yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
Great to know that you found the issue and after all the Tablet is not the one to blame or label as BRICK.

There is too much information on this Guide as is, for a very basic process of just flashing a file.

It is clearly posted in very simple and easy to read, do not restore /boot. But as I have learned it does not matter how big the letters are or color the user will do what they have always done. Everyone rush into getting things done and will not follow instructions. The same applies when I post everywhere not to install any kernel or monitoring Apps in Android, but the user will just do that as they have always done it and later on complain of things not working.

To make it clear the " DO NOT RESTORE /boot" has nothing to do with any of my process or settings. The Automatic_Wipe_ALL does not change the Tablet or /boot any different that it has always been used.

The recommendation is the standard procedure in any backup/restore process on any Device, PC or Mobile.

It is not necessary to restore the /boot sector on a PC if it was working properly, restoring the System files is the only thing need it. If for any reason while restoring the /boot in any device something fails (anything could happen) then the Device will not /boot at all. For the HP Touchpad the only thing to restore is the uImage.Android (or of any other ROM) is a 7MB file. I provide with the Original Stock boot images for all listed ROMs or can use the ones for swap settings. After restoring any listed ROM, flash the desire boot image. That is all that needs to be done is very basic and simple.

Now you know the Tablet is Un-Brickable as long as a PC with the working Novacom Driver is available.
[TouchPad General] smithylovestouchpad:
You know, part of doing what you do, ie. posting processes and procedures that affects a user's precious TouchPad means that you have to try to be as user friendly and accommodating as possible. For some reason you felt that increasing the font size and changing the text color to say "Do NOT use the ToolBox to Resize or Repair Android Volumes" was necessary, why not do the same thing with "DO NOT RESTORE /boot" ? Such an important message should get more emphasis! Remember when I mentioned that the creators of TWRP seem to think that backing up and restoring /boot is important since they automatically put a check in the box to do so. It is easy for anyone, including you, to miss the fact that check mark is there. I will also point out that I have been using a TouchPad and using recovery to backup and restore my TouchPads for nine years and NEVER have I had to worry that the recovery app was restoring /boot. Why all of a sudden are you worried enough that you warn users of your methods that they should not restore /boot when restoring the backup they made? I have installed entire backups dozens of times over the years and NEVER had a fail when restoring /boot as part of that process. There must be something that your methods do that made this risky. But that is not the point. If something like this happens to one user of your methods, that should alert you that it could happen to others and you should try to take the necessary steps to prevent it from happening again instead of blaming it on the users. We are human and prone to making mistakes.

I will also remind you again, you link any user who may not understand how to use TWRP to your guide for that and no where in that guide do you warn about not restoring /boot. Why not?

I even have a suggestion for how this warning should read, IMPORTANT, if you should decide to restore the backup you made before using my guide, DO NOT RESTORE THE /BOOT PARTITION!!! You should still have the reminder to backup your data and the link to your using TWRP guide. And if it is so important to you that a user should not restore /boot under any circumstances, add the same warning to that guide too.

Smithy
[TouchPad General] BGrosse:
Smithy, with what version of TWRP did you make your backups and restore it successfully, even with /boot partition? Or in other words: which was the lastest TWRP version where restoring /boot worked?

I agree with HP_Touchpad, that restoring /boot is not mandatory under normal circumstances, but I also agree with you, that /boot can be backed up and can be restored from the user and it should work without hassels (like on a PC as we are about to setup the Touchpad like a PC).

[MENTION=8005714]HP_TOUCHPAD[/MENTION]: you are setting up the partition with your Wipe_all script completely new from scratch. Maybe there is one "kind of flag" set in an other way than it needs to be set during your setup process, so that TWRP can't read or write successfully when you backup/restore this partition? Just a guess - I'am also not a software expert - I don't know... :confused:
[TouchPad General] smithylovestouchpad:
Well I have not been keeping a log of versions of TWRP I've used, but I've pretty much been using it exclusively for many years. ClockworkMod was my first recovery app, but once I saw the benefits of TWRP, I switched to it.

