Dead Kaiser - "Flashing in the Dark" - Soft Reset Looping

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Hi all,

I have been flashing/testing many roms for a number of years now. I particularly enjoyed Jasjamming in my Tytn I days. Now...

Great work seen by many developers.

When I first got my Kaiser, i tried HardSPL, and had "white screen" issue, I then followed instructions on "white screen" thread....copied cab to kaiser....ran cab from kaiser..........eventually was able to flash to a new/ different ROM

However, I recently flashed my Kaiser and after using it for 6-7 hours after flash, it soft reset itself. It continued to keep soft reseting itself without geting to boot screen. It kept reading "smart mobility" and it would reset, vibrate, reset, vibrate, reset.......

I tried EVERYTHING - remove battery, flash back to original ROM, change radio (bootloader worked in safe mode - holding down camera button), but to no avail.

I then tried MTTY, and no go with this too. I eventually had to give my phone back in to HTC.

The question I ask is what is the cause of this? Is it excessive flashing? Is is HardSPL? Any comments/ suggestions would be welcomed...

Many thanks

[shafez]

Hi all,

I have been flashing/testing many roms for a numer of years now. I particularly enjoyed Jasjamming in my Tytn I days. Now...

Great work seen by many developers.

When I first got my Kaiser, i tried HardSPL, and had "white screen" issue, I then followed instructions on "white screen" thread....copied cab to kaiser....ran cab from kaiser..........eventually was able to flash to a new/ different ROM

However, I recently flashed my Kaiser and after using it for 6-7 hours after flash, it soft reset itself. It continued to keep soft reseting itself without geting to boot screen. It kept reading "smart mobility" and it would reset, vibrate, reset, vibrate, reset.......

I tried EVERYTHING - remove battery, flash back to original ROM, change radio (bootloader worked in safe mode - holding down camera button), but to no avail.

I then tried MTTY, and no go with this too. I eventually had to give my phone back in to HTC.

The question I ask is what is the cause of this? Is it excessive flashing? Is is HardSPL? Any comments/ suggestions would be welcomed...

Many thanks

Did you try removing the sd card, some times it can cause continues soft reset.

Regards

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Did you try removing the sd card, some times it can cause continues soft reset.

Regards

I tried removing SD card.

Thanks.

[P1Tater]

I know you say you have been flashing for a number of years, but the question I have is did you normally HR prior to a flash as well as after a flash before setting up your ppc?

[nimda0]

Dude I had the same problem.

It will take you prolly a few trys, but you can force your phone into the testing screen where you can install the rom over again, or install the correct radio, then do it again and reinstall the correct rom.

Use this button combination:

Press and hold: POWER BUTTON AND CAMERA BUTTON AT THE SAME TIME....

AND WHILE THEY ARE HELD IN, CLICK THE SOFT RESET BUTTON (HOLD IT IN FOR A FEW SECONDS AND RELEASE).. DONT RELEASE THE OTHER BUTTONS TIL THE PHONE GOES INTO DIAGNOSTIC MODE.

The trick is holding in the camera and power buttons as far as they'll go, because the camera button has a "press" setting and a deeper click setting. Seriously.

oh.. and this will only work if you have spl installed

edit: if you're doing this correctly and you still can't get it fixed..... all i can say is hook it up to a car battery some how and fry it... and return it.

[AvinashDhaniraj]

I know you say you have been flashing for a number of years, but the question I have is did you normally HR prior to a flash as well as after a flash before setting up your ppc?

Yes, I do always and have always done that. It's funny you mentioned that, as I always did do this, and thought I'm over-precautious.

Thanks

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Dude I had the same problem.

It will take you prolly a few trys, but you can force your phone into the testing screen where you can install the rom over again, or install the correct radio, then do it again and reinstall the correct rom.

Use this button combination:

Press and hold: POWER BUTTON AND CAMERA BUTTON AT THE SAME TIME....

AND WHILE THEY ARE HELD IN, CLICK THE SOFT RESET BUTTON (HOLD IT IN FOR A FEW SECONDS AND RELEASE).. DONT RELEASE THE OTHER BUTTONS TIL THE PHONE GOES INTO DIAGNOSTIC MODE.

