[HOW-TO] Unbrick your Transformer Prime (or not)

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CoolWaters

Senior Member
Jan 21, 2007
56
6
TY

Just wanted to briefly post my thanks for this guide. Got the tablet back and learned the basics of ADB.

Thx again fellas.
 

cragains

Senior Member
Apr 6, 2012
204
40
Dallas, Tx
Saved me from CWM demon LOOP

I would just like to say thank you for this. It saved my Prime!!!
I was in the A1 scenario (constant reboot loop into CWM) after using the option to reboot/into recovery via the new CYANOGEN nightly released today (5/5/2012)
When you press the power button this is one of the options.
Might be a random incident, might not be.
I am posting this in detail, and spending my time for the sake of the community/prime owners/forum search function.

I followed this guide to setup a PC that my prime had never been connected to (FRESH)
http://www.theandroidsoul.com/how-to-install-adb-on-windows-full-guide/
after setting the appropriate environment variables on Windows 7.
I used your exact instructions to get out of this loop
or
Go here http://de.codeplex.com/ and install Droid Explorer, and at the end of install it will ask you if you want it to setup the SDK for you.
I did the SDK manually, as the anal retentive annoying person that I am :)
 

zummer22

Senior Member
Feb 1, 2010
566
153
27
Saved mmy prime from CWM reboot loop!!!

THANK YOU ! !

I'm glad that you had a fix for it :D

-You helped a lot of people and primes included mine ! :):):)
 

sunfirex

Member
May 5, 2008
27
2
Brick!

Hey guys,

I'm running into a CWM loop brick as well.

I'm not a stranger to flashing ROMs or Kernels in the past, as I've done it frequently on my SGS1.

But, after following directions on how to install AOKP for TF201, I ran into a CWM bootloop. Rooted the device, unlocked the bootloader, installed CWM, then installed the ROM. Tried to boot and was stuck in a loop.

I could not restore my back up that was created prior to the installation and cannot install another ROM.

I've tried going through most of the unbrick methods with no avail.

I can get into fastboot, Windows recognizes the device and tries to install a driver, mind you I'm using the naked drivers. But, in ADB the device is unknown when I do an adb get-state.

I have a sinking feeling that I'm doomed, but I'm just curious if anyone else has been here.

I just find it odd that Windows can still recognize the device, but ADB doesn't. When I go into CWM, Windows does not recognize the device at all and I have the same unknown state in ADB.

I've tried the WSG Unbricker and since the adb state is unknown, it can't push the files over.

I'm hoping for a reason to hope haha, but I think I'm done for. Just looking for confirmation.


Thank you.



Update: I'm able to push the recovery image from WSG to my tablet, but I can't get back into it now. If I try to push any other files I get an error:
sending boot...
writing 'boot'
FAILED (remote: (BadParameter))
finished. total time: 0.873s
On my TFP it says: Failed to process command flash:boot error(0x4)


Anyone know why I would get this?






**************************************
Anyone receiving this error, please read the next post #268 (Swiftks) (this resolved my issue).
 
Last edited:

Swiftks

Retired Forum Moderator
Mar 16, 2011
3,741
1,910
The Woodlands, TX
Not sure if you have the same problem that I had(stuck at eee pad screen with no access to recovery). I used fastboot to flash recovery and stock boot.blob to resolve the issue.

Holly Sweet Baby Jesus!!!!!

Thank God!!! *Breaths sigh of relief*

Problem/Issue:
- Was on AOKP Milestone 5.
- Installed TWRP Recovery via fastboot (over CWM).
- Made Backup.
- Installed CM9, played with it for a day or so.
- Wanted to go back to AOKP... Restored TWRP Backup
- Upon Reboot, stuck at boot screen (EEE Pad Screen).
- No recovery, only options were wipe & fastboot
- Flashing either version of recovery yielded no results... still stuck.


Solution:
- Download AKOP Rom zip again to computer. (or which ever particular rom you restored).
- boot into fastboot
- flash recovery via "fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-5.8.1.8-tf201.img" <--- CWM Touch Version
- Extract boot.blob from Rom .zip
- flash boot.blob via "fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash boot boot.blob"
- reboot via "fastboot -i 0x0b05 reboot"

BOOTING UP & Recovery Access!!!
 

birchnick10

Member
Jul 2, 2010
19
1
hi everyone

Heres my issue...

