yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Android General] NepoRood:
My First Hard Brick...

Got the crazy idea (didn't seem crazy at the time though, lol) to do a format on the the tablet. When I work with computers, I often format a hard drive to install a new operating system, and everything goes smooth (Windows and/or Linux). So, I tried the same procedure with the Viking, in an attempt to install CM 12.1, now it's 100% dead.

SP Flash Tool doesn't even recognize it anymore. I've tried all sorts of things to get it back and running, but nothing has worked so far. Any thoughts before I go buy another one?

Regards,

Nepo
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
There is a procedure you can try. You have to flash the preloader alone. To get the tablet to go into the mode, try plugging the usb2.0 male to male cable and instead of plugging the power, push and hold the volume up button. Your gonna have other problems to with nvram if you get it working again but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.. good luck, let me know how it works.
[Android General] NepoRood:
Thanks man, but that didn't work either. I'll wait a bit, but more than likely will just grab another tab tomorrow.

Word to The Wise: Don't choose the "Format" option :silly:
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Yeah never format. Don't even user the format and download option. Not all the partitions are included in the firmware package. I lost HDMI functionality on my second Viking pro that way. I'm on my third one now..Lol
[Android General] NepoRood:
It's all Good...

That's why I chose this brand to "learn" with, because they're cheap (my Droid Turbo was $650) I'll just order one from Wally and go pick it up tomorrow, and start over. Maybe do some different stuff, I wonder if it'll come with a different version of firmware? I wouldn't mind a V9...

[MENTION=6654957]Jacube22[/MENTION], where did you get your tablet?
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Doubtful, the v9 is older...
[Android General] NepoRood:
It's ok if I don't get one, but, you never know what's in a box of chocolates, lol
[Android General] NepoRood:
[MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION], I was using Ubuntu 14 when I tried your method, I decided to reboot into Win 10 and give it another shot. It still failed, lol, but, the reason I'm posting this:

In doing a search on the Google, I found a site that said "Restore Your Dead Mediatek Device, 100% Guaranteed". Dude said use MTK Droid Tools to make a backup, and restore from that! Hell, if I could use my backup, I wouldn't have a problem! Anywho, new Viking ordered, will pick it up tomorrow

---------- Post added at 03:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:31 PM ----------

I read that thread, HA!, that rhymes, lol, more than once. The Voyager (I have one) uses an "UBI" file system, not "EXT4" (as Viking and Maven do). Even though they got it to work, that's not an option for us.

I have a theory, but, I gotta get my new tablet first. Come tomorrow, the testing will begin, again...

PS: Did you try that TWRP recovery I put up?
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
droid tools has never been my friend.. it has bricked two of my devices. it's easy to miss use it. besides it relies on the preloader just the same as sp flash tools so if you are not getting the preloader to activate it is a moot point. the instructions i gave you earlier don't work for me either. think i made a mistake. but i have been trying to recreate the procedure since earlier.. i did it by accident about two months back...

EDIT: I just did it. try the male male usb and press volume down and power. but load up the preloader in sp flash tools first. should show up as mediatek modem instead of mediatek preloader.

---------- Post added at 04:43 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:32 PM ----------

once you have the preloader(if you get it flashed) reset and flash the whole firmware the normal way.
[Android General] Jacube22:
Wal-mart. (you know, the place that sells every RCA tablet in existence)

---------- Post added at 05:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:03 PM ----------

Not yet, about to try it now.

Edit: Works, but touch controls are portrait, when they should be landscape.

---------- Post added at 05:26 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:05 PM ----------

[MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION], try doing the same thing you did last time, except change the RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_FLIP_Y and RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_FLIP_X flags. Then it *should* work. (I hope) Maybe it has to do with the TWRP version or something, i dunno. :confused:

---------- Post added at 06:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:26 PM ----------

Well how about this thread then? (with 4 seven's in a row!:D) http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2777756
[Android General] NepoRood:
I haven't seen that thread, and I'm a "searching" fool. 20 pages..., I'm gonna give it a read though

---------- Post added at 07:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:44 PM ----------

No worries, I bricked my tablet, not you. Oh wait, despite your "warning", I DO hold your responsible. :p

Just kidding, brother, I'm not going to throw this brick in the trash, saving it for a BBQ pit ;)

I'll try what you said tomorrow, right now, I'm "occupied"...