Like I told HPTP, I can live with the fact that restoring /boot is not necessary, he just needs to do a better job of warning the users of his methods not to do so. There must be something about his process that causes a problem, otherwise, why would he deem it necessary to warn them at all. I gather you have never had a restore fail when /boot was part of the process? I would think if there was an issue with TWRP TeamWin would be all over it. TeamWin does not seem to think there is a problem, they automatically put a check mark in the box to backup /boot and same when restoring a backup.

I doubt that HPTP will be able to block TWRP from backing up a particular partition. He could even tell users to remove the check mark from /boot when making a backup so there is nothing there if they choose to restore that backup.

At least the issue was identified and the solution was found. And the fix is as easy as some larger text in a brighter color.

And BTW, I finally did get around to restoring that backup I made and did not restore /boot and all is well. So we know that part works fine.

Smithy
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
To restore or not restore /boot has nothing to do with my guide or any changes I provide. It is a suggestion to avoid possible data corruptions which eventually one day could happen. Just the same way by placing the Tablet on a stand by not been charge and after a month when try to use it, the battery is dead and then someone gets the blame that it got BRICK by the ROM by some settings but not by the user that was careless for not keep it charged.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
There is no specific settings to apply to /boot for TWRP to do it's job. The current settings are the same as it has always been and the /boot partition is FIX it can not be change.

At this moment using TWRP 3.2.1 the /boot partition can be backup and restore as many times as the user wants. Go and do the test, backup and restore it. There is no errors as long as the boot partition is withing is size limit. If there are too many files or almost full, it could probably cause issues as it can not be restore again.

There is no control of what a user can copy onto /boot, if you place something there you must know how to remove it.

Also with TWRP 3.2.1 is not the same as older versions. How the user makes the decision on how to do the back up can not be control:

Enable compression

Skip Digest generation during backup

Disable free space check before backup

Where was the backup copy?

Was it transfer to a PC? and then copy back to Tablet?

There is no option to verify backup or an option to verify backup before restore it.

If the backup data is damage, that is what it will be restore.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
I have created the HpTp_Rebuilt_Boot_Flash_TWRP_Recovery_3_2_1.zip, posting that info now.

The idea is to make the Tablet completely independent from a PC if something happens to /boot. The novacom drivers only work with older system and if the user does not have it working on the PC, there is nothing to be done.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
HpTp_Create_Boot_Flash_TWRP_Recovery_3_2_1

Create Boot and Flash TWRP Recovery 3.2.1

The provided flash file can be use to create /boot if it gets damage or a backup fails on the /boot partition.

Only the /boot partition will be created and the Android /system /data will be intact and can be use again with no data lost.

Possible problem:

Using TWRP Recovery the user backup /boot but it fails to get restore.

Do not reboot the Tablet as the /boot partition is damage and the Moboot menu will not be available.

Solution:

Download the posted file and keep it on the USB Media Partition at all times.

After trying to restore /boot failed, Flash the file HpTp_Create_Boot_Flash_TWRP_Recovery_3_2_1.

Only the /boot partition will be created and the Tablet can be Reboot to finish restoring the backup but do not restore /boot.

Flash the correct HpTp Universal Setting for the restored Android ROM and Reboot.

Using PC with Novacom

If the Tablet was Rebooted after the failed restore then the attached image will be display, a triangle .

The Tablet needs to be connect to a PC with the novacom drivers install.

Connect Tablet to PC

Download this file:

HpTp_PC_Novacom_Create_Boot.zip

Uncompressed to the Palm directory and open a command prompt in that directory and type the following command:

novacom boot mem:// <uImage.CreateBoot

The boot image loads into the Tablet Memory, /boot is created with TWRP 3.2.1

Flash the correct HpTp Universal Setting for the restored Android ROM and Reboot.

