tell me the actual name, so that I can sound like less of an idiot), I can select fastboot, and then connect via fastboot-windows. I haven't done anything with that yet, however, as I figured I've gone too far already without stopping to ask for help, and don't want to cut myself from off from fastboot the way I cut myself off from adb.

Right now, I just want to get the phone to a usable state again. Not expecting any hand-holding, but I'd appreciating someone pointing me to the start of the path back.