[Q] Stuck in a boot loop after using ASUS unlock tool

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bnscow

New member
Apr 25, 2014
3
0
Hi guys,

I had a stock tf700, running ICS (4.1.1) and I followed the really good guide by sdbags on how to unlock/root.

I rooted it with no problems, and used the ASUS unlock tool which seemed to work (it says that my device in unlocked), but now I am stuck in a boot loop :(

It fully boots up and can stay working for about 30 seconds to a minute and then it just reboots.

I can get access to the bootloader but I have no idea what I'm doing. I haven't installed TWRP yet either.

I'm sceptical of just hitting "wipe data" as I hear I could brick it for good.

Any help would be greatly appreciated....I'm really at a loss!!
 

_that

Recognized Developer / Inactive RC
Oct 2, 2012
4,821
4,211
I've seen this behavior when the kernel was newer than the bootloader and incompatible - but if you haven't installed anything yet this is unlikely to be the reason for your problems. You can try to enable USB debugging, run "adb pull /proc/last_kmsg" and see if that file contains any interesting information about the reboot.

If you want to wipe data, you can choose RCK from the bootloader menu - if it loads the stock recovery (Android mascot with red triangle), you know that the recovery is good and you should be safe to run "wipe data". I have only seen the stock recovery once and that was almost 2 years ago, but if you press the Power button in the recovery, you may even get a menu from which you can wipe directly from the recovery (use power and volume keys to navigate).
 

bnscow

New member
Apr 25, 2014
3
0
I've seen this behavior when the kernel was newer than the bootloader and incompatible - but if you haven't installed anything yet this is unlikely to be the reason for your problems. You can try to enable USB debugging, run "adb pull /proc/last_kmsg" and see if that file contains any interesting information about the reboot.

If you want to wipe data, you can choose RCK from the bootloader menu - if it loads the stock recovery (Android mascot with red triangle), you know that the recovery is good and you should be safe to run "wipe data". I have only seen the stock recovery once and that was almost 2 years ago, but if you press the Power button in the recovery, you may even get a menu from which you can wipe directly from the recovery (use power and volume keys to navigate).

Thanks for the advice. I chose RCK from the bootloader menu but it just boots normally....no Android mascot. Am I doing something wrong there?:(excuse my complete newbness)

Is there a big risk in running "wipe data"? If I haven't installed any custom ROMs or flashed anything yet, is the risk of a brick slightly reduced?
 

_that

Recognized Developer / Inactive RC
Oct 2, 2012
4,821
4,211
Thanks for the advice. I chose RCK from the bootloader menu but it just boots normally....no Android mascot. Am I doing something wrong there?:(excuse my complete newbness)

There's not much one can do wrong here - turn on tablet and hold volume-down until the bootloader menu appears, then hit volume-up to confirm "RCK", that should boot the recovery. If it starts the regular OS instead, something is wrong.

Is there a big risk in running "wipe data"? If I haven't installed any custom ROMs or flashed anything yet, is the risk of a brick slightly reduced?

I wouldn't risk it if you can't even get to recovery manually ("wipe data" uses the recovery to wipe - if the recovery doesn't work, it's a hard brick).

Try installing TWRP via fastboot.
 

bnscow

New member
Apr 25, 2014
3
0
There's not much one can do wrong here - turn on tablet and hold volume-down until the bootloader menu appears, then hit volume-up to confirm "RCK", that should boot the recovery. If it starts the regular OS instead, something is wrong.

Thanks for the advice. I took a couple of days break but I'm back trying to fix it.

I tried RCK and it just boots to a dead android man with the triangle error.

Try installing TWRP via fastboot.

Also, I tried flashing TWRP via fastboot but after entering the flash recovery command, I keep getting an error message after entering saying "Too many links". Do you have any idea why that may be? I'm flashing TWRP 2.6.3.2

Thanks in advance! :)
 
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Browndog181

New member
May 16, 2014
2
6
Asus TF700T Tablet fix

Try this, it worked for me....and the standard disclaimer: I am not responsible if you misunderstand instructions I give here, if my instructions are wrong, if you forget to charge the battery and the tablet dies halfway through a flash or if your house goes up in flames. YOU DO THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK


Ok, so I think that I may have lost power during an upgrade (can’t think of any other reason for it!!) and ended up soft bricking my Asus TF700T tablet and recovery attempts would just lead to the dead Android with a red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle. My warranty having expired with Asus and any attempt for their assistance proved fruitless.

Well I researched and tried absolutely everything out there – (Hard Reset, installing TWRP, used a tool called Motochopper and flashing a custom ROM, downloaded and renaming .zip files, putting it onto a Micro SDcard is formatted Fat32, Scotts Tf700t Recovery etc.etc. etc.)
I even took it to the local shops and paid to have one of the Mobile Technician pop-up stores take a look at it, then a friendly techno geek………all with the same suggestions most likely a motherboard/hard drive problem.

My Asus TF700T tablet eventually ended up with just the plain white ASUS logo in the middle of the screen, some small print in the top left corner followed by the dreaded words “Unrecoverable Bootloader Error (0x00000000)”.
During all of my research I was led to believe that if you can still get to the recovery screen, where you see the 4 icons, all is not lost so I persisted.

