[Q] Did I brick my new Transformer Prime?

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So, after owning my Transformer Prime for about a month now, I decided to take the plunge and root it. I followed the instructions for ViperMod and had it rooted in no time. I then followed the instructions of unlocking the bootloader and finally installing OTA Rootkeeper.

I've had rooted devices in the past (Droid Incredible) and am familiar with RomManager. So I installed RomManager on the Transformer Prime. I then attempted to create a backup of my "current Rom", which is just stock ICS. RomManager prompted me to update Clockworkmod Recovery, which I did (I now have 5.8.2.0 installed). It then rebooted...acting like it was backing up my current Rom, but when I got back into RM, and clicked "Manage Backups" and there was nothing there. I tried once more with the same result, and ultimately gave up on backing up my current config.

I then downloaded Cyanogenmod 9 (nightly). I selected Google Apps and it proceeded to download. I got an error that the Google Apps portion had an error, but it seemed to work when I attempted to download it again.

I then proceeded to attempt to install the new Rom. The menu came up, asking if I wanted to wipe data and cache, wipe dalvik and backup current rom. I selected all three and hit ok.

My tablet rebooted...quickly, and did not show any signs of installing Cyanogenmod. Sure enough, I got my stock ICS...no Cyanogenmod. I tried again...same thing. I tried a third time, and RomManager hung when I tried to select Ok after the options of backing up, etc. Ultimately I got the error popup, asking if i wanted to wait/report/ok. I hit ok.

I then...very stupidly in retrospect...performed a factory reset from within the phone's settings menu (something I've later read is a big no no). This time, when my phone rebooted, it went straight into Clockworkmod Recovery, which is where I am now. Stuck. I've read a ton and tried everything but had no success.

Strangely, I can find the cyanogenmod file by navigating through "install zip from sdcard", then "choose zip from sdcard", then "clockworkmod", then "download", then "get.cm", then "get" and finally "update-cm-9-20120301-NIGHTLY-tf201-signed.zip". And it allows me to update using this file...even giving me the message "Install from sdcard complete"...but nothing happens. I'm still stuck in Clockworkmod.

If anyone has any advice, I'm begging for your help. Really hoping I didn't ruin my brand new tablet...

Thanks.

only thing rom manager is gold for on the prime at the moment is getting the latest CWM version. other than that, trying to flash a rom, reboot into recovery, or backup doesn't work in rom manager for prime. everything needs to be done through CWM itself. whether flashing a rom or making a nandroid backup. so you have to manually go into CWM and try flashing from there. did you make sure the roms were stored on internal memory to flash(I believe it can only be done on prime this way at the moment)? try a different rom as the CM9 has alot of bugs n issues at the moment. try flashing virtuous rom or a stock modified rom from developement.

also check out developement section for a thread called the Di's n Donts of unlocking and thread called how to or not unbrick your prime. answers you seek are in there.

See my unbricking thread

http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1514088

Thanks so much for your help guys!

to demandarin: Unfortunately the only ROM I downloaded before everything went haywire was the nightly cyanogenmod 9 from yesterday. And as I explained, that ROM doesn't seem to be flashing for me... I've tried downloading other ROMs onto my SD card, but I can't seem to get my Prime to recognize the SD card in CWM, and I can't figure out any way to get ROMs onto my prime...now that its stuck in recovery. Do you know if I can load ROMs onto my Prime at this point?

to Diamondback: I read your unbricking thread and its given me some hope. It sounds like I'm falling into the "1a" category. I'll have to bunker down tonight and see if I can work through those instructions (I have no familiarity with ADB at this point, which is my main concern). Anyway, I very much appreciate you pointing me in the right direction.

I am curious though, is there some place I can look for clarification on what works in RomManager and what does not? None of that was made clear in the app itself, so I just assumed it was fully functional, like it was on my Dinc. Now I'm paying the price...

Thanks again.

original old thread on CWM on Prime...look through page and people state what works n what doesn't.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1510983

new thread created today on a new updated CWM that should be used. has alot of issues that didn't mesh well with Prime and CWM fixed. seems like you might have jumped the gun a lil early. this is latest version thread. you can also get the latest version through rom manager.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1533697

good luck!

Originally Posted by demandarin

original old thread on CWM on Prime...look through page and people state what works n what doesn't.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1510983

new thread created today on a new updated CWM that should be used. has alot of issues that didn't mesh well with Prime and CWM fixed. seems like you might have jumped the gun a lil early. this is latest version thread. you can also get the latest version through rom manager.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1533697

good luck!

Thanks, but I actually do have the latest version of CWM (5.8.2.0), according to the link you provided. The thing is, I'm just very unfamiliar with CWM, or really any recovery software. The link you posted notes the following improvements:

-Possibly fixes bricks (by properly restoring boot.img)
-Correctly comes with Staging/System unmounted
-Nandroid Restores properly the boot.img (of backups created with this CWM). This means no more issues when restoring a Rom if you are coming from another from (for example, if you are restoring Virtuous after wiping cm9)

Which all sounds great, but I have no idea how to really use any of that... Does "possibly fixes bricks" apply to my situation? I've tried selecting restore and advanced restore through CWM, but in both situations it says "cannot find files", which I'm assuming are the "boot.img" being referenced. So again, it seems like I'm hosed...

I'm just really hoping that Diamondback's unbricking method works for me. Though, I'm having a hell of a time finding instructions on how to setup ADB on my PC (Windows 7). Do you know where I can find good and current instructions?

you can Google it but plenty of YouTube view on how to set up adb.

there's a thread here on it though. take a look: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1427008

Originally Posted by demandarin

you can Google it but plenty of YouTube view on how to set up adb.

there's a thread here on it though. take a look: http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1427008

Thanks again! I think I need a tutorial on how to search XDA more effectively

SUCCESS!

Well, it took some jumping through hoops, but once I got ADB set up successfully, Diamondback's instructions worked like a charm!

For anyone encountering this thread with the same issues as me, I've included links to all of the sources of data I ultimately used.

Thanks so much for everyone's help!

Installing ADB
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1427008
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZY4KSrgi-rE
I had to use the PDANet method, referenced in the Youtube video
http://junefabrics.com/android/download.php

Diamondback's Instructions for Unbricking the Prime
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show....php?t=1514088

Perhaps I spoke too soon...

My device is no longer bricked, but now I can't access CWM, can't factory reset...can't do anything. I'm stuck with a very broken build of Cyanogenmod 9

Here's the link to my new thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/show...1#post23349041