yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
No, you cannot flash custom zip via recovery since Sony has prevented that. Otherwise we would be able to recover ALL bricked devices without any problem. Also we would be able to root without any exploits. If you device won't boot and Sony's official OTA zip won't work (try to flash twice in a row like I suggested in recovery ideas... thread), there is nothing you can do at least for now.

You can thank Sony about this. Next time buy something else than Sony. At least I will.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Btw I got my device back from Sony service with R5 firmware. So I was actually able to root it even when this current exploit was not known.

But yeah, FIRST update to JB using OTA and THEN root using new method. This is the safest way.
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Ah, this is what I was looking for!

Same thing is happening to me at the moment.

However, when I mount OTHER, I get mount: Device or resource busy. [MENTION=4037831]jappaj[/MENTION]
[Sony Tablet S] dex9mm:
This missing vendor sysmlink how do you tell if its missing I know you have your hands full with the tab

but it might shed some light on the situation of whats happenning with the flashing and why sometimes it will only flash half of the zip the crashes

Condi has posted 6.2 a.i.o and was debugging from remote on someone else who got root with the tab didnt say anything about the bootloop protection though

Aslo wondering I have had a look and I see in my canadiain tab

master Dir

ca dir

Us dir

Regioncodelist dir

Vendor prop

And

Regionall.zip

Mabb

rooted lighting wildfire on unoffical j.b from benni

and sony XTS rooted stock j.b thanks djrbliss
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Could you check that OTHER is not already mounted? For some weir reason I had it automatically mounted as /mnt/secure/staging or something like that... Type "mount" and see what is mounted and what is not. Copy-paste everything here if you are not sure how to read results...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Have attached a screenshot for you. Any help is appreciated as this appears to be the exact same issue as yours after using the flasher.

I tried to continue with your instructions, but in recovery I still get file directory not found for system0/vendor.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Ok so your current system partition seems to be /dev/block/mmcblk0p3. Then other would be /dev/block/mmcblk0p4, but I do not see it mounted. Are you sure you used correct device? Ie.:

mkdir /data/local/tmp/sysother

mount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 /data/local/tmp/sysother

Does this give you device or resource busy? That is quite strange... I would try to reboot your tab and re-try.
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Ok mate, 0p4 has mounted, but 0p3 hasn't - Device or resource busy.

Was I mounting the wrong one then?

The files are now all showing in that folder. Can I reboot and flash?
[Sony Tablet S] condi:
official 'mount' sometimes gives resource busy error. instead of it - use 'busybox mount .............'
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Ah yes, your current system is always mounted. You see it when you issue "mount" command, it is row like like this:

/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /system ext4 ro,relatime,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0

You will get error if you try to mount already mounted device. You need just to mount other system partition, which is not used at all and thus not mounted. But yeah, if you have vendor links in place, I would try flashing. Just some extra checks. You see something like this, right?

root@android:/ # ls -l /system/vendor

ls -l /system/vendor

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2013-05-03 22:54 vendor -> /datapp/vendor/vendor0/FI

root@android:/ # ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2013-05-08 11:52 vendor -> /datapp/vendor/vendor1/FI

If yes, everything seems to be good and you could try to flash (I am not responsible etc.)...

EDIT: NO WAIT! NO NO NO! You just attached screenshot to your post and it seems you have linked vendor to "/datapp/vendor/vendor1". Please see my above example, it should be actually linked to /datapp/vendor/vendor1/REGION where region is your region code! Please do not flash until you have fixed this!

Please do "ls -l /system/vendor" and "ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor" and paste results here before your flash! Let's check if they are ok.

EDIT2: Pleas guys, you need to follow the instructions to the letter! If you do not, more likely you will be brciked than not! If you are not 100% sure, then ask! Pay special attention to all commands you run from shell!
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Have just gone back into recovery and attempted to flash JellyBean.

read_mod_link: failed to readlink "/system0/vendor"; No such file or directory

Please help :crying:
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Let's try to fix it step by step. Please run commands "ls -l /system/vendor" and "ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor" and copy-paste results here! What will you see (mount that other system like you did before if and when you rebooted)?

