[answer] [how to] [CDMA/LTE] How To Re-Flash Factory-Image/Recover from Soft-Brick

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thepolishguy

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,250
190
Ivanhoe CA
How To Re-Flash Stock Image

Assuming you have ADB and everything setup already....

1. I just did this for practice. I did not need to do it –but I wanted to do it successfully before I “needed” to do it. I thought I would expand a little on the process and make it a little more noob friendly.

2. Getting started.

a. Read through the entire set of instructions first.

b. I am not responsible if you BORK your phone. I BORKED mine using someone else’s instructions and tried to write a very detailed step-by-step to help others out– but it is completely possible I have also made some small error in the instructions.

3. This will completely wipe your phone – including the SD partition – so transfer any files you need before you do this.
4. This will not re-lock your bootloader. It will remain unlocked.
5. Syntax (spelling, spaces, periods, dashes, CAPITOL, or lower case) matters. There were some spelling errors and file extensions left off the commands – and that will not work.

6.I used the file…

mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tgz

…which is 4.0.2 for the cdma/lte galaxy nexus [code name = toro/mysid]. The file is located here...

http://www.google.co...NiI9yTxKdUyW1tA

7. Unzip the file (I used 7.zip to do this).

Then you will have a .tar file…

mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tar

8. Unzip that file and you should end up with a folder…

mysid-icl53f

Inside that folder you will have five files…

i. bootloader-toro-primekk15.img
ii. flash-all.sh
iii. radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img
iv. radio-toro-i515.ek02.img
v. image-mysid-icl53f.zip

Do not unzip “image-mysid-icl53f.zip”

9. Go ahead and copy and paste all these files to your directory…

/android/platform-tools

(or whatever directory you work from. You do not need the “flash-all.sh” so you do not have to copy it).

10. Open the Command Prompt in the directory where you have placed the necessary files by navigating to the directory, pressing shift, and then right mouse click (normally “C: /android/tools” or C: /android/platform-tools). This will bring up the dialogue box and you can select “open a command window here”.

11. Then enter the command…

adb devices

[…this should return your serial number…]

12. enter the command…

adb reboot-bootloader

[wait for bootloader – you should here 2 alert sounds – not just 1]


13. enter the command…

fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primekk15.img


14. enter the command…

fastboot reboot-bootloader

[wait]

15. enter the command…

fastboot flash radio radio-toro-i515.ek02.img

16. enter the command…

fastboot reboot-bootloader

[wait]

17. enter the command…

fastboot flash radio-cdma radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img

18. enter the command…

fastboot reboot-bootloader

19. enter the command…

fastboot -w update image-mysid-icl53f.zip

20. So you know, steps 17 (flashing the cdma radio) and step 19 (flashing the update image) took longer than the rest so don't freak out - just be patient. If you did the steps in the proper order after entering the last command your phone should reboot on its own and be completely “fresh”. If you made mistakes (like I did the first time) and flashed the radios out of order (like I did) or did not wait long enough for an “Okay” dialogue (like I did) then when you reboot you will have no signal and no phone number and you will have to go through the process again and do it right (like I did).

Hope this helps someone.

Credit goes to JW at that other site for the fastboot commands. I just added detail for the write up.
 

Ominous39061

New member
Dec 17, 2011
1
0
Great guide, but what if the serial number doesn't show up?

Thank you for the excellent walkthrough. I am following it, but when I enter "adb devices" at the command prompt I receive "list of devices attached" but no serial number. Also, my Nexus displays: "Fastboot Command Read Error -2147483647". I did a battery pull after getting stuck in a bootloop, and am trying to recover. I can unlock and relock the bootloader, but that is the only command that is working.
 

thepolishguy

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,250
190
Ivanhoe CA
Thank you for the excellent walkthrough. I am following it, but when I enter "adb devices" at the command prompt I receive "list of devices attached" but no serial number. Also, my Nexus displays: "Fastboot Command Read Error -2147483647". I did a battery pull after getting stuck in a bootloop, and am trying to recover. I can unlock and relock the bootloader, but that is the only command that is working.

if it does not return a serial number than the phone is not being recognized. I believe that there are 2 different sets of drivers that are needed. Let me look for the link and info.

the fact that it returns "list of devices attached" but no number means that it is not finding your device which means it is probably a driver issue. let me see what I can come up with. But I am no expert at any of this.
 

thepolishguy

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,250
190
Ivanhoe CA
Ok - so I just did some testing of my own. I ran into the same problem as you. And I know that I have the drivers installed. So what I did was try and "shut down" any thing that could interfere with with ADB/Fastboot.

