SOLVED! Bricked GoClever nanoDROID X2 (rk3066 device) - IDB Failed, Lower format failed.

[Skeem]

Hello!

Looking for some kind of a assistance, I'm out of ideas.

Introducing the culprit: GOCLEVER nanoDROID X2 (link to brand, front, back)
Specifications: Android 4.1.1, RK3066, Mali 400, DDR3 1GB, 4GB Nand
Connectivity: 1xHDMI/USB2.0/MicroSD/MicroUSB-power WiFI:RTL8189ES
Buttons: 1xButton (to PowerON hold ~4sec, to PowerOFF ~9sec).





What I needed: Android TV stick with working screen rotation functionality.

What I got: Android TV stick with locked rotation (no market app could override that), that I successfully rooted, got a working CWM recovery, did a full backup. So far so good.

What I did wrong: Edited buildprop (...sf rotate something - changed from 0 to 180) and on the next boot the screen stuck upside down (the android loading screen, bootloader was fine). Then I discovered that I cannot enter recovery because there are no hardware buttons to do so. ADB did not work. Then I did a comprehensive research - xda developers, this site and many others. I found out about the 8 and 9 pins. And it worked! I got it into the mask mode. Searched for the stock FW (rk30sdk-eng 4.1.1 20130129_v1.0.3) and found none. Later found something similar. Tried RESTORE with Batch tool - got an error (image 1). Tried UPGRADE - error (image 2). Tried to ERASE nand with RKAndroid Tool - using the bundle mk808_finless_17c ROM - error (image 3). Tried flashing - error (image 4). At this point I plugged it into the TV, no changes - loader OK, boot screen upside down and after that it freezes. OK. Moving on - tried to rewrite something - something happened (image 5), tried other parts of the package - did all of them except the loader (it was not working at all...) - the same - download file failed. When I finally got to the smallest of them - i got something working - download OK and the device disconnects from the PC after that (image 6). At this point I connected the device to the TV, and got a dredded boot loop - bootloader loads and after that device shuts down. Tried different versions of these tools - the same.

Tried to connect using different cables (different length, brand), different computers: windows 7 x64 sp1 with Intel i7-3***, windows 7 x64 sp1 on an old dual core AMD machine, windows xp sp3 on a HPCompaq desktop with celeron 1.7 inside. Tried back and front USB connectors, nothing. Power is not an issue - it was working originally from the Intel i7 desktop pc plugged in the front and connected to the LCD screen.

Extensively searching I found user who posted about his success with Finless 1.7 rom with this exact device, I have sent him a message, but as of now he has not answered me.

Found posts about different pins - Tried the 5-6 pin trick from the other side - device shows up but shuts down after few seconds - and as a results the connection with the pc is severed. Tried 30/31 pin and pin 9/10 - the same, connects and then shuts down after few seconds.

TLDR: Can not erase NAND. Pins 8/9 trick is working OK. Gallery with all the images here. Here is the CWM full backup link1, mirror link2.

Is there anything that I could try to do that I have not yet tried? Or should I give up on this damn fake device and order the original Chinese version?

[Skeem]

update: decided to not to give up , ordered usb to serial converter, ideally I will try to backup existing bootloader and flash the Finless package on to it. Today tested the RTG square dots on the lower backside - everything cheks out - multimeter is showing jumping voltage up to 3.3V so it is transmitting something just need to get the serial interface...

Will post when I get some results.

EDIT: Serial interface works! Now to sort everything out

[Skeem]

[SUMMARY] for somebody out there - maybe this will help!

ROM that worked: NEW - CX803/FX5 Finless Custom ROM 1.7
SERIAL: I used NOKIA DKU-5 cable, the pins are as shown (RTG), speed 115200, flow control - none
RECOVERY BUTTON: Is located between the hdmi and otg port and there are clear letters written below the pins that need shortening "REC" - dooooh.
8/9 PIN SHORTENING: This trick is of no use. Serial output shows that that one gets some kind of an error. You need to get into reboot bootloader or boot up shorting the REC pins on the board. Also when using the tools - it actually does not write anything to the system and boot partitions. Only thing that I screwed up using these tools was parameter file - dont know why. Atleast that is what i think I did because after few tries I did not get past the bootloader/kernel. Dumped the system and checked it against the backup files that I made originally - md5 summs checks out. To conclude - nothing was written to system. Maybe it can be done but it is not worth the time to sort that out.