:cowboy:

:good:

:victory:
[Android General] Jacube22:
New Firrmware Found

Found some new firmware on the OLDER china site, and I am gonna test it now.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
What's the version?
[Android General] Jacube22:
Right Now, it's V37, which interests me specifically because the title has "NFC" in it. And there are like 20 others with the .9 in it too.

Apparently a phone number is required to register for baidu, hold on a minute...
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Just finished downloading it actually..found it earlier today... Let me know if it works and I'll upload it for others.. But the last one you tried was v38....
[Android General] Jacube22:
Yes, but that one had the venturer logo and and the storage loss. There are ones with an even newer version number than V38, But I'm trying this one first for 2 reasons:

1. Has NFC in the title

2. Does NOT have the "V" in the middle of the name. Ones with the V in it are probably Venturer.

Edit: Nevermind i got it to work.

OH MY GOD DOWNLOADS ARE SO SLOW
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Did you try it?
[Android General] Jacube22:
Not yet, but I will soon.

Oh by the way, did you do the thing with the TWRP recovery I asked you to do?
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
I haven't found the line yet.

---------- Post added at 01:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:14 AM ----------

On an other note, i found some old firmware that works with my x.12.x

RCT6503W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V66-V20.12.20-B-Camera-2M_PCDDR_V6.3-20150928

and

AI0220A-ANDROID5.0-V67-V10.12.20-B-T8515V6.3_PCDDR3_1G_20151021

the aio220a is interesting.. its not a viking pro rom.. not sure what it is.. the drop down menu is non existent and the g sensor doesnt not respond... the tablet remains in landscape but the camera is rotated 90 degrees... very strange...

---------- Post added at 01:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:35 AM ----------

I'm uploading now... there ...posted...
[Android General] NepoRood:
[MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION], I tried your last technique and it didn't work either. But again, no worries :) Didn't make it to pick up the new tab, went out of town, I'll get it tomorrow or Monday.

[MENTION=6654957]Jacube22[/MENTION], flipping the x or y are build flags, you have to do that before you compile, no changing after TWRP has been made, there's also a "swap xy" flag, which is what I used for the last build I made for your version.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
But i found similar flags in the landscape or portrait xml files ... are we sure we cant do anything in there?
[Android General] NepoRood:
Not sure at all, lol. I know you can re-size the display by changing the resolution (up near the top), that's all I ever did. All you can do is try :D
[Android General] Jacube22:
Then that's probably why it didn't work. The touch was already in landscape before. Changing that flag makes the touch look like it's in portrait mode. Try changing just those two flags I said earlier, and NOT the swap xy. Then it *should* theoretically work.
[Android General] Jacube22:
[MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION] , how long does it take on average to download from baidu? for me it takes hours, and sometimes fails.

No way I can download from baidu. Trying to use their "download manager" always fails. PM me the link (from Google Drive)
[Android General] NepoRood:
I didn't work because we don't have this flag: BOARD_HAS_SCREWED_UP_CHIP := true

But, I'll build what you asked for, you want to flip x or flip y or flip both? I can also flip the screen...

Also, for baidu, I use my tablet, no desktop app involved. I snap the QR code with my phone and save to mobile bookmarks, then open bookmarks on my tablet and download. Takes any where from 30 min to an hour (I have a 30Mib connection)

---------- Post added at 04:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:40 PM ----------

I meant to mention the other day, actually, for a while now, I just kept forgetting. The "Memory Link" versions (as opposed to "Kingston") also work on our tabs. I flashed one before the bootloader was unlocked, and it booted just fine.
[Android General] Jacube22:
If it was that easy, we would have this thing done. YEARS ago.

Anyway, Flip Both. (Watch this do exactly what it's supposed to do.:cyclops:)
[Android General] NepoRood:
Because I was bored...

In my boredom, I decided to build twrp with all combinations for V9 tabs:

TWRPv9

I think the name of the image file explains what it does, all were built using the "TW_THEME := landscape_hdpi" flag, choose one or choose all, if you can think of a different combination, by all means, say so.

PS: Takes about 20 minutes to build and upload, also: landscape.img has no "flip flags", only flag in: flipscreen.img are for flipping the screen (same as landscape.img, except with a flipped screen)
[Android General] Jacube22:
Wow. This MUST work.

