Help! OTT M8 Bad Flash Recovery using shorted Nand pins.

[kozmo2k4]

Re: Help! OTT M8 Bad Flash Recovery using shorted Nand pins.

I've spent a little time trying things today still getting errors E: can't mount data etc, It seems that TWRP can't access the Nand, format comes back with the same line of errors about not being able to mount E:
Ive been reading up on the mount error mainly for other devices, I cant really fully get to the bottom of it some say TWRP could be the issue though I'm inclined to think the Nand partitions are corrupt.
I'm kinda stuck at this point, it may be as simple as a faulty Nand chip. I'm gonna do a bit more trawling of the net and have another go. the lack of ODB or a .img rom rules out trying to push the rom.

One thing you should check, if you haven't already: the Power Supply! I just went through similar issues with the MXiii box not booting pass Bootlogo, and after booting to recovery (stock, did not try TWRP yet), it would not mount the SD Card nor USB thumb drives. After swapping the power brick with another (5V 2A), it booted right up and ran fine for over 24 hours under stress and benchmarks.
/just my $0.02

Tapatalked

[Klinux]

I'll check that out, not gonna discount anything, though I'm pretty sure the problem is a corrupt partition. There is another thread here which shows the same issue. I was gonna explore getting it to connect with my PC via OTG. While the box doesn't have an open OTG port I've read about others getting OTG to connect by shorting pins near the USB ports.

[Klinux]

I just tried another PSU the M8 supply is rated 12v 1A, tried another PSU rated the same but still the same result. TWRP can't access the internal nand. I think that the only way to get this unit unbricked is via OTG and push the image onto the nand. As far as I'm aware there is no .img rom for these units.
I get exactly the same errors as "fish" posted about here http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.p...artition-table that thread seems to have gone cold.

It could be a faulty nand and no matter what we try its not gonna make a difference. I've bought a Gbox Midnight MXII. I think the bottom line here is the M8 boxes are a good spec but hopeless if they fail to update the firmware and your left with a bricked box. Add to that the massive amount of clones of this box that seem to be circulating it's worth getting an android box that can be supported reliably. I didn't quite realise just how many variations there are of this hardware. Fortunately I got a refund for the box and was left with this one.

The reason I went for the Gbox is because the manufacturer "Matricom" has a user forum and while support is sliding on the Gbox MXII the box does what I need it to.
I was drawn to the M8 box purely because of its hardware but to be honest even genuine v0.92 boxes are failing like this with no way back. I'm also not so sure about the logic applied to identifying clones, with such a vast number of factories manufacturing even branded ones it's hard to know and as members with clone boxes have managed to get most of the ROMs out there installed with no problems and owners of genuine v0.92 boxes running into the same issue's who knows whats really going on here or why its stuck with this problem in the first place.

It started with "verification" problems when I tried to update the firmware with Finless and few other roms, it did finally update with the "geekbuying" update but died after the update. Other Linux devices I've had have always had ways of getting at the heart of the device even with a bit of fiddling, the manufacturers put this stuff on there so logic is we should be able to get access to get the heart of it sorted. unless they program the nand prior to install.

[Zahir]

I have 2 M8 boxes - and both power supplies are rated at 5v 2a - not 12v.

[Klinux]

Heres a pic of the adapter 12v 1A,

[Zahir]

Ha! looks better made than those we get in the US - which are rated at 5v.

[Klinux]

Thats the thing about this board it is very well made, sadly I'm running out of ideas even if I can get OTG access I dont have a .img rom and not sure what else I can do. I think that getting these unbricked is gonna become a bigger issue. I can already see threads here about the file verification issue when trying to install roms which I think is a warning sign. I've already seen one user get around this and get the image to flash and then stuck at the boot screen of Finless. It would be good if one of the more experienced devs like Finless Bob could shed some light even get one unbricked or perhaps its just not possible. I haven't fully looked into getting OTG to work I'm gonna have a look into this, at least if I can get that far the path is laid to getting to the heart of things.

[Zahir]

There May Be a Way to .IMG

IF you can get OTG on your M8, there may be a way to flash an img rom.

One of the funny things we discovered about the M8 is that it will run Probox2 firmware. And Probox supply img roms and a flash tool. I've done this myself - using a zip file - and the flash went fine. The firmware is pretty good.
The only thing afterwards is to change the remote conf file to get the M8 remote working. That's an easy fix.