The trick is holding in the camera and power buttons as far as they'll go, because the camera button has a "press" setting and a deeper click setting. Seriously.

oh.. and this will only work if you have spl installed

edit: if you're doing this correctly and you still can't get it fixed..... all i can say is hook it up to a car battery some how and fry it... and return it.


Hi

I did, go into boot mode (tri-color). I did manage to flash original ROM, and flash radio, but this didn't help. The phone continued to soft reset loop

[P1Tater]

Yes, I do always and have always done that. It's funny you mentioned that, as I always did do this, and thought I'm over-precautious.

Thanks

NP. I hope u didn't take offense to the dumb question, but as you know, recently noone pays attention to what they are doing to this overpriced cell phone. I just know that by doing so, it helps get rid of all hang-arounds and tid-bits from previous rom istalls as well as cabs.

[nimda0]

Hi

I did, go into boot mode (tri-color). I did manage to flash original ROM, and flash radio, but this didn't help. The phone continued to soft reset loop

Exactly what rom (version and all) and what radio (version and all) are you using?

More info please....

I think you're using either the wrong combination, or something. The problem isnt spl, it's working if you can get to the diag screen (TRI COLOR).

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Exactly what rom (version and all) and what radio (version and all) are you using?

More info please....

I think you're using either the wrong combination, or something. The problem isnt spl, it's working if you can get to the diag screen (TRI COLOR).

I used Duttys_Official_WM6.1_Rom_5.2.19716_UC (KAIS_Radio_Only_1.64.08.21_CustomRUU), then I flashed to L26_WM_6.1_PRO.V5

Is this a ROM or/and RADIO issue? Is it due to excessive flashing? We need to identify this problem, or else we will all be "flashing in the dark"......hoping that this doesn't happen....

[nimda0]

I'm pretty sure it's a radio issue in your case.

I think you should use a different radio with that Rom.

Try reflashing the radio first, using the polaris radio. That's what me, my girl, and my friend are all using and it works PERFECT. Then reflash duttys rom after you've done the radio.

It should work fine. Let me know.

Post updated rom / radio versions once your done... and use the most current polaris radio and most current duttys rom.

[P1Tater]

I'm pretty sure it's not from excessive flashing because I am sure I flash at least twice a day whether it be a rom, radio, splash screen or whatever. I think I have seriously become a flash-a-holic.:)

[nimda0]

No doubt.... he's got a radio / rom incompatability issue fo sho'

[AvinashDhaniraj]

No doubt.... he's got a radio / rom incompatability issue fo sho'

I can't understand this as there are many users with the ROM/ RADIO combo I've used in these forums, and they don't seem to be having any problems

[nimda0]

For what it's worth.. sometimes roms/radios can be a little glitchy. If you installed the rom first, then the radio, that couldve caused the problem. Did you?

If not, just try what I said.. see if it works. If not, you'll at least know it's not rom / radio specific and it has to be a device issue.

I think you'll find it works though.

[jarek91]

Could it maybe be faulty NAND? I ask because of the Stuck On Boot Screen thread. While the problems aren't exactly the same, they are similar and having some faulty blocks holding old flash info could definately cause a crash/reboot loop.

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Could it maybe be faulty NAND? I ask because of the Stuck On Boot Screen thread. While the problems aren't exactly the same, they are similar and having some faulty blocks holding old flash info could definately cause a crash/reboot loop.

Hi Jarek91,

How can one prevent/ repair faulty blocks holding old flash info?

Thanks for your comment

[AvinashDhaniraj]

For what it's worth.. sometimes roms/radios can be a little glitchy. If you installed the rom first, then the radio, that couldve caused the problem. Did you?

If not, just try what I said.. see if it works. If not, you'll at least know it's not rom / radio specific and it has to be a device issue.

I think you'll find it works though.

Thanks for the suggestion, I did flash radio first then rom, but to no avail.