I have a transformer prime that;
I just unrooted using Vipermod
Then did a factory reset
Now I am stuck in CWM recovery
I attempted to do a restore but after it gets done it brings me back into the recovery
I attempted to ADB but the command prompt opens and closes right away ( I assume from not being in USB debugging, which I cant get into without a rom)
I have no rom's currently downloaded into the prime


Any help is greatly appreciated,

Thanks, Nick

Will gladly toss ya 5 bucks if you can solve my issue.
 

LTLFTCer

Senior Member
Apr 23, 2010
159
7
Hi all,

Hoping someone can help me figure out how to unbrick my device. I tried to install the edited build.prop here in the development forum. I ended up with a blank screen. I am rooted, but locked.

The computer and adb used to see the device, but now only the computer recognizes it. I cannot get adb to pick it up. I tried to manually install the Universal Drivers, but everytime it says something to the effect that MTP device is up to date. I am getting frustrated as I have always been pretty good at figuring these things out, but this has me stumped. Would really like to get this back and avoid another $500 device.

Any suggestions?

I have been having a terrible time with drivers for both the Nexus and this device. Computer sees both usually, but especially with the Nexus I cannot access the internal SD card through USB. This is for both my Laptop (64 bit) and Desktop (32 bit), both Windows 7
 
Last edited:

LTLFTCer

Senior Member
Apr 23, 2010
159
7
Ok, so I bought another Prime. I was hoping to correctly get the drivers installed with this new one and be able to connect to the other. It did correctly install the drivers, but no luck connecting to the other. Anyone able to assist in getting this connected or am I screwed until NVFlash?
 

Swiftks

Retired Forum Moderator
Mar 16, 2011
3,741
1,910
The Woodlands, TX
Ok, so I bought another Prime. I was hoping to correctly get the drivers installed with this new one and be able to connect to the other. It did correctly install the drivers, but no luck connecting to the other. Anyone able to assist in getting this connected or am I screwed until NVFlash?

Probably wont change anything, but un-install all ASUS/Prime drivers in device manager first. Then install universal naked drivers. Check adb devices again. Where did you get your adb? If you're using the one from sdk, maybe it needs a update??? If you adb still wont see your Prime, I think that you maybe SOL. Since you didn't unlock yet, I guess you don't have the fastboot option either.
 

LTLFTCer

Senior Member
Apr 23, 2010
159
7
Probably wont change anything, but un-install all ASUS/Prime drivers in device manager first. Then install universal naked drivers. Check adb devices again. Where did you get your adb? If you're using the one from sdk, maybe it needs a update??? If you adb still wont see your Prime, I think that you maybe SOL. Since you didn't unlock yet, I guess you don't have the fastboot option either.

Thanks Swift, yeah I tried that before. I updated adb yesterday I think. Do you think NV Flash will work if ever released even if I am not unlocked?
 

djwascom33

Senior Member
Aug 15, 2011
63
16
Long Beach, CA
I need help

Hello so i bricked my 3 day old Prime and have tried everything I kind find on the web to fix it with no Luck . If anyone is intrested in walking me threw strp by step and gets my Prime unbricked i was glady send them 50 $ pleases help
 

ronny71

Senior Member
Jan 2, 2012
256
46
Installed latest version of CWM..made backup of original rom...Rebooted System...No problem...Flashed CM9 per instructions...Full Wipe...Played with it for awhile...Backed it up...tried to restore Stock Rom ...went into CWM loop...Read a lot of threads and I still have drivers and Asus is seen in Device Manager with ADB Interface...So I tried Command prompts for 1a...and what I get is 'adb' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file...
Am I typin the command right ???...I never used ADB before...Came over from Epic Touch 4g Forum here...and I only used Odin...Could someone give me a clue if on on the right path of Unbrickin this thing...

Thanx...

BTW its Unlocked and of course rooted...
 