So, if for some reason the recovery button does not work (happened originally) and your kernel is booting OK, then the way to reboot to bootloader is to type these commands in the serial console (without the quotation marks):
1. "su" to get the root access
2. "reboot bootloader" to reboot to bootloader AND ONLY THEN THE ROM Flash Tool.exe WILL WORK!!!
3. flash the new bootloader and images
4. after that most likely the recovery pins will function as intended.

So to completely brick this device you need to do some physical damage. Otherwise there are plenty of options how to recover from anything.

Her is the log of the serial console output with the pin 8/9 shortening trick and what it does:

DDR Version 1.00 20120529
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem


DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB07000
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1
size=1024MB
ok  OUT
BUILD=====4
Fail!
unsigned!
no sys part.
SecureBootEn = 0
Boot ver:
!!!No parameter
Start RockUsb...
GetRemapTbl flag = 1
FlashReadPage error!!,row = fffffff8
 902503 UsbConnected

and here is what the device reports when doing it properly:

DDR Version 1.00 20121017
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem


DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB07000
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1 size=1024MB
ok  OUT
BUILD=====4
GetRemapTbl flag = 0
OK! 99096
unsigned!
SecureBootEn = 0
Boot ver: 2012-12-07#1.22
default RECOVERY key is pressed
RECOVERY key is pressed
Start RockUsb...
GetRemapTbl flag = 1
 2616623 UsbConnected

As my understanding goes - for this exact device the 8/9 pin disconnects the NAND and it newer recovers from that.

And here is how it acts when the proper reboot bootloader command is given:

shell@android:/ $ su
shell@android:/ # reboot bootloader
[   83.710205] SysRq : Emergency Remount R/O
[   83.716712] EXT4-fs (mtdblock8): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
[   83.725248] EXT4-fs (mtdblock6): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
[   83.743849] EXT4-fs (mtdblock5): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
[   83.752470] Emergency Remount complete
[   83.823672] RESTART_DEBUG : sys_reboot->482->cmd=a1b2c3d4 args=bootloader
[   83.830637] RESTART_DEBUG : kernel_restart->351->cmd=bootloader
[   83.859071] rknand_buffer_shutdown pWriteQueue->count = 1!!
[   83.865314] rknand_buffer_shutdown pReadQueue->count = 0!!
[   83.870830] FtlCacheWriteBack
[   83.887046] rknand_buffer_thread exit ... done
[   83.891560] rknand_buffer_reboot_prepare exit!!
[   83.896091] shutdown...done
[   83.933171] Chenzy-------hkw-------es8323_i2c_shutdown
[   83.988780] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   83.998001] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.007235] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.016452] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.025699] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.034912] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.044145] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.053389] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.062647] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.071891] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.081121] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.090336] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.099590] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.108794] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.118010] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.126931] rk30 hdmi shut down.
[   84.133056] DWC_OTG: dwc_otg_driver_shutdown:: disconnect USB
[   84.138806] DWC_OTG: Mode Mismatch Interrupt: currently in Host mode
[   84.145200] rknand_shutdown...
[   84.348685] Restarting system with command 'bootloader'.
DDR Version 1.00 20121017
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem


DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB07000
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1 size=1024MB
ok  OUT
BUILD=====4
Set g_BootRockusb=TRUE
GetRemapTbl flag = 0
OK! 99059
unsigned!
SecureBootEn = 0
Boot ver: 2012-12-07#1.22
Start RockUsb...
GetRemapTbl flag = 1
 2546379 UsbConnected

This is the setup I was running to understand what was going on:


Now to get that rotation working...

Also worth mentioning the Prolific draiver (that comes with the nokia dku-5 serial cable) is quite lousy - after random amounts of time it couses BSOD (problem with the usb - serial drivers), that is why it is recommended to use something more up to date. Also the cable in question does not work with Windows 8, only up to windows 7 x64. So if you are prepared to do it one the cheap - using pre-historic cables, prepare for BSOD.

Hope this makes clearer some of the problems with RK3066 devices that cannot be flashed via recovery and stuff. Thank you everyone here for the research material - made the process a breeze!

[lungomare]

[SUMMARY] for somebody out there - maybe this will help!