Edit: Where did you went [MENTION=3164161]SWFlyerUK[/MENTION] ? Does your device not boot anymore? Please do not do anything hasty if it still boots, it is recoverable for sure.
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Hi mate,

Sorry for the delayed response.

My device still boots and roots. It's running a

very

laggy ICS Release 6B flashed through condi's flasher yesterday. WiFi doesn't work and there's and all vendor apps missing.

If I run "ls -l /system/vendor", I get;

/system/vendor: No such file or directory.

When I run "ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor", I get;

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2013-05-19 09:15 vendor -> /data/vendor/vendor1/US
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Ah I can see why apps are missing etc. You are missing vendor link for your current system! And link on your other systems points no non-existing location /data/vendor/vendor1/US ?! Could you do these commands for me before we continue:

ls -l /data/vendor/vendor0/US

ls -l /data/vendor/vendor1/US

ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor0/US

ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor1/US

I just want to see that folders /data/vendor/vendor0/US and /data/vendor/vendor1/US does not exist and folders ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor0/US and ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor1/US do exist...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
ls -l /data/vendor/vendor0/US

/data/vendor/vendor0/US: No such file or directory.

ls -l /data/vendor/vendor1/US

/data/vendor/vendor1/US: No such file or directory.

ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor0/US

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 app

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 etc

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 fonts

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 framework

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 lib

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2013-05-18 23:09 vendor.prop -> ../vendor.prop

ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor1/US

/datapp/vendor/vendor1/US: No such file or directory.

Is this recoverable? I've just sold my tablet for a good price in order to buy the Xperia Tablet Z and I really didn't want to have to turn around an say I broke it!

Your help is really appreciated.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Huh, most likely it is recoverable but oh boy your device is screwed for good... Could you do "ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor1" before we continue? It seems your vendor1 is also quite screwed, we need to fix it also...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
drwx--x--x root shell 2013-05-19 09:31 GB
-rw-r--r-- root shell 4274044 2013-03-28 15:51 RegionALL.zip
drwx--x--x root shell 2013-05-19 09:31 master
drwx--x--x root shell 2013-05-19 09:31 regionacodelist
-rw-r--r-- root shell 127 2013-03-28 15:51 vendor.prop
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Wow. What region device you have? UK? US? You have quite mixed results... Could you do:

getprop "ro.product.locale.region"

And also "ls -l /datapp/vendor/vendor0/"

Have to be careful now...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
My device is UK, but after flashing 4.1.1 with condi's flasher, it's changed to US.

Locale region is US.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Huh, oh dear... Perhaps we will try to fix you current system first. But first let's triple check that your current system is /dev/block/mmcblk0p3:

mount |grep "/dev/block/mmcblk0p3"

Do you get this:

root@android:/ # mount |grep "/dev/block/mmcblk0p3"

mount |grep "/dev/block/mmcblk0p3"

/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 /system ext4 ro,relatime,user_xattr,acl,barrier=1,data=ordered 0 0

If you do, then good. Let's continue and fix vendor:

mount -o remount,rw /system

ln -s /datapp/vendor/vendor0/US /system/vendor

ls -l /system/vendor/

Last step should give you some sensible results, ie. mine:

root@android:/ # ls -l /system/vendor/

ls -l /system/vendor/

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:47 app

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:46 etc

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:47 fonts

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:47 framework

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:47 lib

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2013-05-03 22:47 vendor.prop -> ../vendor.prop

Do you get this? I actually would now reboot (NOT flash anything) and see what happens. Wifi and vendor apps may actually work now... What happens? Fixing other system is still required for flashing everything, but let's first try this...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Wow, thanks!

All vendor apps are back, no WifI working though. The "off/on" switch in settings is greyed out.

