ShaunMT's Modified ROM for Nextbook NX785QC8G (Support Thread)

[justinuyasha]

Problem installing

UPDATE: I tried out a few things after making this post. A few things I did were a full wipe using TWRP, checking all but External_SD then tried flashing again with the same errors. I did another wipe and this time changed the name of the file to "Update.zip". Rebooted the tablet and installed your parameter fix (4gig), it ran for a split second then rebooted back into TWRP and gave a successful message, after that I flashed the update.zip and everything seems to work perfectly now.


I want to start my post by thanking you for you work no this tablet as there seems to be no one else touching it at all anymore. Unfortunately before I found you page several months ago, I found this page first: http://www.arctablet.com/blog/forum/...40713/?lang=en

Naturally it was the only rom I could find that would fix the /data partition problems on the stock rom so I installed it with no problems. After installing I had my major issue which is the battery problem that everyone else seems to have with this tablet so I looked it over. Then I started having compatibility problems and decided it was time for a change and to try you Rom out. I had installed you TWRP recovery several months ago however.

Now my problem is that I was stupid and didn't make a backup before installing your ROM. I did a standard wipe using TWRP. Then I flashed your ROM. I'm getting this error in TWRP "E: Error exectuting updater binary in zip '/external_sd/SMT - NX785QC8G_WMDE - KK_4_4_2_052714 - ZIP.zip'
Error flashing zip [same as above]
Updating partition details...
E: Unable to mount '/system' "


Also worth mentioning, I'm using a 16G SDCard. I had just formatted the SD Card before attempting to flash the ROM.

Now I cannot seem to do anything, my first idea is of course to get my hands on a stock rom and see if I can undo the damage I have seem to have done. Is this even possible?

Any other ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!!

[shaunmt]

UPDATE: I tried out a few things after making this post. A few things I did were a full wipe using TWRP, checking all but External_SD then tried flashing again with the same errors. I did another wipe and this time changed the name of the file to "Update.zip". Rebooted the tablet and installed your parameter fix (4gig), it ran for a split second then rebooted back into TWRP and gave a successful message, after that I flashed the update.zip and everything seems to work perfectly now.


I want to start my post by thanking you for you work no this tablet as there seems to be no one else touching it at all anymore. Unfortunately before I found you page several months ago, I found this page first: http://www.arctablet.com/blog/forum/...40713/?lang=en

Naturally it was the only rom I could find that would fix the /data partition problems on the stock rom so I installed it with no problems. After installing I had my major issue which is the battery problem that everyone else seems to have with this tablet so I looked it over. Then I started having compatibility problems and decided it was time for a change and to try you Rom out. I had installed you TWRP recovery several months ago however.

Now my problem is that I was stupid and didn't make a backup before installing your ROM. I did a standard wipe using TWRP. Then I flashed your ROM. I'm getting this error in TWRP "E: Error exectuting updater binary in zip '/external_sd/SMT - NX785QC8G_WMDE - KK_4_4_2_052714 - ZIP.zip'
Error flashing zip [same as above]
Updating partition details...
E: Unable to mount '/system' "


Also worth mentioning, I'm using a 16G SDCard. I had just formatted the SD Card before attempting to flash the ROM.

Now I cannot seem to do anything, my first idea is of course to get my hands on a stock rom and see if I can undo the damage I have seem to have done. Is this even possible?

Any other ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!!

Your system partition was either corrupted or not mapped correctly for the update.

Flashing the parameter patch fixed it either way, by both remapping and reformatting the partition.

You should be fine now.

ShaunMT

[OldrNdirt]

Hi Shaun, I'm back for more advice. It seems Rom Toolbox mixed with adventurous spirits and no more than a thimble of knowledge might be a potent cocktail. But who cares as long as I have a designated driver (TWRP) to get me safely home? Unfortunately, my driver is ignoring me.

Short of it is I was on a quest to replace my boring boot animation with a cool droid one from Rom Toolbox, which was a zipped file of png's, but the ol' Nextbook is spoiled on mp4's. Never allowing laws of physics or that Murphy guy's to stop me, I moved the boot animation binary file somewhere that I've never been able to find since and replaced it with one I thought should be more compliant. That didn't work either and the original file is somewhere in the netherworld, so I eventually installed a binary file from XDA that is a suitable replacement and also allowed me to use a cool mp4 formatted droid animation.

Happy with what I'd done, I decided to clean the place up of all the zipped, unzipped, unused and duplicated trash I'd made and celebrate with a fresh TWRP backup. I don't know what I did, but when I put TWRP through it's routine I don't end up with a new backup file. It does the whole process (nothing in red) and shows me how long it took. Everything looks normal, but the only files I find are the older ones (5). Storage is still on the external card and has over 23g available, so nothing appears to have changed. Believe it or not, I don't understand.

Any thoughts?? Did I spank it too hard? I would like to fix it, cause I'd rather not go to a previous restore point where I wasn't quite done with debloat and the additional apps. Think I should uninstall and install a fresh TWRP? Should I be leaving things alone and just resign to being a good boy?

Thanks for any help and take your time, it took me a couple days to accomplish this.