ROM that worked: NEW - CX803/FX5 Finless Custom ROM 1.7
SERIAL: I used NOKIA DKU-5 cable, the pins are as shown (RTG), speed 115200, flow control - none
RECOVERY BUTTON: Is located between the hdmi and otg port and there are clear letters written below the pins that need shortening "REC" - dooooh.
8/9 PIN SHORTENING: This trick is of no use. Serial output shows that that one gets some kind of an error. You need to get into reboot bootloader or boot up shorting the REC pins on the board. Also when using the tools - it actually does not write anything to the system and boot partitions. Only thing that I screwed up using these tools was parameter file - dont know why. Atleast that is what i think I did because after few tries I did not get past the bootloader/kernel. Dumped the system and checked it against the backup files that I made originally - md5 summs checks out. To conclude - nothing was written to system. Maybe it can be done but it is not worth the time to sort that out.

So, if for some reason the recovery button does not work (happened originally) and your kernel is booting OK, then the way to reboot to bootloader is to type these commands in the serial console (without the quotation marks):
1. "su" to get the root access
2. "reboot bootloader" to reboot to bootloader AND ONLY THEN THE ROM Flash Tool.exe WILL WORK!!!
3. flash the new bootloader and images
4. after that most likely the recovery pins will function as intended.

So to completely brick this device you need to do some physical damage. Otherwise there are plenty of options how to recover from anything.

Her is the log of the serial console output with the pin 8/9 shortening trick and what it does:

DDR Version 1.00 20120529
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem


DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB07000
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1
size=1024MB
ok  OUT
BUILD=====4
Fail!
unsigned!
no sys part.
SecureBootEn = 0
Boot ver:
!!!No parameter
Start RockUsb...
GetRemapTbl flag = 1
FlashReadPage error!!,row = fffffff8
 902503 UsbConnected

and here is what the device reports when doing it properly:

DDR Version 1.00 20121017
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem


DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB07000
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1 size=1024MB
ok  OUT
BUILD=====4
GetRemapTbl flag = 0
OK! 99096
unsigned!
SecureBootEn = 0
Boot ver: 2012-12-07#1.22
default RECOVERY key is pressed
RECOVERY key is pressed
Start RockUsb...
GetRemapTbl flag = 1
 2616623 UsbConnected

As my understanding goes - for this exact device the 8/9 pin disconnects the NAND and it newer recovers from that.

And here is how it acts when the proper reboot bootloader command is given:

shell@android:/ $ su
shell@android:/ # reboot bootloader
[   83.710205] SysRq : Emergency Remount R/O
[   83.716712] EXT4-fs (mtdblock8): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
[   83.725248] EXT4-fs (mtdblock6): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
[   83.743849] EXT4-fs (mtdblock5): re-mounted. Opts: (null)
[   83.752470] Emergency Remount complete
[   83.823672] RESTART_DEBUG : sys_reboot->482->cmd=a1b2c3d4 args=bootloader
[   83.830637] RESTART_DEBUG : kernel_restart->351->cmd=bootloader
[   83.859071] rknand_buffer_shutdown pWriteQueue->count = 1!!
[   83.865314] rknand_buffer_shutdown pReadQueue->count = 0!!
[   83.870830] FtlCacheWriteBack
[   83.887046] rknand_buffer_thread exit ... done
[   83.891560] rknand_buffer_reboot_prepare exit!!
[   83.896091] shutdown...done
[   83.933171] Chenzy-------hkw-------es8323_i2c_shutdown
[   83.988780] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   83.998001] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.007235] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.016452] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.025699] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.034912] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.044145] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.053389] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.062647] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.071891] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.081121] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.090336] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.099590] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 2...
[   84.108794] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 1...
[   84.118010] i2c i2c-0: No ack, Maybe slave(addr: 0x10) not exist or abnormal power-on, retry 0...
[   84.126931] rk30 hdmi shut down.
[   84.133056] DWC_OTG: dwc_otg_driver_shutdown:: disconnect USB
[   84.138806] DWC_OTG: Mode Mismatch Interrupt: currently in Host mode
[   84.145200] rknand_shutdown...
[   84.348685] Restarting system with command 'bootloader'.
DDR Version 1.00 20121017
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem


DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB07000
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1 size=1024MB
ok  OUT
BUILD=====4
Set g_BootRockusb=TRUE
GetRemapTbl flag = 0
OK! 99059
unsigned!
SecureBootEn = 0
Boot ver: 2012-12-07#1.22
Start RockUsb...
GetRemapTbl flag = 1
 2546379 UsbConnected

This is the setup I was running to understand what was going on:


Now to get that rotation working...