ICS is still

very

laggy but all apps are there.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
It could be that vendor0 is already upgraded to JB and wifi drivers are on that partition. But you are running ICS and JB drivers are not compatible. However, I am a bit puzzled how we should proceed... It seems your current system is running US version and your other is running UK :eek: What ZIP file you were using to flash? UK? US?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
The .zip I've got on my Sdcard is UK JellyBean.

US was flashed by condi's flasher tool....
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Could you do:

cat /datapp/vendor/vendor0/vendor.prop

and

cat /datapp/vendor/vendor1/vendor.prop

?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
ro.sony.update.service_id=txs03_201

ro.sony.sku.base=txs03_201

ro.sony.build.id=TID2012410

ro.sony.build.incremental=111104048

and

ro.sony.update.service_id=txs03_301

ro.sony.sku.base=txs03_301

ro.sony.build.id=TJS2016610

ro.sony.build.incremental=130329011
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Ok... Your vendor0 is resuce-backdoored US ICS and vendor1 is UK JB :) Have no idea how that is possible... Oh well at least we can fix your system1 vendor link. Could you do this:

mount -t ext4 /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 /data/local/tmp/sysother

rm /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

ln -s /datapp/vendor/vendor1/GB /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor/

Last step should now give you something like this:

root@android:/ # ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor/

ls -l /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor/

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:05 app

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:05 etc

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:05 fonts

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:05 framework

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-03 22:05 lib

lrwxrwxrwx root root 2013-05-03 22:05 vendor.prop -> ../vendor.prop

Do you get it? Now you actually should have UK system1 properly set up and you could try to flash JB - it should now find that missing link and continue flashing everything. Eventually your tablet should reboot few times and you should have JB.

However, I am a bit concerned your current system which is US, not UK. If Sony put some kind of cross-checks to their new bootloader, you actually may end up bricked... If you have courage to flash, then please proceed but do not blame me if you will have bricked device :)
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Thanks for taking the time to write that. I did indeed get it.

Is it OK then to reboot into recovery and flash the zip off my sdcard?
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
I am not 100% sure. That UK <-> US difference may give you some troubles and I have no idea what could happen... I think you COULD try to flash JB, but I cannot quarantee that it won't brick your device! Most likely it will not, but still...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Right. It's installed from the Sdcard no problem. Now booting but looks to be stuck on the SONY logo.

Still have ADB.

---------- Post added at 12:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 PM ----------

Yep, it got stuck at boot.

If I do adb reboot, I can get back into ICS.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Damn. So you still can boot and you have root on ICS?

Most likely recovery refused to install new bootloader due to UK <-> US difference or something like that. That's why JB did not work but ICS still works. I wonder how in earth we transform your current system back to UK without bricking it... is [MENTION=422959]condi[/MENTION] here, any ideas?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Still have root and ICS, yes.

Can I not flash a US zip? Then use region changer afterwards to change back to UK?

Within datapp/vender/vender0 I also have CA?
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Could you do "adb pull /cache/recovery/last_log" and paste that file here? It should shed some light on this situation...
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
I bet US zip will refuse to install, you can try though...
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
I actually would try to use flasher to flash ICS again (NOT JB NOT JB NOT JB!!!). It should overwrite all the system partitions and vendor folders and everything. Perhaps after that your device's both systems would have the same region, be it US or UK... Could you try that?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Just tried to pull the last log but it said that remote object doesn't exist, although I've just navigated to it in root explorer?

Can't copy to sdcard either.

Is it worth using flasher again?
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Ah sorry pull won't work since it requires root. Could you do this:

cp /cache/recovery/last_log /data/local/tmp/last_log

chmod 755 /data/local/tmp/last_log

And then:

adb pull /data/local/tmp/last_log

Yeah, flashing ICS using flasher could do the trick (again, not JB, but ICS!!!), but let's check that last_log first!
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Here's the log;

http://southwestdesign.org.uk/last_log

I really appreciate your time with this.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Yeah, this UK <-> US thing seems to be the problem at least to some extent judging from log:

set_perm: chown of /datapp/vendor/vendor0/GB to 0 2000 failed: No such file or directory

set_perm: chmod of /datapp/vendor/vendor0/GB to 711 failed: No such file or directory

