Bricked my galaxy nexus!

[pete010]

Hey, last night i tried to update my galaxy nexus to jellybean and through a series of unfortunate and stupid events i think i may have completely bricked it, it gets stuck on the google screen and wont move on. I downloaded the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit v7.0 and used option 7 which unlocked my bootloader, rooted my phone, flashed clockwork mod recovery etc, all of that went fine. I then downloaded JRO03O (my nexus is a IMM76K build), i put this onto the phones internal memory and tried to install from SD card in clockwork mod. From here everything went to hell, it did not install correctly so i decided to reset/clear data. The phone booted up but the main home button did nothing. I went back to clockwork recovery and tried a bunch of different options, clearing caches, mounting/unmounting different things formatting/unformatting, possibly messed with /boot which cant be good. Now it wont boot into android at all.

I can still get my phone into fastboot mode / clockwork mod recovery but unfortunately i didnt have a backup or any other rom to flash. My computer recognizes that the phone has been plugged in and comes up with galaxy nexus but i cannot enter it, the internal storage card doesnt show and i cannot copy files across. As the computer still recognizes the phone i can still use the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit but have no idea how to fix my phone. I tried downloading the 4.0.4 stock image from google developers and using the toolkit to flash this but it still doesnt load.
Any help would be appreciated

 

[dmmarck]

Hey, last night i tried to update my galaxy nexus to jellybean and through a series of unfortunate and stupid events i think i may have completely bricked it, it gets stuck on the google screen and wont move on. I downloaded the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit v7.0 and used option 7 which unlocked my bootloader, rooted my phone, flashed clockwork mod recovery etc, all of that went fine. I then downloaded JRO03O (my nexus is a IMM76K build), i put this onto the phones internal memory and tried to install from SD card in clockwork mod. From here everything went to hell, it did not install correctly so i decided to reset/clear data. The phone booted up but the main home button did nothing. I went back to clockwork recovery and tried a bunch of different options, clearing caches, mounting/unmounting different things formatting/unformatting, possibly messed with /boot which cant be good. Now it wont boot into android at all.

I can still get my phone into fastboot mode / clockwork mod recovery but unfortunately i didnt have a backup or any other rom to flash. My computer recognizes that the phone has been plugged in and comes up with galaxy nexus but i cannot enter it, the internal storage card doesnt show and i cannot copy files across. As the computer still recognizes the phone i can still use the Galaxy Nexus Toolkit but have no idea how to fix my phone. I tried downloading the 4.0.4 stock image from google developers and using the toolkit to flash this but it still doesnt load.
Any help would be appreciated

There's a sticky that says Return to Stock. You can certainly do that. You're not bricked and you're very, very salvageable lol. You could also use a custom recovery (Clockwork or whatever) and "adb push" a ROM to the phone, wipe everything, and flash from there.

Just a word of caution, however. Jelly Bean reboots/boots like to take forever at the Google "splash" screen. Be patient .

 

[pete010]

There's a sticky that says Return to Stock. You can certainly do that. You're not bricked and you're very, very salvageable lol. You could also use a custom recovery (Clockwork or whatever) and "adb push" a ROM to the phone, wipe everything, and flash from there.

Just a word of caution, however. Jelly Bean reboots/boots like to take forever at the Google "splash" screen. Be patient .

Thanks for the reply, ive tried to follow the sticky and downloaded wugs toolkit, the problem is I cant turn USB debugging on because I can't get into my phone. Not sure where to go from here

 

[AppleBonker]

You don't need USB debugging to be on for the return to stock guide. You just need the phone in fastboot mode and the drivers installed correctly on your computer. The return to stock sticky also has a video of someone taking their phone back to stock.

However, if you're set on using Wug's, I believe the option you're looking for is return to stock with "phone won't turn on" (or something of that nature) selected. IIRC, Wug's help for the toolkit explains how to make that selection, but if you can't boot fully into the OS, I think the phone off option with the phone actually in fastboot mode is how it works. Not entirely sure on any of this toolkit stuff, however, as I haven't used it.