Also worth mentioning the Prolific draiver (that comes with the nokia dku-5 serial cable) is quite lousy - after random amounts of time it couses BSOD (problem with the usb - serial drivers), that is why it is recommended to use something more up to date. Also the cable in question does not work with Windows 8, only up to windows 7 x64. So if you are prepared to do it one the cheap - using pre-historic cables, prepare for BSOD.

Hope this makes clearer some of the problems with RK3066 devices that cannot be flashed via recovery and stuff. Thank you everyone here for the research material - made the process a breeze!

Hello,
I congratulate you for your work.
I ask for help.

I have a dongle that Android does not work after an upgrade wrong.

If I connect it to the TV I see only the recovery 4.2. I try to update the firmware, it gives me error.
The PC does not recognize the device so I can not install a new firmware.

Do you think even my device can be reprogrammed via serial?

[Skeem]

your device looks different, so my guess is that you probably wont gain anything by using the serial. from the picture looks as if you have the reset button - so go ahead and use it! rkflash tool and others with it should work. serial interface in your situation is useless. For rk3066 device the only way to recover is to use the recovery pins / button and the provided tool. in my case the device was not responding well but it WAS working.

search the forum for how to use the rkflash tool and you should be fine.

[lungomare]

your device looks different, so my guess is that you probably wont gain anything by using the serial. from the picture looks as if you have the reset button - so go ahead and use it! rkflash tool and others with it should work. serial interface in your situation is useless. For rk3066 device the only way to recover is to use the recovery pins / button and the provided tool. in my case the device was not responding well but it WAS working.

search the forum for how to use the rkflash tool and you should be fine.

Yes, I have the reset button but if I press and hold whet I power on the device, the pc don't tecognize never.
Rkflash tool not work :-(
I also tried to do the reset with pins 6-7 and 8-9 but does not work.
I do not know what and how to do it.

[Skeem]

It seems that you somehow have bricked your device OR you don't have the proper DRIVER installed (check device manager). to clarify -> when you flash custom images - the recovery that comes with it changes the device id or something so the computer thinks it is a new device!!! got stuck into that situation myself so check that your computer shows that it is recognizing everything and that everything works.

if you cannot get your computer to recognize your device the it is definitely bricked if it works then it WILL show up using the reset or the trick with pins shortening (pin trick should show up but not work properly).

good luck!

[thunde3r]

Hello, I have a tablet that do not start, my serial boot log look like this,

DDR Version 1.00 20121017
In
DDR3
freq
300MHz
config state
pctl
phy
mem

DX0DQSTR:3DB04001
DX1DQSTR:3DB04001
DX2DQSTR:3DB04001
DX3DQSTR:3DB04001
acc
ok
bus width=32 col=10 bank=8 row=15 CS=1 size=1024MB
failed! ERR

What shod be the problem ?
Is there any utility to test the ram like memtest for pc?

[mohanadcom]

Hello,
I congratulate you for your work.
I ask for help.

I have a dongle that Android does not work after an upgrade wrong.

If I connect it to the TV I see only the recovery 4.2. I try to update the firmware, it gives me error.
The PC does not recognize the device so I can not install a new firmware.

Do you think even my device can be reprogrammed via serial?

hello there :
i have similar dumb dongle
itryed all over the internet to solve the failed idb issue and cheschip failing
finally i SOLVED it

1- be sure to have the right driver ( i have rk809ii) the internal ship is rk3066 . driver can be downloaded
2 when you see your dongle in the rk tool , its good so far
3 - main problem with theese dongles is the usb port , usb cable , the whole pc
i tryed more than 10 cables and the idb started to download after i used the samsung galaxy cable and i changed the usb port that i have
4- be sure to have the exact original copy of software , if you have wrong one . you wont let it run
i downloaded one new and it worked with me after changing cables and usb port .,
hope some one will use theese .
i will try to upload all what i have
mine worked with version 1.6 of batch
i pressed upgrade then every thing went ok
i already have reset button . so try it and try the 5&6 and 8&9 and 30&31 pins JUST when your pc dont see the dongle .,