Though I I can see no errors flashing bootloader. Actually, what kernel you are running? Could it be that you have JB kernel but ICS system? Could you do "uname -a". Ie mine:

root@android:/ # uname -a

uname -a

Linux localhost 3.1.10 #1 SMP PREEMPT Fri Mar 29 01:35:53 JST 2013 armv7l GNU/Linux

What kernel you have?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
My kernel is the same as yours, 3.1.10 #1.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Also could you check what system you have now in use:

mount |grep "system"
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Man, you are running JB kernel. Are you actually sure that you are not running whole JB right now? It does not look different at all, you have to check from system settings...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
/dev/block/mmcblk0p3.

Definitely running ICS. 4.0.3(release6b)
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Right, you are running ICS system and JB kernel, no wonder your system feels sluggy, probably half of the stuff is failing... Do not use flasher to flash ICS, this is so weird situation... Could you wait a while, I'll create .bat file to dump everything for further analysis..
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Thanks mate.

Do you think I have any chance of restoring this?
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
As long you have boot & root there is good change. Please wait a while, I'll do simple .bat to dump everything out of your XTS so we can think waht to do next...
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Phew. Sorry it took a while. Could you download attached xtsdump.zip, extract it and run xtsdump.bat ? It will dump just about everything out of your device to file xtsdump.txt, please attach it to your next post! Much easier this way compared to telling what ommands to run one by one as messages :)
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Will do :)
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Run it from your computer :) Won't definetly flash. You can open xtsdump.bat if you wish, you can see all the commands etc... I just created .bat file to create dump so you don't nwed to enter everything manually!
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
File attached :)
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Thanks! Hm, let's see. Like we already found out:

- your system boots from system0...

- system0 vendor is linked to /datapp/vendor/vendor0/US (which exists)

- system1 vendor is linked to /datapp/vendor/vendor1/US (which DOES NOT exist)

- system0 partition contains R6B image (don't know which region but probably US)

- system1 partition contains JB image (don't know which region but probably GB)

- vendor0 contains US R6B files

- vendor1 contains GB JB files

- your device is indeed GB device (SKU002000172640)

- your bootloader/kernel/recovery is JB which is the reason of your performance, wifi, etc. problems

So, problem is, thaty your device is GB but current system is US. You cannot flash US JB since SKU is set to be as GB and for some reason GB JB won't flash properly. Probably because your current system is US...

I'll post this for others to see and I will try to figure out something and reply later...
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
I cannot see any other way than trying to restore GB system0 and vendor0, unless somebody has any better ideas? That would be quite dangerous though, but not sure if there is anything else to do...

Could your prepare yourself by downloading GB R6B:

http://info.update.sony.net/ST003/txs03_301/contents/0005/signed-txs03_301-ota-121116010.zip

And decrypt tool from:

http://xdaforums.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=1620856&d=1357454633

My idea is to restore GB vendor0 and see if flashing will then succeed. If not, then we will try to restore GB system0. Both of them can very easily brick your device though.... If anybody has any other ideas, speak now..
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Got both downloaded.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Though we could first try to trick the device to think you have GB vendor apps installed, if recovery would accept it... Of course this also can brick your device but what can you do :(

Ok so try this, copy US files to GB:

cd /datapp/vendor/vendor0

cp -R US GB

ls -l

You should see something like this (if you got out of space error or something like that do not procees):

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 CA

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 GB

-rw-r--r-- root shell 5834512 2012-11-15 16:16 RegionAll.zip

drwxr-xr-x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 US

drwx--x--x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 master

drwx--x--x root shell 2013-05-18 23:09 regioncodelist

-rw-r--r-- root shell 127 2013-01-09 20:28 vendor.prop

Notice GB? So w just coped US files to GB...