[nimda0]

You can't. Always flash radio first, rom 2nd... with spl installed. You have to watch though because some roms will require certain radios, and others won't work.. so if you flash the radio first (on occasion) the rom will act up because of the radio incompatability.


I still say give it another whirl with the rom and polaris radio and see where it gets you... flashing radio first.

[jarek91]

Hi Jarek91,

How can one prevent/ repair faulty blocks holding old flash info?

Thanks for your comment

Well if it is bad NAND, the only fix is sending the phone back for repair/replacement. As for checking it, I'd talk with GSLEON3. He helped tmac with some MTTY commands to get some diag info that helped to lead to the diagnosis on his device. I'd help with that but I haven't yet had to delve into using MTTY to probe for issues so it's out of my area of knowledge.

[AvinashDhaniraj]

You can't. Always flash radio first, rom 2nd... with spl installed. You have to watch though because some roms will require certain radios, and others won't work.. so if you flash the radio first (on occasion) the rom will act up because of the radio incompatability.


I still say give it another whirl with the rom and polaris radio and see where it gets you... flashing radio first.

before I had this problem I was running Duttys_Official_WM6.1_Rom_5.2.19716_UC (KAIS_Radio_Only_1.64.08.21_CustomRUU), then flashed to L26_WM_6.1_PRO.V5 (which included a RADIO and ROM in package file)

[nimda0]

Did u reflash yet?

[GSLEON3]

One of the most common causes for a device that can "boot" but not completely load up the OS is a damaged or malfunctioning/faulty NAND chip. Several keey system components are stored in device NAND & usually with bad NAND you can "boot" to a point, but because of the bad blocks it will keep resetting. Sometimes bad blocks can be flushed using MTTY, however, that of course requires boot loader mode.

Lately I have tried helping several newbies with bad NAND. If you are lucky enough to get into Boot Loader & run the info & boot command, a bad NAND chip will report something similar to this:
InitDisplay: Display_Chip=1

Fill RSVD information for block 288 to 309
Storage start sector=0xAB80, total sector=0x10740
Storage start block=707, total block=1053
Total Bad Block in CE: 0

Erase physical block from 995 to 2032

ERASE block 1024 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1025 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1026 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1027 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1028 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1029 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1030 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1031 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1032 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1033 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1034 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1035 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1036 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1037 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1038 FAIL !!!
etc., etc., etc.

formatstorage Bad block found: 1687
si backup: Erase physical block from 2032 to 2048

si backup: ERASE block 2032 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2033 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2034 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2035 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2036 FAIL !!!
etc., etc., etc.
read_page - error bad status: 0xE10030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE11030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE12030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE13030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE10030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE11030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE12030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE13030
Read block ERROR on page ID 0x4980
Card inserted

Cmd5 CMD_TIMEOUT
SD 2.0 LC card
SD Init OK

SDFATChkConf: RhOpenFile() failed KAISCONF.txt
OSSIPreLoad ++

This was a bad NAND chip & the symptoms were a loop boot always freezing on the "Smart Mobility" screen. This is the fourth one I've seen in the last 30 days.

[nimda0]

When mine did this, it didnt freeze on the smart mobility screen... it would keep resetting.

It would show the white AT&t screen, then on the same screen show the rom version, then flash black for less than a second and reset again showing the white AT&t screen.

[GSLEON3]

Ifr you are having this issue, feel free to contact me. I can walk you thru the MTTY commands for checing the blocks. Sometime bad data can mess up block too. That can usually be fixed.

BTW, I have always flashed my ROM's BEFORE my radio. As are the instructions with most ROM's that require radios.

& by freeze I mean stop completely. You'll notice also the word loop. ;)

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Ifr you are having this issue, feel free to contact me. I can walk you thru the MTTY commands for checing the blocks. Sometime bad data can mess up block too. That can usually be fixed.

BTW, I have always flashed my ROM's BEFORE my radio. As are the instructions with most ROM's that require radios.

& by freeze I mean stop completely. You'll notice also the word loop. ;)

Thanks for all the valuable input GSLEON3!

I tried MTTY, and it never work for me.