Here is the instructions that I followed that restored my TF700T:

Download and install ADB, Fastboot and the required drivers - Download and run this cool little tool which has it all packed into one: [TOOL] [WINDOWS] ADB, Fastboot and Drivers - 15 seconds ADB Installer v1.1 - xda-developers (don't forget to hit the Thanks button)
NOTE: at the moment Fastboot seems to have issues with Windows 8

This awesome tool installs the ADB and Fastboot.exe to a folder on your C:\ drive (look for a file titled “adb”) as well as the corresponding drivers. This takes about 15 seconds to install following the prompts.

I installed the device drivers - if you have already tried to connect the tablet to your PC and it's recognised as a portable device you should be ok. If not, download the Asus Sync Utility from their support/downloads site and install it.

Download the latest firmware from Asus (Always make sure that you download the correct SKU version -WW, US etc.) and extract the zip twice so you access the blob file (a blob is a collection of binary data stored as a single entity) – copy and paste this blob file into the previously mentioned “adb” folder on your C:\ drive.

Reset the device with a paperclip/needle (about 2 cm down of the SDcard slot)

Power down the tablet and disconnect it from the keyboard dock.

Connect it to your computer via the original USB cable.

Push and hold the Volume Down key (left side of the rocker) and the Power key until you feel the tablet vibrate twice. Let go when you see the tiny script. Read it and it tells you that your tablet is now in Fastboot mode and you will see three or 4 icons (depending on the bootloader version). Select the USB icon to get into the Fastboot mode.



Your PC should acknowledge that a USB device has been connected (an audible indication) Don’t panic if the device does not appear under “My Computer” (as mine did not either – Fastboot will still communicate with it), you can go into Control Panel/Hardware and Sound/ Device Manager and you may see “Fastboot” icon, expand this and the device will be represented again by the “Fastboot” icon. Right click, select “Properties”, Driver tab and then select “Update Driver” and allow it to search automatically and update from the internet. This should then update and change to Asus icons. You now can be certain that you have the current device drivers.

In Windows Explorer navigate to the folder that contains your adb.exe and fastboot.exe
Win 7 press Shift + right click and select "Open command window here".

In the resulting command prompt screen type the following codes (those in bold):

C:\adb\ (or whatever the path to your fastboot folder is..)

fastboot devices (If that command returns a string of numbers and letters, you are good as gold. If it returns: "No devices found", fastboot is not working - yet - and you have to troubleshoot)

Followed by each in turn of the below, selecting Yes (y) as required and allowing each to complete the process:

fastboot erase system

fastboot erase recovery

fastboot erase userdata

fastboot erase boot

fastboot erase misc

fastboot erase cache


The resulting screen should look something like this below – NOTE, I did make a couple of typos while I was attempting this which returned some multiple choice garble if this happens recheck you input instructions:
E:\asus>fastboot erase system
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
erasing 'system'...
OKAY [ 1.979s]
finished. total time: 1.980s

E:\asus>fastboot erase recovery
erasing 'recovery'...
OKAY [ 1.023s]
finished. total time: 1.025s

E:\asus>fastboot erase userdata
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
erasing 'userdata'...
OKAY [ 39.623s]
finished. total time: 39.624s

E:\asus>fastboot erase boot
erasing 'boot'...
OKAY [ 0.303s]
finished. total time: 0.304s

E:\asus>fastboot erase misc
erasing 'misc'...
OKAY [ 0.602s]
finished. total time: 0.603s

E:\asus>fastboot erase cache
******** Did you mean to fastboot format this partition?
erasing 'cache'...
OKAY [ 1.459s]
finished. total time: 1.460s

fastboot -i 0x0B05 flash system c:\adb\TF700T\blob - depending where you stored your blob, also this was the first time that I saw the loading bar appear on my tablet.

It will now go through the process of reinstalling your Android stock ROM and you should see the something similar to the following:
E:\asus>fastboot -i 0x0B05 flash system e:\asus\blob
erasing 'system'...
OKAY [ 1.731s]
sending 'system' (800935 KB)...
OKAY [134.276s]
writing 'system'...
OKAY [131.640s]
finished. total time: 267.649s

fastboot -i 0x0B05 reboot
E:\asus>fastboot -i 0x0B05 reboot
rebooting...

finished. total time: 0.020s

E:\asus>

I disconnected and rebooted My Asus TF700T and I now have a fully functioning Tablet with a stock ROM.

It has been reported that after completing this you may have some issues getting back get into recovery, hitting RCK and getting the dreaded dead Android (with a red triangle with an exclamation point in the middle). I have not attempted this but have been led to believe that flashing TWRP 2.7.0.1 via Fastboot works.

All acknowledgement and appreciation for this method should go to Buster99, a Senior Member of XDA Developers
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=2179759&page=2

And to Snoop05, also a Senior Member of XDA Developers for the awesome ADB/Fastboot/Driver tool.
http://forum.xda- developers.com/showthread.php?t=2588979

To whom I am most grateful for the return of my tablet to a working state, I hope this works for you. Good Luck.
 
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