 

[pete010]

Thanks applebonker, I tried flash stock + unroot with the device cant boot up option ticked. When the command prompt is sending radio it says it has failed, the same with and radio cdma, it then says archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
checking version baseband....
FAILED
I restarted the phone and its still stuck on the google logo, any other ideas?

 

[dmmarck]

Thanks applebonker, I tried flash stock + unroot with the device cant boot up option ticked. When the command prompt is sending radio it says it has failed, the same with and radio cdma, it then says archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'
checking version baseband....
FAILED
I restarted the phone and its still stuck on the google logo, any other ideas?

Follow my guide to a T and watch the video. It uses an older version but it'll work.

Dropped by Felix from 24 Miles above the Earth

 

[pete010]

Thanks dmmarck, i've read through your post and i cant seem to use adb as i get the notification that 'no devices attached'. I think the drivers are installed correctly, should this work without it being in usb debugging mode? In the toolkit it has a fastboot list of devices attached and my serial number appears there, but under adb mode there is nothing under list of devices attached. I've tried to individually flash the .img files through the toolkit, boot recovery and system all go fine but the radio cdma/ radio toro / userdata all come up with errors occurred and fail.

 

[dmmarck]

Thanks dmmarck, i've read through your post and i cant seem to use adb as i get the notification that 'no devices attached'. I think the drivers are installed correctly, should this work without it being in usb debugging mode? In the toolkit it has a fastboot list of devices attached and my serial number appears there, but under adb mode there is nothing under list of devices attached. I've tried to individually flash the .img files through the toolkit, boot recovery and system all go fine but the radio cdma/ radio toro / userdata all come up with errors occurred and fail.

You don't need adb if you're following my guide, just fastboot. Because a number shows up, you should be good to go. Watch that video .

Just reboot into the bootloader manually by holding down VOLUME UP, VOLUME DOWN, and POWER simultaneously when the phone is powered down. You'll see "Fastboot Mode" listed at the top of a paragraph/thinger in the bottom left of the screen. That's the bootloader.

 

[jharo]

I think what you did is wiped everything including the ROM. It won't boot because there is nothing to boot to. Wug's will let you flash a ROM that located on you PC. You just have to select that method. I did the same thing.

 

[habanophile]

All good advice. It's almost impossible to brick this phone.

 

[Hovik818]

All good advice. It's almost impossible to brick this phone.

This. Only way you can actually brick it if the CPU fails on you. Happened to my 4th Nexus. Screen would flicker and would shut off. Was impossible to adb or fast boot anything.

Sent from my Xoom using Android Central Forums

 

[Chondog]

Just thought I'd chime in and recognize how great this forum is and how helpful (and patient) people are. Truly a great asset (and rare) for any forum.

 

[pete010]

Just thought I'd chime in and recognize how great this forum is and how helpful (and patient) people are. Truly a great asset (and rare) for any forum.

Yeah thanks for your help everyone I know this must sound ridiculously stupid.
dmmarck I followed the thread and i seem to have trouble flashing the radio images.
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primelc03.img
sending bootloader OKAY
writing bootloader
OKAY..finished

fastboot flash radio radio-toro-i515.fg02.img
sending radio OKAY
writing radio
FAILED <remote: write fail>
the same happens with radio-cdma.
When I try and update using the .zip it tells me the archive does not contain 'boot.sig' recovery.sig etc
checking product
OKAY
checking version bootloader
OKAY
checking version-baseband
FAILED
What am I doing wrong?

 

[TabGuy]

Pete,

Is it possible that you somehow unrooted the phone and you don't have authority to write those files anymore?

Try the root process again?