I'm asking what is the actual cause of this? and why are so many users suddenly having this problem?

Thanks

[AvinashDhaniraj]

One of the most common causes for a device that can "boot" but not completely load up the OS is a damaged or malfunctioning/faulty NAND chip. Several keey system components are stored in device NAND & usually with bad NAND you can "boot" to a point, but because of the bad blocks it will keep resetting. Sometimes bad blocks can be flushed using MTTY, however, that of course requires boot loader mode.

Lately I have tried helping several newbies with bad NAND. If you are lucky enough to get into Boot Loader & run the info & boot command, a bad NAND chip will report something similar to this:
InitDisplay: Display_Chip=1

Fill RSVD information for block 288 to 309
Storage start sector=0xAB80, total sector=0x10740
Storage start block=707, total block=1053
Total Bad Block in CE: 0

Erase physical block from 995 to 2032

ERASE block 1024 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1025 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1026 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1027 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1028 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1029 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1030 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1031 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1032 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1033 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1034 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1035 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1036 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1037 FAIL !!!
ERASE block 1038 FAIL !!!
etc., etc., etc.

formatstorage Bad block found: 1687
si backup: Erase physical block from 2032 to 2048

si backup: ERASE block 2032 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2033 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2034 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2035 FAIL !!!
si backup: ERASE block 2036 FAIL !!!
etc., etc., etc.
read_page - error bad status: 0xE10030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE11030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE12030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE13030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE10030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE11030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE12030
read_page - error bad status: 0xE13030
Read block ERROR on page ID 0x4980
Card inserted

Cmd5 CMD_TIMEOUT
SD 2.0 LC card
SD Init OK

SDFATChkConf: RhOpenFile() failed KAISCONF.txt
OSSIPreLoad ++

This was a bad NAND chip & the symptoms were a loop boot always freezing on the "Smart Mobility" screen. This is the fourth one I've seen in the last 30 days.


I understand that the cause is a malfunction/ faulty NAND chip - but why are so many users having this problem all of a sudden? Is there something we are doing to cause the NAND chip to malfunction or damage?

Many thanks.

[AvinashDhaniraj]

Ifr you are having this issue, feel free to contact me. I can walk you thru the MTTY commands for checing the blocks. Sometime bad data can mess up block too. That can usually be fixed.

BTW, I have always flashed my ROM's BEFORE my radio. As are the instructions with most ROM's that require radios.

& by freeze I mean stop completely. You'll notice also the word loop. ;)

Hi GSLEON3,

I had flashed my Radio with KAIS_Radio_Only_1.64.08.21_CustomRUU then flashed ROM Duttys_Official_WM6.1_Rom_5.2.19716_UC after a 2 days, I flashed to L26_WM_6.1_PRO.V5 - now this ROM had a radio with it in one package file. So the Radio was automatically installed here - 6/7 hours later and phone soft resets, vibrates..."smart mobility"....resets....vibrates..."smart mobility"....and the loop continued

What your suggestions on what could have damaged the NAND?

Many thanks

[GSLEON3]

I'm sure if you can get into boot loader MTTY can work. There are a few tricks getting it to work though. If you pm me or look for me on msn IM (gsleon3@hotmail.com), then I can walk you thru the MTTY settings.

The main reason for NAND going bad is, bad manufacturing. Even with bad data & rewrites, the number of flashes you'd need to do would take you years even flashing several ROMs a day. Wear leveling, redundant blocks, it's not something that would happen overnight. To be honest, I haven't seen to many bad block issues (All blocks corrupt). Could be a bad batch from Samsung (whom I believe makes the NAND chips for the Kaiser).

Anyway, if you're gonna return I suggest trying to wipe your device. If not, then contact someone here that knows what there doing with MTTY & find out where you're going wrong.

I have a few other ideas as to what could be causing your problem, but I can't unfortunately post them here. (Disclosure wouldn't pay, but I would in a way). The only way to tell though is in BL or OEMSBL.