Swiftks

Retired Forum Moderator
Mar 16, 2011
3,741
1,910
The Woodlands, TX
Installed latest version of CWM..made backup of original rom...Rebooted System...No problem...Flashed CM9 per instructions...Full Wipe...Played with it for awhile...Backed it up...tried to restore Stock Rom ...went into CWM loop...Read a lot of threads and I still have drivers and Asus is seen in Device Manager with ADB Interface...So I tried Command prompts for 1a...and what I get is 'adb' is not recognized as an internal or external command,operable program or batch file...
Am I typin the command right ???...I never used ADB before...Came over from Epic Touch 4g Forum here...and I only used Odin...Could someone give me a clue if on on the right path of Unbrickin this thing...

Thanx...

BTW its Unlocked and of course rooted...

You need adb files... I've attached them, if you don't have them. Also, you need to issue the commands from the folder that you have the adb files in (shift + right click, open command prompt here).

Also, issue this command first to start adb "adb devices"
 

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newvet

Member
Feb 5, 2008
34
3
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Hi all,

Hoping someone can help me figure out how to unbrick my device. I tried to install the edited build.prop here in the development forum. I ended up with a blank screen. I am rooted, but locked.

The computer and adb used to see the device, but now only the computer recognizes it. I cannot get adb to pick it up. I tried to manually install the Universal Drivers, but everytime it says something to the effect that MTP device is up to date. I am getting frustrated as I have always been pretty good at figuring these things out, but this has me stumped. Would really like to get this back and avoid another $500 device.

Any suggestions?

I have been having a terrible time with drivers for both the Nexus and this device. Computer sees both usually, but especially with the Nexus I cannot access the internal SD card through USB. This is for both my Laptop (64 bit) and Desktop (32 bit), both Windows 7


I had been fighting with the same exact problem for the past 2 days!
I just fixed it by downloading the .21 firmware from Asus and renaming the extracted file EP201_SDUPDATE.zip. Manual update method from http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1570696&page=13 post 128.
I am now up and running and if I can get adb going again I will do the downgrade and root. I probably will not mess with the build.prop for a while. Good Luck
 

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  • 138
    Hey guys,
    I just wanted to put some information together on how to recover your bricked Prime (if possible).


    DISCLAIMER
    I am in no way responsible for what you do with your Prime, even when you are following these (my) instructions.
    There is always the risk of making it worse and this risk is completely down to you!!!


    Currently we know 4 states of bricked Primes whereas 3 are more or less widespread.

    • Brick 1a: You unlocked your Prime with ASUS' tool, did some stuff to it (like flashing a custom ROM) and now it always boots into recovery instead of your ROM.
      You can't select to boot to fastboot or anything else. No matter what you do it's always the recovery. (happening to many users)
      -> Please go to Option 1a

    • Brick 1b: You unlocked your Prime with ASUS' tool, did some stuff to it (like flashing a custom ROM) and now once you want to boot your new ROM it shows you the bootanimation but suddenly tells you something about an "unsuccessful encryption" (it's a real android screen, with a touch button etc.)
      Once you hit the "Reset" button it restarts but you can't boot the ROM anymore, you are now caught in a CWM loop (much like Brick 1a)
      -> Please go to Option 1b

    • Brick 2: When booting up your Prime hangs at the splashscreen (the screen with "EeePad" in the middle) and tells you something about an "unrecoverable bootloader error" (happened so far to at least 4 users)
      -> Please go to Option 2

    • Brick 3: (After messing around with your Prime in recovery it won't boot any ROM anymore, you can however still access fastboot and the recovery)
      Update: This particular brick happens due to a bad kernel flash. If you are flashing kernels via the ASUS /staging method, make sure /staging is unmounted before flashing stuff to it, otherwise it WILL faill and brick.

      Update 2: It seems we can't use the old fix for this brick anymore. Sometimes it does more bad than good. :(
      ->Please go to Option 3

    Option 1a

    Don't be afraid, your Prime should be recoverable. This is the good news. The bad news is, that you need quite some knowledge of ADB.