 

[dmmarck]

Yeah thanks for your help everyone I know this must sound ridiculously stupid.
dmmarck I followed the thread and i seem to have trouble flashing the radio images.
fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primelc03.img
sending bootloader OKAY
writing bootloader
OKAY..finished

fastboot flash radio radio-toro-i515.fg02.img
sending radio OKAY
writing radio
FAILED <remote: write fail>
the same happens with radio-cdma.
When I try and update using the .zip it tells me the archive does not contain 'boot.sig' recovery.sig etc
checking product
OKAY
checking version bootloader
OKAY
checking version-baseband
FAILED
What am I doing wrong?

Try downloading a new package and trying again. If you follow my order, it should work without fail. Another idea (probably useless)--run the lock and unlock commands to completely clear the device.

 

[bbond]

Hey everyone, I've got a "bricked" phone as well. I'm still stuck on the Nexus symbol while booting up. I've used Wug's toolkit to reflash the original firmware, unroot, and re-lock the phone. I've also manually done this per scary_alien's instructions. The result is the same, still stuck booting up on the Nexus symbol.This all happened because while trying to push a recovery image on my Asus Transformer, I had the Nexus stupidly hooked up to the PC at the same time. The recovery started pushing to the phone and I tried to unplug it quickly. Unfortunately I was too late and now I'm in this condition. Nothing has worked so far. Everything I've tried appears to be successful/doesn't fail. Any advice?

 

[dmmarck]

Hey everyone, I've got a "bricked" phone as well. I'm still stuck on the Nexus symbol while booting up. I've used Wug's toolkit to reflash the original firmware, unroot, and re-lock the phone. I've also manually done this per scary_alien's instructions. The result is the same, still stuck booting up on the Nexus symbol.This all happened because while trying to push a recovery image on my Asus Transformer, I had the Nexus stupidly hooked up to the PC at the same time. The recovery started pushing to the phone and I tried to unplug it quickly. Unfortunately I was too late and now I'm in this condition. Nothing has worked so far. Everything I've tried appears to be successful/doesn't fail. Any advice?

Follow my Return to Stock guide .

 

[bbond]

Thanks for the reply dmmarck. I'm in the middle of following your guide and as I was dreading, I'm stuck at step 7:

Seventh, let the phone reboot COMPLETELY to the "Welcome" screen. Then turn the device off and get back to the bootloader (see the third step). Also, don't close the terminal/command prompt window, you still need it!

The Welcome screen never appears. This is where I've gotten stuck on all the other methods I've tried as well. Everything seems to go as expected, but no OS, just a Nexus logo for 30 minutes

This is the only thing that I'm not sure about from the process, but I've seen it every time:
E:\Development\android-sdk\platform-tools>fastboot -w update image-mysid-jro03o.zip
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'

It then goes on to complete "successfully".

 

[gb525]

i did the same thing last night wugs won't do anything but what you described.. downloaded galaxy nexus tool kit followed the instructions and I'm back running. only thing is i can't get root back. phone stays in bootloader and wont reboot when it says it is. at least i still have a phone

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[dmmarck]

Thanks for the reply dmmarck. I'm in the middle of following your guide and as I was dreading, I'm stuck at step 7:

Seventh, let the phone reboot COMPLETELY to the "Welcome" screen. Then turn the device off and get back to the bootloader (see the third step). Also, don't close the terminal/command prompt window, you still need it!

The Welcome screen never appears. This is where I've gotten stuck on all the other methods I've tried as well. Everything seems to go as expected, but no OS, just a Nexus logo for 30 minutes

This is the only thing that I'm not sure about from the process, but I've seen it every time:
E:\Development\android-sdk\platform-tools>fastboot -w update image-mysid-jro03o.zip
archive does not contain 'boot.sig'
archive does not contain 'recovery.sig'
archive does not contain 'system.sig'

It then goes on to complete "successfully".

Regarding the latter part, that successful thing is perfectly fine and normal. Did you try a battery pull upon reboot? Wouldn't hurt to lock it then unlock it too before you start.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Xparent Cyan Tapatalk 2