Click HERE to Download Create Boot
[TouchPad General] DoubleStuff:
touche' my friend Smithy, touche'
[TouchPad General] DoubleStuff:
Hi Smithy and HP_TOUCHPAD, I had so much fun with the "Bermuda Triangle" scare on Sunday night that I duplicated it myself today, so I could run DoubleStuff's main menu and bring Touchpad back to life. See pic below. It worked!! now I have Nougat loaded with all the fixings, 1782 HZ, ROM_Reducer, pico gaps and SuperSu. All I did to duplicate the "Bermuda Triangle" is with Rom Toolbox lite I navigated to the /boot directory and started deleting files like a mad man.

Actually Smithy I was wondering about De-Brick myself today, I thought to myself why did JC Sullins even create the De-Brick, when HP_TOUCHPAD says its can't be bricked? All you have to do is leave it in the charger for about 1 week, then use the old Novacom method with a PC. I think Shumash and HP_TOUCHPAD had a discussion about De-Brick but I can't seem to find it right now. But I know "Smithy" had alot of knowledge of the De-Brick in wikirootz.

I would like to see how HP_TOUCHPAD responds to your inquiry.
[TouchPad General] smithylovestouchpad:
Too bad that Rootzwiki was abandoned. There would be hundreds of pages and thousands of posts discussing those cases of Bricked TouchPads that only Sullin's TPDebrick would work on. I'll give it to HPTP that not all cases of a TP were anything more than a user letting the battery completely drain. Do you remember this from the OP of Sullin's Debrick thread?

jcsullins, on 30 Jan 2013 - 8:21 PM, said:

tpdebrick v004 by jcsullins

===========================

TPDebrick is a suite of programs and files used to "debrick"

HP Touchpads. This process should allow the revival of Touchpads

that cannot boot due to corrupted raw partitions, corrupted bootloaders

or corrupted A6 firmware. Note that this should allow you to get

into bootie (webOS) recovery mode. Additional steps may be needed

after to restore the bootie configuration or OS (i.e. webOS doctor).

NOTE: If you can hold Power+Home+VolUP for 30 seconds and see a big USB symbol,

then you SHOULD NOT do the following.

NOTE: Before attempting the following,

you should make sure that the failure to boot isn't due to

a faulty USB cable or charger.

NOTE: The following should be considered a LAST RESORT.

If the Touchpad isn't already "bricked",

then the following may very well "brick" it.

NOTE: USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!

Thousands of cases of Sullin's process reviving TouchPads that no amount of charging would help is proof enough for me that in certain cases, for those reasons stated above by J.C. the TouchPad was indeed Bricked. Calling a TouchPad Bricked when all it needed is enough charging and a little help from a PC with Novacom drivers installed, it is not Bricked. But is was Bricked when you could not put it into WebOS Recovery mode. I know HPTP would not have survived if he had posted in Sullin's thread that there was no such thing as a Bricked TouchPad. :(

And yes, waiting for HPTP's response.

Smithy
[TouchPad General] DoubleStuff:
I just read the 12 pages of the XDA de-brick thread and I noticed Shumash posted the OP of the wikirootz thread a few times for some stragglers who could not log in to wikirootz. Seems like some users did think the "Bermuda Triangle" was a brick, and others just needed a long hard charge with the original charger. But we found out on Sunday that the "Bermuda Triangle" is essentially in WebOS recovery mode. But you maybe right some of the de-brick customers maybe had a legit brick, but most of the customers wasted their time on that complicated de-brick script when they did not need to. The last few pages of the de-brick XDA thread, HP_TOUCHPAD starts setting people straight, he might have to add to that thread the discovery yesterday that the "Bermuda Triangle" is essentially "Web OS Recovery" mode, and is not a brick.

