Can Bricking Always Be Fixed?

**YoshiB1** · 12-26-2012, 02:44 PM

Hey folks,

I've been having a look around for a while soaking up all the info on rooting etc. although I haven't found an answer to my question that I've thought of. Can someone please answer?

Are Android bricks always fixable or is there circumstances which once it's bricked then it's bricked? I've noticed from looking through the threads after a search that people are able to fix bricks etc but haven't noticed anything about not being able to fix them. I just want to know before I go through with modding my N7. I am experienced in the world of Jailbreaking an Apple iOS device however from what I've been reading JBing and rooting etc, etc are obviously completely different things.

Also is bricking easy to do? I follow instructions to the tee and do a lot of research before I attempt something so I don't expect to brick the N7, especially since I know how to read instructions lol.

Thanks it's appreciated

**digitalslacker** · 12-26-2012, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by YoshiB1

Hey folks,

I've been having a look around for a while soaking up all the info on rooting etc. although I haven't found an answer to my question that I've thought of. Can someone please answer?

Are Android bricks always fixable or is there circumstances which once it's bricked then it's bricked? I've noticed from looking through the threads after a search that people are able to fix bricks etc but haven't noticed anything about not being able to fix them. I just want to know before I go through with modding my N7. I am experienced in the world of Jailbreaking an Apple iOS device however from what I've been reading JBing and rooting etc, etc are obviously completely different things.

Also is bricking easy to do? I follow instructions to the tee and do a lot of research before I attempt something so I don't expect to brick the N7, especially since I know how to read instructions lol.

Thanks it's appreciated

There are basically two types of bricks, soft and hard. Hard bricks are not recoverable, soft bricks usually mean something is botched and the device won't boot but is fixable. How easy or hard it is to fix is largely based on the problem (and what you did to get to that point) and the device you are using.

Now when it comes to Nexus devices you have a safety net that you don't get with most other device, restore images. These are developer devices, in addition to being consumer ones, and Google gave us this out because developers break things. Generally speaking, if you can get power to a Nexus device, it's fixable. I haven't ever seen a hard brick on a Nexus device, just soft bricks that people gave up on.

When you see dramatic forum posts that say "Help I bricked my .... !!!". Most of the time those are soft bricks and with a little effort and some reading you can get back to stock without any problem.

The number one CAUSE of bricks is NOT reading and doing homework before you flash something. It still amazes me that people manage to flash ROMs and kernels that aren't even made for their device.

**YoshiB1** · 12-26-2012, 06:08 PM

Excellent. Thanks for the info. It's all O needed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**digitalslacker** · 12-26-2012, 06:12 PM

Originally Posted by YoshiB1

Excellent. Thanks for the info. It's all O needed.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

no problem! good luck!!

Sent from my Transformer Prime TF201 using Tapatalk HD

**dark_samus** · 12-28-2012, 01:00 PM

Just an fyi there is only one command to brick a nexus it's 'fastboot erase bootloader' it erases the bootloader as of now they are working on getting nvflash working on the n7 then it will be 100% unbrickable other than hardware defects nvflash is how they flash nvidia devices from a blank slate no bootloader kernel android or anything

Sent from my LG-VM701 using Android Central Forums

**digitalslacker** · 12-29-2012, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by dark_samus

Just an fyi there is only one command to brick a nexus it's 'fastboot erase bootloader' it erases the bootloader as of now they are working on getting nvflash working on the n7 then it will be 100% unbrickable other than hardware defects nvflash is how they flash nvidia devices from a blank slate no bootloader kernel android or anything

Sent from my LG-VM701 using Android Central Forums

Good stuff. I missed nvflash on my tfp, waiting for them to get it working with the new versions

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

**mkhtfld76** · 01-06-2013, 10:00 AM

Just make sure you READ everything before you flash. Never flash any ROM/kernel that isn't made for your specific device. You will flash over your bootloader and you will have an expensive paperweight.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

**2defmouze** · 01-06-2013, 03:25 PM

Originally Posted by mkhtfld76

Just make sure you READ everything before you flash. Never flash any ROM/kernel that isn't made for your specific device. You will flash over your bootloader and you will have an expensive paperweight.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

Nah.. that will softbrick you. You'd have to restore a backup or in the worst case do a fastboot factory image restore. Flashing a bad/wrong file can't brick a nexus.