yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Asus Transformer TF700] dnaod:
Looking for confirmation of thinking

Hey all,

Long time lurker (pre-HTC Universal days), infrequent poster. Got myself into trouble a few months ago and got it sorted out with some help of the great people at XDA (see here for more). Made me realize I need to look closer at NVFlash so I've been reading and rereading since to figure out whether I could use NVFlash at this point.

Here's my confusion and why. I'm currently using the latest version of CROMBI-kk and am on the 10.6.1.14.10 bootloader. Throughout this thread, people consistently state that you must be on a pre-9.4.5.30 bootloader. I've double checked an all those posts are from before the Tegra3 Guide for the tf700 came out in Fall of 2013 with Flatline.

Now that Guide states that you must be on bootloader 10.6.1.14.4. But there's been a post since that Guide came out that seems to imply that people may have used it after on the same 10.6.1.14.10 that I'm on. Looking at this post, it seems to hint that s/he may have used NVFlash successfully on that bootloader. But in all honesty, s/he could have used NVFlash previous to uploading to that latest bootloader. There's no evidence one way or the other.

Okay, so let's walk through the NVFlash Guide then and think about this logically (summarizing the Guide heavily)

1. "fastboot flash recovery flatline_device.img" - probably be no issue

2. reboot to recovery - probably no issue

3. Flash the custom recovery and "Flash AndroidRoot BL" - no issue?

4. Power the device back on and allow it to boot normally into Android - !!!

It's this last step that I think I will run into problems with. I suspect Crombi-kk won't boot on that bootloader if it's any way based on 10.6.1.14.4. Is my thinking here sound? The process may not rely 100% on completely booting into Android again but given what we're messing with, I'd rather not risk it.

Suggestions? Has anyone with my bootloader done this successfully?

Thanks,

D
[Asus Transformer TF700] berndblb:
Hi dnaod, ;)

First, forget this thread. AndroidRoot later released a method for the TF on JellyBean. It is here: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2455925&page=9

You just need to be on a JB bootloader, yours qualifies.

You flash a custom recovery and custom BL just for this purpose anyway (and have to flash back later) so it does not really matter which JB bootloader you are running now.

You are correct about it possibly not booting into a KK rom, but it shouldn't really matter. The AndroidRoot BL is going to be flashed first when you boot up. It does not really matter if you cannot boot fully into the rom. Even a hung boot should be sufficient.

But if I did this procedure I would also feel better if I could follow the instructions to the letter :laugh:

An easy solution would be to start this whole thing by wiping data and flashing CROMi-X 5.4. It runs fine on the .10 as well as the .4 bootloader. Just do a bare bones setup after flashing it, not even setting up the Google account etc. But do setup your wifi so that your blobs can be backed up to the AndroidRoot server.

Then run the procedure as described.

Once you got your blobs squared away you have to flash the .10 bootloader back. sbdags has a BL/TWRP package in the CROMi-X OP which would come in handy here.

Just that the TWRP version is kinda old. If you flash that package, reboot and then fastboot flash the latest TWRP version again.

Wipe data again and restore your nandroid of CROMBi-KK.

Profit. :cool:
[Asus Transformer TF700] dnaod:
And again, thanks berndblb. I'm off to do some more reading. If I run into other questions, they'll be on the other thread.

d
[Asus Transformer TF700] _that:
The only difference between the 10.6.1.14.4 and 10.6.1.14.10 bootloaders is the version number, so it is unlikely that any recent ROM out there wouldn't work with any 10.6.1.14.x bootloader.
[Asus Transformer TF700] dracinn:
Unable to flash to my tf700.
[Asus Transformer TF700] LetMeKnow:
This is for ICS blob. You can go here and find the JB blob. You may find some answer to your problems:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2455925&page=9

Double check these:

1. fastboot device to ensure that your device is communicating with your PC

2. Check the file to ensure that it is not corrupted and in the same folder as your fastboot.exe

3. Try this: fastboot -i 0x0B05 flash recovery flatline_device.img

Hope it works out for you and good luck....:fingers-crossed:
[Asus Transformer TF700] dracinn:
That's exactly where I got it.
[Asus Transformer TF700] berndblb:
And you're posting in the ICS thread because....????

"This isn't working" doesn't give us much to go on....
[Asus Transformer TF700] hautkarl:
Anyone have a link to the TF700T NVFlash pack.zip?

