Please help! How regain Root w/unlocked phone with a broken microUSB port?

---

So for the past year I've had a grand ol' time playing with assorted ROMs and now I've run into a problem I can't fix. First, I'm 95% certain the microUSB on the bottom of my N1 is shot. It will still charge the phone, but cannot connect via Windows/ADB/Superboot or anything. I've tried different cables, different computers, different USB ports and different OSs... still cannot get any computer to recognize device. I'm not paying $200 for HTC to fix this (broken USB ports are not covered)... so here's where I stand:

I installed the Clockwork RomManager to try to DL and install ROMs more easily. It didn't work, it was unable to install anything, and it screwed up my original Amon_RA recovery. So then both means of flashing new ROMs were totally dead. Reluctantly, with no other choice (that I knew of) I reverted back to stock recovery and stock FRG83.

With the Stock ROM I lost Root privileges. And with the stock recovery program (the one with blue writing) I am entirely unable to flash ANY of the common rooted ROMs. I renamed a whole bunch (Cyanogen, Enomther, Rodriguez etc.) to the correct update.zip, but the stock recovery image refuses to flash any of them. It always fails on the Verification stage.

So I can't flash a rooted ROM via the stock recovery program, and I can't use ADB/Superboot/Fastboot to root the device via USB. How can I regain root? Are there any rooted ROMs that are certain to work with the stock recovery image program? Any other ways?

Since all my data is backed up with Titanium, I really need Root to get my life back! Thanks for any ideas!

If you're still on FRG83 (and not FRG83D), you may still be able to root on-device using Visionary, but I'm not sure which version of Visionary to counsel you to try.

If your USB port is broken, how are you charging it?

Which HBOOT version do you have? If none of the on-device methods are working, could you try the PASSIMG for FRF91 and roll back? Universal AndRoot and z4root should work on that build. From there if you want to re-upgrade and keep root, you'll need to take the pre-rooted update.zip format for custom recovery rather than the OTA.

Doesn't sound like it's broken... Weird. And you're 100% sure you have the drivers and everything installed on the computer?

Hi cmstlistand thanks for your advice.

I am now on FRG83D. I looked for Visionary in the market but didn't see it there.

The strange thing about the broken USB is that I'm still able to charge through it without any problems. This is why I'm only 95% sure it's broken... seems very odd that the wires for charging would still be making contact while the others wouldn't. (Please see in my OP all the things I've tried to get it to connect to a computer... certainly open to new ideas if I've missed any.)

I just checked and my HBOOT is version 0.35.0017. I'd be willing to "try the PASSIMG for FRF91" as you suggest. Would I just find the stock FRF91 and rename it PASSIMG and hold down volume down while powering on? Does that sound like my best option?

Thanks again!

Originally Posted by KAwAtA

Doesn't sound like it's broken... Weird. And you're 100% sure you have the drivers and everything installed on the computer?

Sadly, no. I'd say I'm 95% certain...

The thing is I've tried to connect on my desktop PC with W7 64-bit, my XP laptop and another PC with Linux (Ubuntu and Kubuntu) all to no avail.

Here's what I've done on my main PC (Win7 64bit) to try and connect the N1 (which, btw, connected just fine a few months ago, albeit to a different W7 install). The problem might still be in here, and not in the hardware, so I'm open to any ideas.

1. Whenever I connect I get the "USB Device not Recognized" alert in the taskbar.Clicking on that alert yields no actionable information.

2. The Device Manager shows the exclamation mark by unidentified USB device. Uninstalling, Disabling and attempting to manually update the driver from within the Device Manager all have no effect. Windows says I already have the most current drivers.

3. Tried the USBDeview program. It's supposed to "show all hidden and previously installed usb drivers on your computer." It shows nothing related to HTC or Nexus or Google.

4. I tried manually installing the USB drivers from here.

5. I installed & uninstalled & reinstalled the Android SDK thinking that might fix the USB issue. It didn't.

6. Tried running W7 in Safe Mode and without firewall/anti-virus.

7. Tried three different cables on all of the USB ports on my PC.

All throughout... it's always "USB Device not Recognized"

There should be some PASSIMG files you can try at Shipped ROMs. Usually it's a ZIP inside of another ZIP, so you have to extract the inner file first and rename it PASSIMG.zip.

Visionary is not on the Market anymore, nor are most other rooting apps. You'll have to search for them on the web. So far I don't know of any apps that root FRG83D on-device.

Install pdanet on your pc, and try again. It's an easy way to update the drivers.
The sdk has changed with the gingerbread release, and you have to reload the drivers, etc...

Sent from my Nexus One using XDA App

Originally Posted by danger-rat

Install pdanet on your pc, and try again. It's an easy way to update the drivers.
The sdk has changed with the gingerbread release, and you have to reload the drivers, etc...

I'd actually tried that before and forgot to mention it. So I just tried it again and no dice. At the point where you plug in your phone, I get the Device Not Recognized immediately in the taskbar. In Device Manager, there is no "Android Devices" category.

Originally Posted by cmstlist

There should be some PASSIMG files you can try at Shipped ROMs. Usually it's a ZIP inside of another ZIP, so you have to extract the inner file first and rename it PASSIMG.zip.

Visionary is not on the Market anymore, nor are most other rooting apps. You'll have to search for them on the web. So far I don't know of any apps that root FRG83D on-device.

I tried the FRF81 from that site and yes it was a zip inside a zip. Renamed it to PASSIMG... but the installation failed at the verification stage.

Thanks for everyone's help so far. I'm totally at a loss with this thing. I don't even know if this is a software or hardware issue. All I know is that I'm dangerously close to driving a railroad spike through the screen.

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated!

Originally Posted by JohnHenrySDM

I'd actually tried that before and forgot to mention it. So I just tried it again and no dice. At the point where you plug in your phone, I get the Device Not Recognized immediately in the taskbar. In Device Manager, there is no "Android Devices" category.


I tried the FRF81 from that site and yes it was a zip inside a zip. Renamed it to PASSIMG... but the installation failed at the verification stage.

Thanks for everyone's help so far. I'm totally at a loss with this thing. I don't even know if this is a software or hardware issue. All I know is that I'm dangerously close to driving a railroad spike through the screen.

Any other suggestions greatly appreciated!

If a passimg isn't working it's possible your on FRG33 or something else that doesn't like them. Just use visionary to root like suggested it's been taken down from the market so you'll have to find it here

Originally Posted by Ozymandias88

If a passimg isn't working it's possible your on FRG33 or something else that doesn't like them. Just use visionary to root like suggested it's been taken down from the market so you'll have to find it here

Visionary does not work on FRG83D, which is what the OP has. Thus my suggestion to try downgrading.

If you're on the newer HBOOT, try the KT_KR release of FRF91 (rootable with Universal Androot or z4root), or try FRG33 (rootable with Visionary). Both are available as PASSIMG files.