And it seems like none of them are working...

Every one of them seems to have touch in various forms of portrait mode...

So, I guess the only thing to do is try every combination in portrait, including the swap XY flags

Also use the swap xy flags in landscape (if possible)

(Might as well build them all lol)
[Android General] NepoRood:
I've built them all before, for the Viking and the Maven, with same results. For the Viking, screen is "portrait", touch points are "landscape", for Maven (also a variant of "V9"), screen is "landscape", touch points are "portrait".

It doesn't matter what "flags" I use, it doesn't work. The only reason I did it again today was because I was a little on the bored side, had nothing else to do but watch my DVR, so did this at the same time. And, I had little hope it would work for your version of the tablet, but wanted to know for sure.

Anyway, the new episode of The Walking Dead is on, and I gotta watch it...
[Android General] Jacube22:
Well that makes me a sad puppy.:(

Guess we will go on to Roms. Come on Cyanogenmod.
[Android General] funkychicken12:
Yeah I checked Google Play, but could only find apps that would encrypt single files. I guess those of us with devices that lack an encryption option are stuck, as I spent about an hour on Google trying to find a solution too.

By "sensitive" apps, I meant banking, Walgreens....stuff like that. I'm too used to my PC, as everything is locked down tight on both Windows and Linux. Maybe the Android n00b in me is just too darned paranoid :cool:
[Android General] NepoRood:
What rhymes with "Un-Brick"?

I did it, WOOT, WOOT!! Fixed my bricked Viking today, it's charging up now :D

Got the idea to try various button configurations using Power, Volume + and -, plugging it in, leaving it plugged in, etc...

Well, when I had all 3 pushed at the same time, I thought: hey, there's a button on back I haven't tried yet, the Reset

So, I snaked my hand around and pushed the reset too, and the Preloader started flashing!

Notice I say "started", I got excited and my fingers slipped, then it stopped. Being prepared the second time, I started again, holding all 4 buttons down while the Preloader flashed, After it was done, I let go of the buttons and the charging icon appeared on the screen.

I unplugged the usb cables, then flashed a firmware as normal! :good:
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Sweet!! Now in your Wi-Fi network selection, you will have a weird one called nvram something and your hdmi didn't work right?
[Android General] NepoRood:
I haven't got that far yet, battery was dead, it's only on 3% now. I don't use the hdmi anyway, nor do I have a cable that fits. But I'll check the wifi thing here in a bit

EDIT:

Yes, the NVRAM Warning is there, so I'll assume hdmi won't work either, again, not a big deal to me ;)
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
I have an idea for a fix.... It happened to me but at the time we did not have custom recovery.. In the carliv options, you can make a nvram backup.. If you have your new Viking pro, try a transplant...
[Android General] NepoRood:
I haven't opened it yet, I was thinking of returning it and maybe get a Dragon Touch x10 (Allwinner Octacore Processor). Or really, anything that doesn't have a MTK chip, lol
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Ok then I'll post a nvram backup later today for you to try. :)
[Android General] NepoRood:
Hmm, was going to restore a backup, but I guess I fried my external sd card :/
[Android General] Bogram:
Apologies if this has already been tried but I saw a post saying that some mtk devices need both RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_SWAP_XY & RECOVERY_TOUCHSCREEN_FLIP_Y because they have a landscape lcd but portrait sensor.
[Android General] NepoRood:
No apology needed, I've been meaning to read that thread. I was at work when I got the notice it was up, and forgot about it, lol. So thanks for the reminder, I can't remember if I tried that or not, I've built so many. Worth a shot tho, I'll try in the morning.

On another note, since I have to go get a new sd card, I was curious to what size you guys used. My dead one was 32G

EDIT:

Well, unfortunately, that didn't work either. However, using a landscape theme with swap_xy and flip_x, seem to have it pointing in the right direction, but the touch points still don't line up :(

I had high hopes for the offset (x and/or y) flags, but they move the entire screen, not the touchpoints. I'm going to work at it a little more though, and see what I can come up with.