Any tethering apps that you may have - PDA NET, Easy Tether, etc, could possibly do this. Also - when you plug your phone in - and the Auto Play options pop up for FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - X out of that.

I initially plugged in my phone. Opened the command prompt in my platform-tools folder. typed in...

adb devices

...and I got the same message as you. I then "turned off" everything that could be causing problems with the process. I unplugged the phone and replugged it in (and closed the dialog box again) and then re-opened the command prompt and entered...

adb devices

...and then I got the proper return message.
 

Noev

Member
Apr 30, 2011
14
0
Ok - so I just did some testing of my own. I ran into the same problem as you. And I know that I have the drivers installed. So what I did was try and "shut down" any thing that could interfere with with ADB/Fastboot.

Any tethering apps that you may have - PDA NET, Easy Tether, etc, could possibly do this. Also - when you plug your phone in - and the Auto Play options pop up for FTP (File Transfer Protocol) - X out of that.

I initially plugged in my phone. Opened the command prompt in my platform-tools folder. typed in...

adb devices

...and I got the same message as you. I then "turned off" everything that could be causing problems with the process. I unplugged the phone and replugged it in (and closed the dialog box again) and then re-opened the command prompt and entered...

adb devices

...and then I got the proper return message.

I got the same problem with mine i dont have anything like pda net installed but nothing i have tried is able to get adb to list my phone
 

thepolishguy

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,250
190
Ivanhoe CA
I got the same problem with mine i dont have anything like pda net installed but nothing i have tried is able to get adb to list my phone

Getting the same issue myself...help!

Ok - so another member posted this...

ADB/Naked Drivers

...and I have heard some people say that it was very helpful. So hopefully this will help you guys to get your devices recognized.

Then there is also this thread and the OP said this...

Code:
On your windows PC. Use the root guide by bman
( [url]http://rootzwiki.com...nlock-and-root/[/url] ) 
and download the third option for drivers. Extract all 
of these tho wherever you have your fast boot
( for me it was c:/users/thatmayh3mguy/) then run 
fastboot in the cmd. The adbapi.DLL file will be there
and will make the fast boot work. I didn't have the sdk
 installed ( fresh install of win 7 ultimate last week and 
don't have it all set up yet) and it worked

thread...

adb help/getting your drivers installed correctly


OK - here is also another method that I found. I have PDA Net installed and I did not have any issues with fastboot. Here are some instructions that say the drivers that PDA Net use are the same drivers that you need for fastboot. So here is a link to the thread and hopefully one of these methods is going to work for you.

Installing PDA Net to solve your fastboot problems
 
Last edited:

thepolishguy

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,250
190
Ivanhoe CA
ah ha - just read something else that I should have thought of...

If your phone is already in bootloader - the command...

adb devices

...will not work. so if you are in bootloader you should try the command...

fastboot devices

...instead and see if that returns anything for you.
 

Noev

Member
Apr 30, 2011
14
0
just wanted to jump back in hear and say i was able to get mine working again. adb was allowing me to lock/unlock the bootloader i toggled that on and off then when i went to boot my phone it took a long time to boot but finally did. Thanks for all the help was in a real jam there for a minute. I used the naked adb drivers posted above not sure if that did anything but it worked for me. Thanks again!
 

thepolishguy

Senior Member
Dec 3, 2009
1,250
190
Ivanhoe CA
just wanted to jump back in hear and say i was able to get mine working again. adb was allowing me to lock/unlock the bootloader i toggled that on and off then when i went to boot my phone it took a long time to boot but finally did. Thanks for all the help was in a real jam there for a minute. I used the naked adb drivers posted above not sure if that did anything but it worked for me. Thanks again!

cool. glad to hear it.
 

todd1215

New member
May 24, 2012
1
0
trying this with a Linux OS

So I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus on Verizon and I put 4.0.4 (IMM30B) using the Galaxy Nexus ToolKit on Windows. Since then I've had a few issues with performance so I want to go back to stock (ICF53F) then maybe goto latest IMM76K (I think). I've retrieved the zip file from steps above and untar'd the file, but when I try to flash the boot file it just sits there waiting for device. I'm not sure what it's waiting for. I'm in fastboot mode and then plugged in the phone to the usb cord but nothing happens.