Its interesting in the Original Post of JC Sullins he said this:

This process should allow the revival of Touchpads

that cannot boot due to corrupted raw partitions, corrupted bootloaders

or corrupted A6 firmware. Note that this should allow you to get

into bootie (webOS) recovery mode.

Corrupted bootloaders? Is not that the "Bermuda Triangle" Did not JC Sullins know that was in WebOS recovery mode? Apparently not, because of all the talk in 2015 about this "&#$@! Triangle" nobody said just use Novcom command with PC.
[TouchPad General] smithylovestouchpad:
Unfortunately Rootzwiki is gone, so we will never know. Don't you wish Sullins would magically reappear and comment. Maybe Shumash knows where he is at and can invite him to set us all straight. :laugh:

He was for sure the Developers, developer!!!

Smithy
[TouchPad General] DoubleStuff:
Also I added a bit to my last post about JC Sullins, on another note

you said HP_TOUCHPAD does not give JC Sullins credit, but in the OP

of this thread near the bottom he says this:

Special Thanks to Jcsullins "The God Father of the HP Touchpad" for all the unique and great software that made it possible to transition easily from WebOS to Android. -HP_TOUCHPAD
[TouchPad General] smithylovestouchpad:
I didn't catch that in the OP. But I think you understand the context of that paragraph is I'm speaking of Sullin's work on TPDebrick.

Sullins was a premier developer IMHO, and I can't imagine that he did not know that the triangle was another form of WebOS Recovery. There wasn't much he could not do when it came to writing code. Those few pages in that thread you mention don't begin to scratch the surface of what the issues that caused a bricked TouchPad were. All that was lost in Sullin's thread on Rootzwiki. Like I said, sure wish he could give us he straight truth. If he were to drop in here and state that he was wrong, then that would settle it. But man, thousands of posts and hundreds of hours writing code all for naught. Whew!!!!!

Smithy
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
PIE is 100% stable and I have been using it with the Super install of Open Gapps. I will provide screen recording videos of how it works, so other users do not follow other's mistake.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
JC Sullins provided to the Android users of the Tablet a way to repair /boot and the only thing that can do that is the WebOS doctor.

Liked I posted on my guide, he is the God Father of the HP Touchpad and did a marvelous job transition WebOS to Android.

The problem were the users that very few knew WebOS, never got to use it and just jump on to flash Android. Back then there was not much information on the process of flashing and I could imaging what people where doing to get Android to their Tablets. Easily damaging /boot and with no clue what those images on the screen mean. Users got into wikirootz ( They should have gone to WebOS Nationhttps://forums.webosnation.com/ ) The real Web site for the tablet.

But for what I have seen, WebOS Nations users (WebOS) do not interact with the Androids and not even the developers.

One thing that took down the Tablet was the misinformation provided by HP and then it kept progressing as time went by. Until the year 2019 that we did not know and I found out by coincidence that when the " Bermuda Triagle" comes on the screen, it can be connected to PC, same as with the USB Symbol and restored. Then a user of the Tablet from 9 years that have read every page of bricks tablets on the Wikirootz web site was declaring the touchpad BRICKED.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
You can see how everything works in the De-Bricked and ToolBox, download the files unzip it and look at the commands for the task.

I do not think JC Sullins needs to spend his valuable time and re-post information that is out there.

Also look at my guide on how to un-pack and re-pack the ToolBox so you can see it with your own eyes.

If you really want to know about how the HP Touchpad works then go to the REAL web site for it.

https://forums.webosnation.com/hp-touchpad/

It does not matter what Operating system is flash onto to the Tablet, Android version or Recovery.

Once the Power is press and is on, is a Palm WebOS device and it will always be !
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
I do not know where the idea comes that I am trying to discredit the work that JC Sullins has done by saying that the Tablet is un-bricke-able.

His software helped a lot of users, but users that did not read carefully and did the process their own way. Did not followed all the steps correctly, did not care to charge the Tablet. I believed JC Sullins just got overwhelmed that users did not try to search or look for the issues that they created and wanted him to magically with a flash file fix it all.

