[TOOL]TF201 NVFLash [Updated 21. July]

After much hard work and scary semi-bricks, we are proud to finally provide nvflash to the masses!

This release allows unlocked devices to create a set of device-specific files that lets you access nvflash.

Once the procedure is done, you will always be able to recover any software brick (even bootloader!) as long as you keep your files safe!

NOTE: THIS REQUIRES A NON-BRICKED AND UNLOCKED DEVICE. IT WON'T WORK ON ALREADY BRICKED DEVICES

More details at http://androidroot.mobi/?p=452

Important note: We kind of forgot to clarify what the license for wheelie was so here goes. Due to the nature of wheelie and the importance of people always using the latest version, Wheelie is NOT redistributable! You are allowed to download it and use it, but you are not allowed to redistribute it in any way - this means no GUI's including it, no reposting zips/tar.gz's and similar! At a later date, we will be releasing our source code and relicense it as GPL.

Update log:

1. 18. July: Added windows version!
2. 21. July: Clarify License

Enjoy
- AndroidRoot.Mobi Team

NOTE: If anyone wishes to donate, http://androidroot.mobi/donations/ is place to do it! DO NOT DONATE DIRECTLY TO ME.

nvflash binary package for tegra 3 ICS for win32-x86/x64

attached is a working tested nvflash binary package for tegra 3 ICS win32.
included is also fastboot and adb executables.

extract this zip and all wheelie win32 executables in the same directory and follow the directions on http://androidroot.mobi/?p=452 as rayman has stated.

a couple things to note:
MAKE BACKUPS OF YOUR BLOBS

entering apx mode was not very clear.
hold power + vol up until you feel the tablet vibrate
release power and volume up and immediately press volume up for about 3 seconds
then release volume up.

the screen will remain blank but will be in nvidia apx mode.
you will then need to install the apx driver from the universal driver package here on xda.


edit: fyi I have nothing to do with androidroot.mobi team.
I have a prime and spent the last two days trying to find the nvflash binaries on the hacked nvidia site and thought I would share.

Here's your Windows How To

Ok, took me a while to find everything I needed and make sure everything was setup just right for this to work, but finally got all my backups made. So, I figured I'd make a how to a save a few people some time.

**Note** This is for windows, windows 7 (x64) spicifically, but may also work on (x86).


1) Plug in you tablet to your PC.

2) Download the most recent version of Universal Naked Drivers here:
http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1426502

3) Go to Device Manager (Control Panel -> Device Manager), select any instance of Asus or TF201, and uninstall the current driver, and also choose "delete the driver software for this device." If you were already using a older version of Naked Drivers, then you places to delete drivers are under Android Device -> Asus Transformer Prime ADB Interface, and Portable Devices -> Transformer Prime TF201.

4) Unplug your tablet, and turn off internet, just so windows doesn't go and try to download anything when you plug it back in. Plug you tablet back in and if you see it trying to install a driver, hit the X on the notification in the system tray.

5) Go back to Device Manager, select your device (should have a ? or ! by it now, since it doesn't have drivers). Right click on it & choose Update Driver Software. Browse Computer for Driver Software, Navigate to the folder where you unzipped the driver package you downloaded earlier (make sure that the include all sub-folders is checked), select Next. A Warning may come up about security, choose to install anyway.

6) Download the attached .zip, which includes blob & wheelie files provided by androidroot.mobi and the NV Flash files provided by joe ferreira. Make sure to thank both. Deleted upon developer request... Use the OP to find the proper tools.

7) Unzip the attached file, and open a command prompt in the folder (Shift+Right Click). Follow the instructions here: http://androidroot.mobi/t3_nvflash/
You do not need to issue the "$" in front of the commands.

8) After you reboot & before moving on to the "Accessing nvflash" part of the guide linked above, grab the files that were made @ /sdcard/AndroidRoot and copy them to the same folder on your PC as all the other NVFlash files... Continue with the linked guide.

9) Once you put your device in APX mode for the first time and connect it to your PC, go to Device manager and you should see a APX device with a ! symbol. Just like before, right click on it and choose update driver, navigate to your drivers folder you downloaded earlier, and update the driver. You should now be able to successfully issue the "wheelie --blob blob.bin" command and be able to move onto the next step. If your device is still showing up as Unknown device, you didn't install the drivers right, and you need to uninstall them again, and re-install them as stated.

10) I issued the NVFlash Commands in this order:
- wheelie --blob blob.bin
- nvflash --resume --rawdeviceread 0 2944 bricksafe.img
- nvflash --resume --read 14 factory-config.img
- nvflash --resume --read 7 unlock-token.img
- nvflash --resume --go <---- This reboots your device, so issue it last.

11) You should be all set to go, with all your files in one folder.... go get your brick on!!! :laugh:

fastboot/blobs after the nvflash fix

flashing a recovery like twrp:
say you get a copy of twrp from http://teamw.in/project/twrp2/93

it comes for the tf201 in a .blob format (openrecovery-twrp-2.2.0-tf201.blob)

at a commandline type
blobunpack openrecovery-twrp-2.2.0-tf201.blob

this will give you a file called openrecovery-twrp-2.2.0-tf201.blob.sos
this is the recovery.img file

in nvflash
nvflash -r --download 5 openrecovery-twrp-2.2.0-tf201.blob.sos

in fastboot
fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash recovery openrecovery-twrp-2.2.0-tf201.blob.SOS

cam30era said:

So, now that I have created all of the backup files, is there a guide somewhere which explains how to restore my device if it does get bricked? Windows 7 X64......

Click to expand...

Click to collapse

No, no guide yet.

We purposedly left out the procedure for doing a full restore until it is explicitly required.
Our experience is that if we give the instructions for this, people will do it for every little brick that could easily be fixed in other ways and it's just not a good idea

For 99% of cases, you can restore by simply flashing the partitions that have been broken, e.g.

1. Bootloader having issues => nvflash -r --download 4 bootloader.bin
2. Broken or stock recovery => nvflash -r --download 5 recovery.img
3. Broken or stock boot partition => nvflash -r --download 6 boot.img
4. Broken system partition => nvflash -r --download 10 system.img

stock system.img, boot.img etc can be retrieving by using the blobunpack tool on the blob file (different blob ) inside official ASUS images (downloaded from support.asus.com). When unpacked, blob.APP => system, blob.LNX => boot.img, blob.SOS => blob.LNX.

There are very few cases where you will brick further than this and when/if that happens, we'll be happy to help people through it, assuming they have ALL the backups we mention on androidroot.mobi! In everyday usage, you won't need those backups, but when/if something really bad happens, they could mean the difference between a brick and a recoverable tablet.