[Q] unfortunately SBF'd to GB..need some clarity on my next steps (moto noob)

[civicvx94]

So this is for my sister and I don't want to risk bricking her phone, but I'm not sure what my options are at this point. If you can take just a minute to help clarify what I should do at this point.

She was running a miui rom and some how or another got stuck in the loop of stock recovery and the battery with the question mark screen.. So after some research I saw I could boot in bootloader from stock recovery, then SBF and it would be fine.
I saw the warning on the SBF thread about not being able to downgrade if you used SBF to flash a Gingerbread rom, well I read that wrong and thought it meant if youre currently on a GB rom, you couldn't use SBF to downgrade. So i flashed the "4.5.3-109 Blur multilanguage" GB build and it works fine, but now I need to root it to flash a new rom and most require the Nordic (2.2) base and I can't use SBF to downgrade to it now..

Can I use this thread (http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/08/25/well-that-was-fast-one-click-droid-3-root-now-available/) to root GB, then install CWM, flashed a 2.2 rom, then SBF to Nordic?

Or do I need to follow these steps?
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14762402&postcount=143

I'm very lost here and a huge Moto noob..any guidance would be greatly appreciated..
Thanks in advance

 

[remuseu]

so...why didnt u post the first time before doing the stupid thing of flashing a full gb sbf ?
defy+ users are reporting that droid easy root works on theyr devices but u cant instal cm7 or miui on a gb base
u need to folow the downgrade tutorial if it works..i didn't tried it just coz i dont want to take any chances


ur solution for the boot loop would have been much simpler, either by wiping the phone in custom recovery
or wiping the phone in moto recovery, then flashing a new froyo sbf (any sbf except china one) and flash latest miui, then restore only data if she had a nandroid backup (i do 1 every week just to be shure)

 

[civicvx94]

so...why didnt u post the first time before doing the stupid thing of flashing a full gb sbf ?
defy+ users are reporting that droid easy root works on theyr devices but u cant instal cm7 or miui on a gb base
u need to folow the downgrade tutorial if it works..i didn't tried it just coz i dont want to take any chances


ur solution for the boot loop would have been much simpler, either by wiping the phone in custom recovery
or wiping the phone in moto recovery, then flashing a new froyo sbf (any sbf except china one) and flash latest miui, then restore only data if she had a nandroid backup (i do 1 every week just to be shure)

At this point, it doesnt really matter, I made a mistake and this is where I'm at..I'm used to HTC devices and this is totally different.
I wasn't able to get into the custom recovery, I tried 20+ times and could not get into custom recovery, only stock. So i did wipe from there and flashed like the sbf. Like I said, I read the thread wrong, I thought it meant I couldnt sbf to Froyo since I was already on GB.

So should I try the 'easy root', then install CW, flash a froyo rom and then can I use SBF to go to Nordic?
Thanks for the reply..I appreciate any help..

 

[civicvx94]

I'm confused in the downgrade instructions where it says to flash the first build..How are you supposed to flash the build if its not rooted yet and its not a sbf file?

 

[pegasus123]

i know if you flash full GB sbf (is it full sbf?), then there is no chance for you to downgrade to froyo, you can only stay in GB (and above in the future)

 

[ryan8r]

but u cant instal cm7 or miui on a gb base

That's a myth busted I have to say. You can install any AOSP rom from Gingerbread build. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1287704

It depends if whether you want to flash MIUI then you can directly install it onto your GB, but if you want to go back to Froyo there's a really long and tiring process for that. Lemme know what's on your mind and I'll point you to it.


Sent from Android 2.3.7

 

[nepotu]

@civicvx94 shift happens man. Next time you should pay more attention to the warning messages. However you can go back and install Froyo on your sister's Defy, but you cannot do this just by flashing a FULL Froyo SBF. I think this post it's detailed enough and you'll be able to go back to Froyo if you follow those instructions. Then you can try to install 2nd init and put another ROM (like MIUI or CM7) and if you ever encounter any issues and you need to reinstall then you'll have to go again from base 0 (install the "special" eclair, root it, install recovery, install froyo nandroid and then the fixed sbf).

 

[remuseu]

That's a myth busted I have to say. You can install any AOSP rom from Gingerbread build. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1287704

It depends if whether you want to flash MIUI then you can directly install it onto your GB, but if you want to go back to Froyo there's a really long and tiring process for that. Lemme know what's on your mind and I'll point you to it.


Sent from Android 2.3.7

i`m sure u didnt tried that with a full gb, but with ms2ginger or MotoGinger
and as u said in ur post cm7 or miui only works untill u reboot the device
so yah, folow nepotu instructions but read the god damned instruction twice and then do something...ffs english is your main language

 

[ryan8r]

i`m sure u didnt tried that with a full gb, but with ms2ginger or MotoGinger
and as u said in ur post cm7 or miui only works untill u reboot the device

Care to explain the difference!?

And No, it works flawlessly I actually tried to replace the default bootmenu which led to the anomaly. Read the complete thread
before making "presumptions".

Sent from Android 2.3.7

 

[civicvx94]

Thanks you guys so much for your help. This is one of the most helpful forums on xda..I have only owned HTC devices, and once you have a custom recovery installed switching between roms is no problem, so yeah I misread and messed up.

@ryan8r - I'm planning on going back to a MIUI or CM7 build, so that thread looks like it could be what I need..

@nepotu - thanks alot for that link, I believe that's the path I'm going to need to go, everything looks pretty straight forward there..
So you're saying that if I ever need to start over (once I have miui installed), instead of just being a sbf a Froyo build, I have to first sbf the special eclair build, root, 2nd init, then nandroid restore to Froyo, then use the fixed sbf to froyo?

Out of curiosity, is it possible to brick a Defy or can you normally sbf and save it? Just wondering in case I run into any issues..

Thanks again for the help

 

[nepotu]

You welcome and yes if you screw up MIUI then you'll have to first flash that special Eclair (which has two partitions with code 5, same as leaked GB) and then follow the remaining steps. You cannot install Froyo via FULL SBF unless you have a special Froyo SBF with those two partitions upgraded to code 5. (Off course you can flash also the leaked GB)

You cannot build SBF files unless you have Moto digital signature. I assume that the special Eclair SBF is sort of zombie SBF, built from two ROMs (some partitions are from the leaked GB and some from Eclair). There is a tool (Moto depaker) that will allow you to "break" the SBF into CG files but you cannot change those partitions as it will change their checksum and therefore their digital signature won't be valid. Moreover you cannot flash a partition (CG) with a lower code than your Defy's partition.

 

[ryan8r]

Why don't you first install 2ndinit and try installing MIUI onto your current build. If that don't work you always have the chinese eclair at your disposal. I doubt if the CG partitions will cause problem with any AOSP rom.

Sent from Android 2.3.7

 

[civicvx94]

Ok I think I have a lot better idea of whats going on now..
I'm about to start the process now, I think to be safe I think I'll go the longer route, and if I mess something up, then try to install miui on top of the GB build.
I'll report back with success/failure.

Thanks guys. wish me luck..ha

 

[civicvx94]

Well I went the longer route and have MIUI successfully installed on it, everything seems to be running great!

Thanks for all the help.

Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using XDA App