[onedutch]

I have been flashing/testing many roms for a number of years now.
However, I recently flashed my Kaiser and after using it for 6-7 hours after flash, it soft reset itself. It continued to keep soft reseting itself without geting to boot screen. It kept reading "smart mobility" and it would reset, vibrate, reset, vibrate, reset.......

I did not tried everything like AvinashDhaniraj did, but after the HR i removed my SIM card. After removing the sim my kaiser booted (it's a T-mobile Dutch branded one)
I flashed a WWE Sleuth Rom after Hard CID unlock procedure. In the boot screen it say's:
R 1.64.08.22
G 25.74.40.02H
D 3.0 Sleuth

Could you please try to remove the Sim card en boot?

If it is a failed Nand Rom, is T-mobile comitted to help me? I 'illegally' installed a WWE WM6.1 rom ....

Regards Tom

[AllTheWay]

GSLEON,

Is there way to fix / bypass bad blocks?

Cmd>info 8

--- 2K bytes sector version ---

DEVICE NAME=samsung_k9k2g08
DEVICE ID=0xAA
DEVICE MAKER ID=0xEC
PAGE SIZE=0x800
TOTAL PAGE SIZE=0x840
BLOCK COUNT=0x800
BLOCK PAGE=0x40

Checking block information

BLOCK 2 (0x2) is reversed block
BLOCK 8 (0x8) is reversed block
BLOCK 9 (0x9) is reversed block
BLOCK 1036 (0x40C) is bad block
Partition[0], type=0x20, start=0x2, total=0x63E
Partition[1], type=0x23, start=0x640, total=0x700
Partition[2], type=0x25, start=0xD40, total=0x7EC0
Partition[3], type=0x4, start=0x8C00, total=0x126C0

CE Total Length(with sector info) = 0x4646000
CE CheckSum Length(without sector info) = 0x4600000

Cmd>task 28 55aa
Format start
Storage start sector=0x8C00, total sector=0x126C0
Storage start block=581, total block=1179
Total Bad Block in CE: 0

Erase physical block from 871 to 2048

formatstorage Bad block found: 1324
Format end

[jtoyz2]

this happen to me as well, but it always take me to tri-color and reset again...i took out the battery for about 20min and tried a run a hardspl on the computer while its loading the tri color and it worked again...hope that helps.

[scotchua]

+1 for me too, also any guesses as to why my device name is all jacked up? It's the same as ATW's on my other device.

DEVICE NAME=hynix_hyh0ssj0mf3p
DEVICE ID=0xBA
DEVICE MAKER ID=0xAD
PAGE SIZE=0x800
TOTAL PAGE SIZE=0x840
BLOCK COUNT=0x800
BLOCK PAGE=0x40

Checking block information

BLOCK 2 (0x2) is reversed block
BLOCK 3 (0x3) is reversed block
BLOCK 4 (0x4) is reversed block
BLOCK 5 (0x5) is reversed block
BLOCK 7 (0x7) is reversed block
BLOCK 8 (0x8) is reversed block
BLOCK 9 (0x9) is reversed block
BLOCK 12 (0xC) is reversed block
BLOCK 13 (0xD) is reversed block
BLOCK 14 (0xE) is reversed block
BLOCK 15 (0xF) is reversed block
BLOCK 20 (0x14) is reversed block
BLOCK 1174 (0x496) is bad block
BLOCK 1175 (0x497) is bad block
BLOCK 1621 (0x655) is bad block
Partition[0], type=0x20, start=0x2, total=0x63E
Partition[1], type=0x23, start=0x640, total=0x700
Partition[2], type=0x25, start=0xD40, total=0x7EC0
Partition[3], type=0x4, start=0x8C00, total=0x126C0

CE Total Length(with sector info) = 0x4646000
CE CheckSum Length(without sector info) = 0x4600000

Cmd>task 28 55aa
Format start
Storage start sector=0x8C00, total sector=0x126C0
Storage start block=581, total block=1179
Total Bad Block in CE: 0

Erase physical block from 871 to 2048

formatstorage Bad block found: 1462
formatstorage Bad block found: 1463
formatstorage Bad block found: 1909
Format end


GSLEON,

Is there way to fix / bypass bad blocks?