Then re-create those vendor links to point to GB:

mount -o remount,rw /system

rm /system/vendor

ln -s /datapp/vendor/vendor0/GB /system/vendor

and

install -d /data/local/tmp/sysother

mount -t ext4 -o ro /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 /data/local/tmp/sysother

rm /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

ln -s /datapp/vendor/vendor1/GB /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

Then run xtsdump.bat and post results so we can see that it worked like intended... Do not flash yet.

Please be aware that this may brick your device and I won't be responsible of it :)
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
rm /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor - rm failed, read only file system? Need to mount it somewhere...
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Sorry my bad! First umount:

umount /data/local/tmp/sysother

Then mount as rw:

mount -t ext4 -o rw /dev/block/mmcblk0p4 /data/local/tmp/sysother

rm /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor

ln -s /datapp/vendor/vendor1/GB /data/local/tmp/sysother/vendor
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Thanks. New dump.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Oops wrong permissions. Could you do:

cd /datapp/vendor/vendor0

rm -R GB

cp -R -p US GB

And then dump once more?
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Ok... Seems good for me. Well, if I was you, I would try to flash GB JB now. But I have NO IDEA AT ALL what will happen. If Sony has some kind of interesting cross-checks for system partitions or vendor.props, you may end up bricked. Nobody knows I think...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
No joy. Stuck at the Sony logo again.

Think we'll probably have to admit defeat on this one.

Thanks for all your support though.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Can you still boot & root? Dump would be great to see what happened...

If everything else fails, I would still try flasher as a last resort...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Dump attached.

I still have root and can still boot into Ice Cream Sandwich....
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Freaking weird! For me it seems you have fully working JB system flashed to your device, but for some reason your device still want's to boot ICS!

Could you try to double flash from recovery? I have no idea if it should work, but good way to test..

- Go to recovery

- Flash JB

- If it does not reboot automatically, DO NOT BOOT, instead FLASH AGAIN JB

What happens?

Please do not give up, this is quite interesting and if you are aboutr to sell your device there must be a way!
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Also, plese take note of recovery version strings and paste them here... Do you really have JB recovery also?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Just gave it a try - still hangs on the Sony boot logo.

Have contacted the tablets buyer to provide him with a full refund. Can always try and sell again if it works. Is there no other options here?

So as it seems, JellyBean is being flashed onto the device, but the device is booting from a different partition? But why should it hang on boot?
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
What did actually happen when you flashed JB OTA first time? Did you device boot automatically or didit bring you back to recovery? What happened when you you tried to flash again if it did not reboot?

Yeah, your device seems to boot system0, while JB is flashed to system1. When flashin new firmware, it flashes this new firmware to ANOTHER partition and after flashing is succeess, changes system to boot from freshly flashed partition.

But why your system won't boot, I really do not know...

Edit: And what is version number of your recovery?
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Android system recovery <3e>

System utility(Rev.44, BL: 0x00000009, EC: 0.21, master)

That's the recovery strings.

What about trying to flash an ICS zip through recovery? Would need to be pre-rooted though - can't do that as I've can get at the sdcards to pre-root.

When I flashed the first time, it rebooted but I kept my finger down on Volume+, after a few seconds on the SOny logo it booted back to recovery where I flashed again. Then it hanged.
[Sony Tablet S] jappaj:
Thanks! Your bootloader really is JB. I really would not to flash ICS since you cannot downgrade bootloader you will not end up with fully working ICS. Either you brick your drvice or you are still stuck with ICS without ICS kernel.

Wild idea. Try to flash wrong region JB to your device, US version or something. It should fail due to SKU check. Then without reboot, try to flash UK JB again. What happens?

Edit: If you can take note of what system partition it tries to write. It says it on recovery console, seomthing like writing system0 etc. Before, you should have seen your device flashing system1. We are trying to make it to flash system0 which is ICS right now...
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Tried a US update which failed. Just said Installation Aborted. Northing about the SKU Check.

Also, just tried to re-flash the UK update and that too aborted install without error! Have attached the dump if it's of any help.
[Sony Tablet S] SWFlyerUK:
Ok, just rebooted and flashed UK. Both abort install if I try the US zip first.

System1 is being written too according to recovery.