EDIT 2:

I was wrong about the touchpoints not moving with the offset flags, they move too.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
hey guys... found a sister device by an other brand.

it's the Accent Surf1001

I had come across it in the past but i just flashed firmware for the surf1001 on my x.12.x and it is 100% functional which is weird because the surf1001 has a 16 gb internal and a 5mp rear camera as well as 2gb of ram instead of 1gb. but it works all of it... still only have 1gb of ram tho.. lol but i'm uploading the firmware and you guys can try it. it's smooth! :)

It has a built in file transfer thru ftp... kinda cool
[Android General] NepoRood:
Cool, I'd like to try it :D

Also, upload that copy of your nvram, if you can...
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
SURF1001-ANDROID5.0-V07-V7.15.0_T8515B_V6.3_SAMSUNG2G_20151016

[MENTION=7237874]NepoRood[/MENTION]

nvram backup
[Android General] NepoRood:
Good News and Bad...

After messing around with TWRP and the Viking all day, the battery got pretty low. I figured I would charge it up, and start testing on the Maven. That went pretty darn well, buttons lined up on the first build :D

I had to work a few bugs out, as it wouldn't restore the system properly. Data yes, system no, but I figured it out. I've attched some thumbnails below, and will be uploading it to the Maven thread after supper.

Since it worked for the Maven, I built one using the Viking x.9.x kernel, for our fellow V9 users to test. Let me know how it goes, and test TWRP3.0.0 Do NOT Flash this if you use a x.12.x version of firmware, it will not Work!

I'll give the V12 version some more tries, but I just don't think it's going to work, maybe with the new firmware [MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION] is uploading...
[Android General] Jacube22:
Great News!

It works! All the buttons line up! You are the most amazing recovery builder on earth now. :D
[Android General] NepoRood:
That's great, I was 98.89% sure it was going to (because the Maven is x.9.x too). I just wish I could figure out this darn V12!

[MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION], the nvram thing didn't work, CWM couldn't find it on the external, I'm going to try and move it to the internal...

I do like this Accent rom though :D

Bye-Bye Puppies!!
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Did you mount the external sd? I know stupid question but...
[Android General] NepoRood:
You know, I'm not sure, lol Knowing me, probably not :p

I couldn't move to internal anyway, says it's a "hidden file", so I'll try again in the morning, tab is updating apps on the new rom anyway.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
thats awesome! can you confirm it works well (backup restore), ill post it to the one stop shop thread. also did you ever test out the v37 firmware? did it work or did it also have a smaller internal storage?
[Android General] NepoRood:
I "unhid" the file, it still failed, "unable to load boot.img" or something like that (I know it said "boot"). Now, I'm thinking maybe it can't read/mount the nvram part of my system. Didn't you modify yours to work, or was I just dreaming that?
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
yeah nvram backup/restore is a option in the carliv menu however it has to be a mount point in the fstab for it to show up. the cwm image in the one stop shop thread is already modified...

the file is hidden by default... i'm not sure if unhiding it will hinder your attempts...
[Android General] NepoRood:
Ok, when I get back to the house, I'll download it, and try again. After I "re-hide" the file, lol, thanks :)

EDIT:

After using the "Version 2" CWM, the nvram flashed and the error is gone, so another good idea by [MENTION=4666511]smartmanvartan[/MENTION], glad you're on our side dude! :D
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Sweet man.. There's another way to fix the Wi-Fi error but I think this would fix the hdmi too. Too bad you don't have a cable to test it out....

This is great news... very few mtk devices can be unbricked from such a hard brick.
[Android General] NepoRood:
I'd go buy a cable just to test, but honestly, I don't need one, maybe I can find a cheap adapter or something next time I'm over at Wally.

Yeah, I thought my Viking was done, lol, now it seems to be running better than ever :good:
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
you know what... pm me your address and i'll send you one... i got a few
[Android General] NepoRood:
Ok, I just did
[Android General] Jacube22:
The V37 firmware worked fine, but the V53 one I found didn't.

As for TWRP I haven't tested backup and restore yet. I will do that soon I will test some other firmwares, but before that I will try the backup restore.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Ok cool so the v37 want like the v38 where you had the internal storage issue? I know the v53 you said did not work at all. Just for ****s and giggles, try the surf1001 firmware I posted a few posts ago.
[Android General] Jacube22:
The V37 DIDN'T have the internal storage issue.