The link on AndroidRoot gives a 404 error.

Many thanks!
[Asus Transformer TF700] lj50036:
http://www.androidroot.mobi/pages/guides/tegra3-guide-nvflash-jellybean/

All the links at the bottom of this page work without issue..

Thx Josh
[Asus Transformer TF700] hautkarl:
My TF700 is currently running ICS 4.0.1 and the page you linked is for Jelly Bean 4.1-4.3:

Do I need to flash to Jelly Bean(I'd prefer not) to use the files linked to or does it not matter?

Thanks for replying to this old thread!
[Asus Transformer TF700] berndblb:
No. That tool is for a JB bootloader you cannot use it on ICS.

They had the same tool for ICS but only if you have a pre 9.4.5.30 bootloader. Here's the thread but it looks as if AndroidRoot took those files down... Links are not working: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1901479

Why do you want to stay on ICS???????????
[Asus Transformer TF700] hautkarl:
Yeah, I never took an OTA before it ended up in a drawer so it still has ICS from 9.4.5.26! It's unlocked but no root/bootloader/recovery/ROMs yet.

I'm only staying with ICS so I'm not precluded from obtaining root, etc. but looks like JB is my only option to load NVFlash.

Thanks for the help
[Asus Transformer TF700] berndblb:
You can get root on JB - no problem. Just flash TWRP, flash a rom, flash SuperSU if the rom doesn't come with it already and voila, you got root.

But first you should update to the last official firmware 10.6.1.14.10 and I would recommend you do it the official way in stock recovery.
[Asus Transformer TF700] ssconceptz:
I have the latest version of the firmware installed, will the method in the original link work for my bootloader version .10? I see it says .4 in the website or is that just the modified bootloader they use for this? How do I get the original .10 back?
[Asus Transformer TF700] berndblb:
Yes, as long as you are on a JB bootloader it will work. You can downgrade from your current BL to the .4 modified for this purpose. Get your files from here: http://www.androidroot.mobi/pages/guides/tegra3-guide-nvflash-jellybean/

To get the original back flash one of these packages in the modded recovery when you are done generating your files.

http://xdaforums.com/transformer-tf700/general/firmware-10-6-14-10-twrp-t2867157

Just remember that you have to reboot after flashing a bootloader, recovery or a package of both like from the above link before you do anything else.
[Asus Transformer TF700] MysticMgcn:
Man that sucks. I hate that even with APX we don't "really" have APX since we need wheelie to bootstrap nvflash.

I know it won't work but I still wanna try someone else's blob.bin to bootstrap. :P
[Asus Transformer TF700] newellj79:
Still trying to get up and running here. When I run wheelie (working toward generating the bricksafe.img for the first time), I get this

Waiting for device in APX mode...

libusb couldn't open USB device /dev/bus/usb/002/032: Permission denied.

libusb requires write access to USB device nodes.

libusb couldn't open USB device /dev/bus/usb/002/032: Permission denied.

libusb requires write access to USB device nodes.

libusb couldn't open USB device /dev/bus/usb/002/032: Permission denied.

libusb requires write access to USB device nodes.

any ideas? thanks.
[Asus Transformer TF700] sirus20:
please anyone could make a video tutorial? it would help everyone who enjoys playing with their tablets.it would mean a lot to everyone..i can't even go past step one.i tried but i can't even make my tablet to reboot throught fastboot. thank you

Edit.for the prime but it's almost the same.i got it to work from this guy vid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3ypzUaKxvo&feature=youtube_gdata_player
[Asus Transformer TF700] dre1187:
Are you running as root ?

Sent from my Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T
[Asus Transformer TF700] tbtaf:
OK, quick question, if I have upgraded to .30 but load a custom Rom based on .26, can I then use this utility? I assume it doesn't downgrade the boot loader, but thought I'd ask.
[Asus Transformer TF700] THunDA:
If you are on bootloader .30 then this is a no go for you..
[Asus Transformer TF700] newellj79:
Nope but I'll give it a shot.

Edit... Success! Thanks! I don't know how to use it to unbrick if I ever actually need to, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.
[Asus Transformer TF700] xfinrodx:
So I did this no problem, but I have no nvflash experience. Can I now use fw .30 and retain the ability to downgrade, or does flashing the official blob undo my nvflash access?