Any ideas?

UPDATE:

I figured out the issue. On a linux machine using fastboot requires super user privileges. Maybe an update to the instructions may be in order?
 
Last edited:

ladyminnie

Member
Jan 9, 2011
12
0
CMD keeps telling me waiting for device.
How long will it takes first time?

this after entering: fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primekk15.img
 
Last edited:

infazzdar

Senior Member
Dec 20, 2010
1,139
231
A mistake I made a while ago, if you are sure that you have already installed ADB drivers, and your device still isn't being recognized by ADB..

Be sure USB Debugging is checked on. :p

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
 

ladyminnie

Member
Jan 9, 2011
12
0
adb devices returns my number from the phone
adb reboot-bootloader does bring my phone into bootloader
than it stops with the next command. I waited for 45 minutes/

---------- Post added at 07:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 PM ----------

usb debugging was/is still on


The white small led is lightning up every 10 seconds orso
 
Last edited:

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    How To Re-Flash Stock Image

    Assuming you have ADB and everything setup already....

    1. I just did this for practice. I did not need to do it –but I wanted to do it successfully before I “needed” to do it. I thought I would expand a little on the process and make it a little more noob friendly.

    2. Getting started.

    a. Read through the entire set of instructions first.

    b. I am not responsible if you BORK your phone. I BORKED mine using someone else’s instructions and tried to write a very detailed step-by-step to help others out– but it is completely possible I have also made some small error in the instructions.

    3. This will completely wipe your phone – including the SD partition – so transfer any files you need before you do this.
    4. This will not re-lock your bootloader. It will remain unlocked.
    5. Syntax (spelling, spaces, periods, dashes, CAPITOL, or lower case) matters. There were some spelling errors and file extensions left off the commands – and that will not work.

    6.I used the file…

    mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tgz

    …which is 4.0.2 for the cdma/lte galaxy nexus [code name = toro/mysid]. The file is located here...

    http://www.google.co...NiI9yTxKdUyW1tA

    7. Unzip the file (I used 7.zip to do this).

    Then you will have a .tar file…

    mysid-icl53f-factory-65895fa8.tar

    8. Unzip that file and you should end up with a folder…

    mysid-icl53f

    Inside that folder you will have five files…

    i. bootloader-toro-primekk15.img
    ii. flash-all.sh
    iii. radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img
    iv. radio-toro-i515.ek02.img
    v. image-mysid-icl53f.zip

    Do not unzip “image-mysid-icl53f.zip”

    9. Go ahead and copy and paste all these files to your directory…

    /android/platform-tools

    (or whatever directory you work from. You do not need the “flash-all.sh” so you do not have to copy it).

    10. Open the Command Prompt in the directory where you have placed the necessary files by navigating to the directory, pressing shift, and then right mouse click (normally “C: /android/tools” or C: /android/platform-tools). This will bring up the dialogue box and you can select “open a command window here”.

    11. Then enter the command…

    adb devices

    […this should return your serial number…]

    12. enter the command…

    adb reboot-bootloader

    [wait for bootloader – you should here 2 alert sounds – not just 1]


    13. enter the command…

    fastboot flash bootloader bootloader-toro-primekk15.img


    14. enter the command…

    fastboot reboot-bootloader

    [wait]

    15. enter the command…

    fastboot flash radio radio-toro-i515.ek02.img

    16. enter the command…

    fastboot reboot-bootloader

    [wait]

    17. enter the command…

    fastboot flash radio-cdma radio-cdma-toro-i515.ek05.img

    18. enter the command…

    fastboot reboot-bootloader

    19. enter the command…

    fastboot -w update image-mysid-icl53f.zip

    20. So you know, steps 17 (flashing the cdma radio) and step 19 (flashing the update image) took longer than the rest so don't freak out - just be patient. If you did the steps in the proper order after entering the last command your phone should reboot on its own and be completely “fresh”. If you made mistakes (like I did the first time) and flashed the radios out of order (like I did) or did not wait long enough for an “Okay” dialogue (like I did) then when you reboot you will have no signal and no phone number and you will have to go through the process again and do it right (like I did).

    Hope this helps someone.

    Credit goes to JW at that other site for the fastboot commands. I just added detail for the write up.