    To recover your Prime (most likely) you need the following:
    • A working ADB setup (please google that if you don't have it, "tutorial setup adb" or something like that should do the trick)
    • The USB-Cable to connect the Prime to your PC
    • A few minutes time

    Now do the following:
    • Make sure your Prime is in Recovery mode (CWM)

    • Open a cmd line on your pc

    • Type: "adb shell"

    • You should see a "#" now

    • Once you have that "#", please type: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p4 bs=100 count=1 and press [Enter]

    • Now type: dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 bs=16 count=1 and press [Enter]

    • Exit the shell and reboot your Prime via CWM

    • It should not reboot to CWM automatically now. It either boots your ROM or is stuck at the splash screen. If it is stuck, boot to recovery and install any ROM you want. :)


    Option 1b

    Good news, this brick should be no problem. :)
    Basically you need to first do Option 1a, but don't reboot the Prime just yet.
    • After executing the dd commands, you need to reboot your Prime to the bootloader menu and NOT the ROM itself.
    • To do this you need to reboot your device while holding down the Volume_Down key.
    • Once the white text in the top left corner appears release the buttons.
    • Now don't press anything until you can see a menu with 3 icons, an Android symbol, an USB symbol and a Wipe Data symbol.
    • Select the Wipe Data icon with pressing Volume_Down twice. Now press Volume_Up twice to reset the device to factory state.
    • WARNING: OF COURSE THIS WILL DELETE ALL YOUR DATA!!!! EVEN THE INTERNAL MEMORY AKA SDCARD!!! CURRENTLY I DON'T KNOW ANY OTHER WAY TO RECOVER FROM THIS BRICK!!!
    • After the wipe is done, you should be able to flash a new ROM or boot the existing ROM :)


    Option 2

    Sorry, but your Prime is most likely hard bricked.
    This can happen if you try to apply a stock blob file after you installed CWM. There is currently no way to recover from this. :(


    Option 3

    If you are in this situation (Prime doesn't boot but you can access both recovery and fastboot) please go to #asus-transformer on freenode and ask for help there. We currently don't know if you can recover from this state.
    Do not, I repeat, do not try to flash a stock ASUS ROM/blob file.
    Doing this you will most likely hard brick your Prime.

    We now found a way to un-brick this one too :)
    This one is a bit more risky, so make sure you follow all instructions with a bit of extra care.


    Update: It seems the old method for this brick could make things even worse on some Primes.
    On some primes this can be easily fixed, however putting this in a guide could do more harm than good.




    Troubleshooting
    • Problems getting ADB to work in recovery mode? Only seeing something like "Full Android on Emulator" in the device manager instead of your tablet?
      Well I have a posible fix for you: Got to this thread and download the drivers. Then override the drivers for the Emulator device manually with the new ones. ADB should work now :)


    --- Read here how to prevent future bricks and other common problems ---

    Bits & pieces
    You might want to have a look here for a possible solution for some bootloader errors (It's from a TF300):
    http://xdaforums.com/showpost.php?p=44244313&postcount=12


    Credits:
    thx to kmdm for his solution on Brick 1a and Brick 3 :)
    6
    Not sure if you have the same problem that I had(stuck at eee pad screen with no access to recovery). I used fastboot to flash recovery and stock boot.blob to resolve the issue.

    Holly Sweet Baby Jesus!!!!!

    Thank God!!! *Breaths sigh of relief*

    Problem/Issue:
    - Was on AOKP Milestone 5.
    - Installed TWRP Recovery via fastboot (over CWM).
    - Made Backup.
    - Installed CM9, played with it for a day or so.
    - Wanted to go back to AOKP... Restored TWRP Backup
    - Upon Reboot, stuck at boot screen (EEE Pad Screen).
    - No recovery, only options were wipe & fastboot
    - Flashing either version of recovery yielded no results... still stuck.


    Solution:
    - Download AKOP Rom zip again to computer. (or which ever particular rom you restored).
    - boot into fastboot
    - flash recovery via "fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash recovery recovery-clockwork-touch-5.8.1.8-tf201.img" <--- CWM Touch Version
    - Extract boot.blob from Rom .zip
    - flash boot.blob via "fastboot -i 0x0b05 flash boot boot.blob"
    - reboot via "fastboot -i 0x0b05 reboot"

    BOOTING UP & Recovery Access!!!
    3
    stuck on Brick options 1a
    adb devices cannot see my device
    does not show up in device manager
    But I do have at other devices "Full Android on Emulator"
    Any Help
    Thanks

    Try instaling these drivers here manually please

    http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1426502

    Adb should work fine afterwards :)
    2
    Okay I added a 4th brick to the list. It's a variant of the first Brick and it is recoverable :)
    2
    Okay we successfully un-bricked a Brick 3 just now. :)
    Updating the thread tomorrow.