Thanks for this guys, really! :good:
[Asus Transformer TF700] lafester:
this is all covered on page one :)
[Asus Transformer TF700] rightonred:
Looks like my bad habit of update procrastination has paid off for once.:cool:

It is sad to see that so many people can't use this though.
[Asus Transformer TF700] xfinrodx:
I read this but I'd just like to be sure that it is exactly what it sounds like before I do anything stupid ;) . To be clear, now that I have completed the whole nvflash setup/backup process I am free to put any bootloader, including 30 yeah? Seems like this is the case, given your reply in light of this comment. :cowboy:
[Asus Transformer TF700] lafester:
Not sure how that post can be any more clear :)
[Asus Transformer TF700] Immorten:
Thanks for the awesome job on this!

This might be a bit off topic, but since you've been able to change the small white text that says "Device is unlocked" to "AndroidRootSomething", doesn't that mean that you can set it to be no text at all? :D

Regards,
[Asus Transformer TF700] paddycr:
Has anyone on the .30 bootloader either tried to do this or tried to downgrade to .26? I am just curious as to what actually happens since I am too chicken to try myself :p
[Asus Transformer TF700] lafester:
It just fails nothing bad happens.
[Asus Transformer TF700] tbtaf:
What happens if you flash a rom based on .26? Will it not flash the boot loader but otherwise work? Leaving you still unable to use NVFlash? Also, on HTC devices (rezound) they found a way to flash around the locked bootloader and used a hacked Hboot. Is it possible to do something similar?
[Asus Transformer TF700] SOTK:
Hey, anybody having problems getting Fastboot to be recognized by Windows 7? I have ADB connected and working right but having problems with the drivers for Fastboot. Showing unrecognized device under USB in Device Manager. I'm using the modified Naked Drivers package from androidroot site. One of my questions is what do I choose when attempting to set up this driver when I have Fastboot engaged on the 700? There are lots of options to choose from the Driver's package under Hardware Device Wizard (Have Disk). There's a 700 APX option, Asus Fastboot Interface, etc. I've tried most of these options. I just can't seem to get the 700 to be recognized on Windows 7. Assistance please?
[Asus Transformer TF700] Poser:
In device management, update drivers, and select the root folder for the universal naked Drivers. The correct cab and inf will be selected automagically. Then proceed as directed.

Sent from my SGH-T999
[Asus Transformer TF700] ekalb10:
Anyone have a problem getting wheelie to run. All i get is fail to open blob file: blob.bin. I have both the nvflash_binaries and the tf700_nvflashpack files extracted in the platform-tools folder where adb and fastboot are located. Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

Edit: i have re-installed the drivers and was in apx mode.
[Asus Transformer TF700] dre1187:
Did you copy over blob.bin into the same folder as wheelie?

Sent from my Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T
[Asus Transformer TF700] jimmy486:
you need copy the blob.bin from you tf700 folder /sdcard/AndroidRoot to you tool folder.
[Asus Transformer TF700] ekalb10:
Thanks dre1187 and jimmy486, i really appreciate it, i knew i was missing something.
[Asus Transformer TF700] dre1187:
No problem, glad it worked!
[Asus Transformer TF700] SOTK:
That doesn't work. It says the correct driver is already installed even though it's some none working USB thing.

---------- Post added at 10:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:56 PM ----------

I hate these stupid driver issues. I successfully got NVFlash going on my TPrime but had driver issues the first time around too. This time it's worse. Nothing is working.

---------- Post added at 11:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:58 PM ----------

Okay. Got drivers to work finally. I did the first step. Flashed the androidroot bootloader. I went to reboot and my screen is just black. Nothing is coming up. What's up?
[Asus Transformer TF700] phoenixg36:
Is there a way to do this on an encryptet device?

To use a sdcard to safe the data?
[Asus Transformer TF700] criodor:
Just wanted to say, everything worked flawlessly. All the backups are made on so many places except printed out and used as wallpaper.. (but the decision was a close call..apparently the pink in my daughters bedroom is to remain pink...)

Cheers and awesome job!
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
+1 - process worked perfectly for me as well - thank you Mr. Developer! I now have a "un-brickable" TF700! Awesome...
[Asus Transformer TF700] chugger93:
I still fail to realize the point in nvflash. How can you brick your device flashing a rom? I've had even the TF201 in the past, and I've never bricked it from flashing a rom.