Already flashed the Surf Firmware. It didn't work.

---------- Post added at 04:08 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:56 PM ----------

When Backing up, the recovery says "unable to locate '/boot' partition for backup calculations".

---------- Post added at 04:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:08 PM ----------

Looked through some other firmware and I found this interesting one:

I'm thinking that this firmware might be a different version of/predessor/sucessor to ones we have right now.

RCT6123W87DK_ENG_20150210.zip

I also found one that is completely weird, and is not like anything I've seen:

RCT9873W23A-V32-V10.3.1-Camera+2M+2M.zip
[Android General] NepoRood:
This happens with some devices, there's actually a flag to prevent it from happening. It still does a system/data backup and restore, but throws out that error. I can build another and take care of it, but, not tonight, I'll do it after work tomorrow sometime.

EDIT:

Changed my mind :silly: new version, here (Link Removed, building newer version)
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Yeah I found and downloaded a boatload of potential variants last night actually...When I get home I'm gonna go thru it all... Just before I left I flashed a newer version of the surf 1001 and it seemed even smoother...its uploading...

---------- Post added at 06:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:03 PM ----------

You know it's funny the surf1001 firmware preloader is not compatible with my tablet. I hadn't flashed it with the first one but when I flashed the second one, I flashed the preloader. And it was bricked. I was able to flash the preloader from the v77 by continuously holding down volume-down and power until it was done flashing the preloader. But after that it booted just fine and the new version seemed very smooth.

Here's the newest one I found of the series. V11 for the surf1001:
[Android General] Jacube22:
I know you know this but.... you removed the link.

Anyway, I am trying some of the firmware now.

RCT6123W87DK V51-1.9.50: Does not Boot properly.

RCT6123W87DK_ENG_20150210: SP Flash Tool crashes trying to load the scatter file.

UPDATE: After moving file, it flashed. It also does not boot properly.

RCT6303W87DK Kitkat Version: Can't flash without overwriting preloader, which I will not risk

RCT9873W23A V32-10.3.1: Is Way different. Partitions (MBR and EBR partitions especially) are completely missing.

Storage Error when Flashing.

Back to V37 I go...
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
the kitkat one.. that the RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID4.4-CEC-20150202? my upload failed earlier for the v11 of the surf1001. this one has more security. i was not able to root with kingroot. i had the flash the recovery and then a root zip. uploading now.

I'm uploading the v37 to the thread so that now at least the x.9.x users may have two versions to choose from.

also, i edited neporood's twrp 3 and repacked it... can you check if the backing up and restoring works on this one?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/avu870uvbtxrlgn/twrp3.0v32.img?dl=0

Also [MENTION=6654957]Jacube22[/MENTION] have you tried this version?

RCT6303W87DK-ANDROID5.0-V51-V1.9.30-EMMC-user-Memorylink-V6.1_20150704

I'm uploading it and you can try it tomorrow if not.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
here is the surf1001 v11:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bz4bOoJ_E5XzQVpUVy1GcFVvMEU/view?usp=sharing

I had to root using method 2 in the one stop shop thread
[Android General] NepoRood:
Final Release?

[MENTION=6654957]Jacube22[/MENTION], and any other x9x user following this thread, I do believe this one will work properly, I done some tweaking to the twrp.fstab file, and added a twrp.rc file. Works just fine on my Maven, backs up Cache/Data/System/Boot, choose which ones or all. (Just FYI: twrp lumps boot.img and recovery.img into one single backup called "Boot")

VikingV9 TWRP 3

Look everything over, and let me know if there are any issues, no matter how big or small :)

Regards,

Nepo
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
I noticed that the boot partition was not in the fstab on your last one. the one i repacked has a full partition list...
[Android General] Jacube22:
Yep, that was the KitKat one. And that is great news.

I will try the TWRP recovery soon.

No, I haven't tried that one yet.
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
Try Neporoods first... it's his baby... i was just trying to help.. :)
[Android General] NepoRood:
I kept getting errors, so I took it out. But, since I added the "recovery.twrp.rc" file (left it out before) everything is working fine
[Android General] smartmanvartan:
You were mentioning that you found how to change the resolution in the landscape/portrait xml.... i know it's silly but did you try just changing from 800x1280 to 1280×800?