BUT you will need OTG.

http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?18429-New-Firmware-for-Probox2-EX

[Crows]

I might try this I am in a similar situation with 3 boxes, i can start the flash but it just hangs at about 80% of the flash. TWRP starts but it too randomly hangs before it completes. Hopefully this firmware works.
So to side flash via recovery firmware needs to be in an img format?
Hope I'n not hijacking this thread but I feel my issue is almost identical.

IF you can get OTG on your M8, there may be a way to flash an img rom.

One of the funny things we discovered about the M8 is that it will run Probox2 firmware. And Probox supply img roms and a flash tool. I've done this myself - using a zip file - and the flash went fine. The firmware is pretty good.
The only thing afterwards is to change the remote conf file to get the M8 remote working. That's an easy fix.

BUT you will need OTG.

http://www.freaktab.com/showthread.php?18429-New-Firmware-for-Probox2-EX

[Zahir]

Let's be clear!

Klinux's situation is that he can't use the standard toothpick method to flash a zip file because his memory partitions seem to be corrupted. His only remaining recourse is to flash a complete rom image that will also replace the lost partitions. For that, he needs three things:

a) OTG access on his box
b) a rom in .img format
c) a PC-based flashing tool.

The biggest problem is a) because the M8 doesn't natively support OTG. Some have found a hardware workaround which involves making some new connections on the board. Klinux is looking into that, I think.

If he finds a hardware workaround, there's a chance of rescue because although M8 doesn't offer b) and c) either, this can be solved by using Probox 2 firmware and tools -which is where my post fits in.

Is this your situation too?

[Crows]

No mines a little different as I can boot into recovery but my flashes start but lockup at about 75-80% Ive just tried Probox 2 firmware and that too stops flashing at 75-80%.
Thanks for responding, I wont hijack this thread.

Let's be clear!

Klinux's situation is that he can't use the standard toothpick method to flash a zip file because his memory partitions seem to be corrupted. His only remaining recourse is to flash a complete rom image that will also replace the lost partitions. For that, he needs three things:

a) OTG access on his box
b) a rom in .img format
c) a PC-based flashing tool.

The biggest problem is a) because the M8 doesn't natively support OTG. Some have found a hardware workaround which involves making some new connections on the board. Klinux is looking into that, I think.

If he finds a hardware workaround, there's a chance of rescue because although M8 doesn't offer b) and c) either, this can be solved by using Probox 2 firmware and tools -which is where my post fits in.

Is this your situation too?

[Zahir]

@Crows, I'm sorry you have that 80 per cent problem, which however is - as you say - a different one.

Of course, if you found a way to OTG, you could try flashing a complete image too. That would by-pass the zip installation process which fails for you.

Maybe you two can cooperate?

Meanwhile, since you can boot TWRP, have you done a full system wipe?

[JustMe]

Heres a pic of the adapter 12v 1A,


[ATTACH=CONFIG]8854[/ATTACH]

1amp you are pushing your luck, 2amp is more sufficient regulated prefered.

[JustMe]

No mines a little different as I can boot into recovery but my flashes start but lockup at about 75-80% Ive just tried Probox 2 firmware and that too stops flashing at 75-80%.
Thanks for responding, I wont hijack this thread.

try a different sd card or even try a usb stick

[Klinux]

1amp you are pushing your luck, 2amp is more sufficient regulated prefered.

Yeh absolutely 2 amp minimum I hadn't really considered it until I looked at the psu, more of an issue if I start attaching other devices.

Im gonna see if I can get OTG established but its a little hope many thanks Zahir. @ crows I'd follow Zahir's advice using TWRP boot. Locate TWRP in the top of the ENY M8 square section put it on your SD card and boot into recovery perform a wipe. You could leave the ROM image on the SD card and install it using TWRP instead of the standard recovery. I would advise it's worth checking out what M8 you have first it might be as clone like mine and you may want to check what ROM is better for you. I guess an easy first check would be to see if you have a 12v 1A PSU by looking on the sticker since we've established this here that the M8 should have a 5V 2A PSU this would be a good indicator, the only way to find out for sure is to take the box a part and look at the PCB model info. Hindsight is a good thing here.