Asking for the same questions over and over not even taking the time to read the thread. As always happens post to get help and then disappear.

As I have posted on my guide, I am not a developer just a regular user and I can chat with other from user to user. I do not have any barriers of Developer to user.

I post my settings from what I see that works best for me and share it to anyone willing to try it out. I offer my help in any way, whether is on this guide on anywhere.

Not asking for donations or anything , thanks are greatly appreciated but is not even need it ( save a click ). Any one can post any question and I will try to search for the answer.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
JC Sullins was not wrong about the Tablet been bricked. It was a popular term used on Android smartphones back then, no body was going to say "my /boot is damage".

Yes the Tablet can easily have any hardware failure, from camera, WifFi, Bluetooth corruption of the SD card, permanent damage to the /boot partition and the worse the firmware "Bootie". I do not consider any hardware failure a brick device. If the hardware breaks, it can not be repair by code (software). It must be replace.

I consider a Brick device, when software becomes corrupt either by the action of the user ( intentionally ) or by other factor. But it can be fixed by re-installation of the code.

Everything in the Tablet can be wipe out /boot and all, the triangles shows ( connected to PC ) and re flashed is fixed as new.

The internal SD Card controller gets physically damage, there is no software that can rebuilt it and flash anything to it.
[TouchPad General] HP_TOUCHPAD:
I posted this Guide back in 2018 due to the same discussion of the famous "Brick"

This can be done with the " Bermuda Triangle or the USB Symbol"

This is the MAIN "Bootie" similar to the Bios on the PC. That is what boots first, check everything and go to the /boot partition, Moboot is run and then Moboot runs Android boot image.

The Bootie is the only thing that allows the communication between Tablet and PC using the novacom driver.

If that firmware is damage, there is no way to communicate to PC and load anything .

Click HERE for the Novacom command list for the HP Touchpad

This is to obtain technical information and do testing on the tablet

You do not need to make any changes

Information on Bootie:

http://www.webos-internals.org/wiki/Bootie

### Novacom driver needs to be install

### Power on the TP

### moboot 0.3.8 Menu

### boot webOS Recovery

### If you do not have android then press both button at the same time until the USB sign comes on.

### (Power and the volume key (closets to power) left

### Open terminal (Linux) or Command prompt (Windows)

### Connect the tablet by USB to PC

### Enter this into the terminal prompt:

novacom -t open tty://

### You will have an empty flashing prompt:

### Type:

help

### press enter

### These are all the commands available:

command list:
nduid : get the device id
usb : usb transfer commands
lboot : boot linux image
klog : klog commands
printenv : print all of the environment variables
getenv : read an environment variable
setenv : set an environment variable
reset : reset the device
reboot : reset the device
poweroff : power off completely
script : run a script at specified address
run : run a script at from an environment variable
return : return from current script
help : this list
chainboot : boot another bootloader image based on environment
go : Jump to a given address with the given arguments
version : get bootie version
gyro : read output from the gyroscope mpu3050
mmcid : identify the mmc
acc : observe the accelerometer output
mgt : observe the magnetometer output
als : read output from the ambient light sensor for isl29023
battery : battery status
a6_sbw : test a6 sbw interface
a6 : test a6 interface
charging : commands to set charging states
fsboot : boot current image based on environment
spi : MSM8X60 SPI driver
phytune : commands to tune the phy on msm7k
chg : charger command

### You can test components of the tablet by typing each command and interpret the read out.
[TouchPad General] johnbelloh:
Use of the TP Tool Box

First I want to thank you for optimizing the old work horse HP touchpad. I have 6 of them. After reading through all your posts I see where I was destroying the swap by running the TP tool box to look at the partitions. I will only use it to reflash the A6 firmware. I also see you do not want to include the boot in backup or restore. My question. Is it OK to copy the TP Tool Box into the boot folder?