I've never used nvflash and never needed it. If you know what your're doing, then your ultimately fine. Nvflash is for newbs
[Asus Transformer TF700] SayWhat10:
I was sort of thinking that as well. I been flashing for years, never bricked. But I guess it's good to always know you'll always have a get out of jail card to use
[Asus Transformer TF700] paddycr:
+1. I always try to be very careful when flashing things. There have been a few times where I have flashed something and thought " crap, I didn't check the MD5 on this". I guess NVFlash kind of like car insurance: reassuring to have but you should never have to use it if you are careful.
[Asus Transformer TF700] Pretoriano80:
And don't forget the developers,usually they have to test their brand new shiny stuff that all of you want before releasing, so NvFlash is a must for them. So for those feeling like "flashing gurus" and brickproof , just ignore this thread and let us "noobs" enjoy NvFlash but remember there's always a first time ;).
[Asus Transformer TF700] THunDA:
Well said.. to each his own I guess. I've never bricked a device either, probably came close at times. Lol but never did.

But its nice to have a safety net just in case as I am kind of a flashaholic.. I wouldn't really call nvflash for noobs, the noobs are the ones creating thread after thread in the general section announcing jb is coming soon.. hehe

Sent from my Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T
[Asus Transformer TF700] jtrosky:
Here is another example of why NVFlash is useful (and it's certainly not for "noobs" - if anything it's for advanced users, in my opinion)... I sense a little jealousy with the "it's for noobs" comment - I'm guess that the user that posted that upgrade to .30 and can't use it.

With my TF101 (which is NVFlash capable), ICS has been as absolute nightmare (random reboots). With NVFlash, I'm able to go back to Honeycomb, which was extremely stable - without NVFlash, you couldn't get back to Honeycomb (if I remember correctly).

It's also a great tool for "starting clean" with a ROM since it completely re-creates and formats the all of the partitions on the device.

It's just a great tool and there are no "downsides" of setting it up, just in case. Just because you've never had a use for it, doesn't mean that it's not useful (or that it's for "noobs" - sorry, but that comment was a little rude, to be honest!).
[Asus Transformer TF700] chugger93:
I started the comment to be honest. I'm sure it is a great tool, but I wanted to bring up the fact in this thread that really, unless you suck at doing hacking of your android device, you really dont need it. I've been flashing for years, and not once have I used nvflash. I'm just trying to advocate that if your safe and take the time to read up and ask questions on how to do something, you should be fine.

I'm certainly not jealous, because again, I have it available for my nexus, but don't even use it for that. I also had it for the TF201, again, never used it.
[Asus Transformer TF700] elgar:
Would be great to have this tool working for the latest firmware.
[Asus Transformer TF700] wolfman87:
Any chance of completely messing up the device using this method? Also, is it possible to do this from a Mac?
[Asus Transformer TF700] 160bpm:
What can it be when i want do the fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash staging ebtblob.bin and get a failed (remote (invalid state))?

I have TWRP 2.2.2.1 touch recovery installed and working. Can that be the problem??
[Asus Transformer TF700] dre1187:
You cant do it from a mac however i did it through vmware using linux and windows (proceed with caution as it is not recommended)

Hav0k

Sent from my Transformer Pad Infinity TF700T
[Asus Transformer TF700] rightonred:
It reflashes the bootloader which isn't exactly the safest thing to do. Yet again, nearly every OTA reflashes the bootloader, so the odds of something going wrong are negligable. Other than that, no. If you do something wrong, it will simply fail.

You have to do it through fastboot, not recovery.

press volume down while booting wait 5 seconds for the bootmenu to show up. press volume down to select the usb symbol, then volume up to enable fastboot.
[Asus Transformer TF700] 160bpm:
I'm in the fastboot. The information about recovery was only to tell my config :)

So i get the error in the fastboot mode. (sorry for telling that )
[Asus Transformer TF700] JaceAlvejetti:
Agree, I'm a fool for updating so soon but Are devs working to try?
[Asus Transformer TF700] willjohnson:
Not to be an antagonist, but.... You have to suck to need this tool? Not just be willing to admit that on an occasion honest human error is worth protecting against? Isn't using NVFlash being "safe" as you put it in your last sentence? Just felt like the "unless you suck at doing hacking of your android device" part was a little uncalled for is all.
[Asus Transformer TF700] Aria807:
Crap I updated to 9.4.5.30 without reading up on this. What can I do? Or would it be possible to get this to work on 9.4.5.30 later?
[Asus Transformer TF700] firetech:
That is the error you get if you have flashed the 9.4.5.30 or TF300 Jelly Bean bootloader (they will only flash bootloaders signed by ASUS). No nvflash for you...
[Asus Transformer TF700] 160bpm:
Damn.... :( and there i no way back to get a signed bootloader from Asus... :rolleyes:

---------- Post added at 08:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:32 PM ----------

By the way, i did that update using sdcard. Downloaded the update from asus site....so the bootloader is asus or I'm wrong?!
[Asus Transformer TF700] urrlyx:
if you applied the .30 firmware from asus' site then you are on the .30 bootloader and screwed like the rest of us. :/

personally i'm not worried about not having nvflash. the only way to hard brick your device is if you mess up flashing the boot loader. i never flash anything that updates the bootloader except for official firmwares, so there's pretty much zero chance of that happening.

if your bootloader is operational you will have access to fastboot and with that you can flash any other partition.
[Asus Transformer TF700] SayWhat10:
That's good to know, I don't do bootloaders either
[Asus Transformer TF700] willjohnson:
Just to make sure i understand some things right, I have successfully installed nvflash and made the 3 backups listed in the guide(bricksafe, unlock key, and factory-config). Are these the only backups i need to make, can make? And is this really all i need to do with nvflash, I mean it has no other purpose, like recovery or anything, it just sits there while you flash away and waits on you to mess up and then it shows up a hero right? And last is there a seperate guide somewhere i am missing for actually using NVFlash for recovering brick. Thanks in advance and sorry if this has been answered, i have been at this for 3 hours, had some driver issues and my brain is a little fried right now.
[Asus Transformer TF700] newellj79:
I too would like to see the guide on how to use nvflash to actually recover from a bricked situation. To be fair I have'nt tried to google it yet. :) I've never had a device with nvflash. By all accounts it sounds like a god-send and I'm happy to have it installed now.
[Asus Transformer TF700] buhohitr:
Just wondering, since not a real case where some one had actually recovered a device from a hard brick, most of hard brick device, you can't even put your device in fastboot or any kind of boot, basically, your device is dead..like your battery has been removed, how are you going to push nvflash to recover the boot loader??? so nvflash is for soft brick only??
[Asus Transformer TF700] newellj79:
Yes. Nvflash is for softbricks.
[Asus Transformer TF700] okantomi:
I think it's for when you can only access apx mode...even fastboot is inaccessible. It would work at a really low level, and that's why it can be a life saver.
[Asus Transformer TF700] rightonred:
Nvflash is for hard bricks, although once you can unbrick a hardbrick, you can't really call it a hardbrick anymore.

But you could completely overite the entire memory with 0s and be able to recover it with nvflash.
[Asus Transformer TF700] quicknik:
nvflash is very important for devs. Currently I am working on a custom kernel. And want to really build a dual boot loader so I can get ubuntu on this piece. nvflash is imperative for my purposes.
[Asus Transformer TF700] psych2l:
Excellent point, we really do need more kernel devs for our device. I'm itching for some overclocking and Ubuntu would just be icing on the cake!
[Asus Transformer TF700] Pretoriano80:
You should also keep in a safe place the other files that were generated after you have installed the AndroidRoot bootloader (you can find them in the AndroidRoot folder, on the internal sdcard). As for the guide, no, there's no guide now and that because many users could abuse of NvFlash and use it when is not necessary (i.e when you still have a working fastboot mode,you still can recover from softbricks without using NvFlash), and considering that NvFlash is a powerful low level tool users should not play with it too much, unless is really necessary, so for the most brick situations you don't need NvFlash. However if you will find yourself in a hardbrick situation where NvFlash is the only way out, just ask for help here on XDA (or even better the #asus-transformer channel on IRC) and i'm sure someone will point you in the right direction.
[Asus Transformer TF700] lowki:
I'm trying to understand this. I has TWRP installed, but your telling me with this it is better? Would this be for a completely non responsive device? I have not updated to .30, and I know JellyBean is about to come out, so I need to decided about doing this. I'm pretty sure I have the technical ability to do this( yes I read the directions). I'm new to blobs and only know a little about them. Could someone please explain what they are.
[Asus Transformer TF700] gcrutchr:
Guys Thanks! This works great!

Followed the directions and now have made multiple backups of generated backup files.

Thanks again!