[OldrNdirt]

Oh wait!! Just dropped it face down and now it won't come on. At all. I'll commence to resuscitate, but I may not need that advice after all.

[OldrNdirt]

Whoohoo, just went cockeyed. I chiseled it open and checked the battery connector, tight, unplugged and plugged back in, then finally unplugged it and held the power button for 19 hours and it now works great. Once I hammer the lid back on I'll do another b/u and see if it takes.

Gee, isn't this exciting??

[OldrNdirt]

ALL IS WELL!!!! Disregard all my earlier babble, I now understand that TWRP's not supposed to go to infinity and beyond. Silly me. Once I deleted a couple I had no more problems.

And the tablet is fine than some bruising. For a cheap tablet, it sure is bullet proof.

[OldrNdirt]

I s'pose I spoke too soon, it appears I was wrong when I said I was wrong. TWRP is not backing up and not deleting old b/u's. when I delete one it goes away, but next time I boot into recovery it's there again and the new b/u is gone. Spooky, huh?

I generally don't defend my sanity, but I really do see deleted ones disappear and new ones there right after I successfully run the program. And when I boot to system I see them via ROM t/b, so I boot back to recovery and it's groundhog's day all over again.

[shaunmt]

I s'pose I spoke too soon, it appears I was wrong when I said I was wrong. TWRP is not backing up and not deleting old b/u's. when I delete one it goes away, but next time I boot into recovery it's there again and the new b/u is gone. Spooky, huh?

I generally don't defend my sanity, but I really do see deleted ones disappear and new ones there right after I successfully run the program. And when I boot to system I see them via ROM t/b, so I boot back to recovery and it's groundhog's day all over again.

Sorry, I've been busy with family stuff the past few days. Glad you've mostly figured out stuff on your own.

First, make sure you know where your backups are going. There is an option in TWRP to toggle between the internal storage and your external storage (sd card).

Second, it sounds like your external sd card might be corrupted. Try backing up the contents to a PC, then reformatting the external SD card.

ShaunMT

[OldrNdirt]

No, enjoy the family time. I have so many things to screw up that I'm not tied to a single event.

Good advice, I did check the internal TWRP directory (and always wondered how it got there) and found it empty, and didn't know where else they could be going so I did what I do proficiently..bricked it solid.

Early this morning while still in my "coffee and a coma" routine I had a stroke of genius and thought to do 1 more backup, which is always displayed in the menu until I boot to the system, then I would go to the restore menu and use that very copy to boot back into the system instead of just rebooting to system the normal way. Seemed like the best way to find out if it was really storing these files or not.

Unfortunately, that was a bad way to find out. As soon as the process started the tablets gears stopped and I swear I heard it scream. Might have been me, but it's all pretty hazy now. Anyway, I assume there were only atoms and not 0/1's that were unleashed into my poor Frankentab. I raged in bitter anguish, but no one could tell since I still hadn't come out of my own morning coma. In that respect, Franky and I will get along well as we start each new day.

So now only the charge light comes on and the screen stays as black as my memory of that last reboot. When I connect it to my pc windows doesn't recognize it. And I've done all the button configurations, battery disconnect and dancing on one foot, plus scoured the web and have come to the conclusion that it's fatal. I still have it on life-support via charger in hopes of it someday waking up and smiling at me the way it always used to, but I'm afraid the outlook is grim at best.

So yes, I wish I'd thought to reformat the sd card because I have everything backed up to my pc already. But I'm consoled in knowing he went quick and probably didn't suffer....

[OldrNdirt]

WARNING!!

Just to let everyone know, yesterday on the way to work I got another Nextbook 8 (4.4.2) on close-out at Wally's.

Rooted immediately, so the childproof cap is off, and debloated. After I get another sd card I'll install TWRP and parameter patches so that I can re-assume the journey along my well worn path along the edge of that steep and rocky cliff.

Shaun, you were definitely right about a corrupted sd card. I spent a significant part of the day trying to format it, but it's stuck in read only evidently. I'm currently using DISKPART as a last resort and after 3 hrs. I'm rapidly closing in on 3% completed of a 32gb card. It might work, but I'd feel better with a new one anyway.

So perusing through the misc. files on the card it looks like it probably squealed to a stop when I dropped the tablet face down on my desk. There should have been a couple files after that time, but they're not there.

Anyway, I just thought it was proper to give warning before I show up out of the blue saying "for the love of God, what have I done??" again.

[shaunmt]

Just to let everyone know, yesterday on the way to work I got another Nextbook 8 (4.4.2) on close-out at Wally's.

Rooted immediately, so the childproof cap is off, and debloated. After I get another sd card I'll install TWRP and parameter patches so that I can re-assume the journey along my well worn path along the edge of that steep and rocky cliff.

Shaun, you were definitely right about a corrupted sd card. I spent a significant part of the day trying to format it, but it's stuck in read only evidently. I'm currently using DISKPART as a last resort and after 3 hrs. I'm rapidly closing in on 3% completed of a 32gb card. It might work, but I'd feel better with a new one anyway.

So perusing through the misc. files on the card it looks like it probably squealed to a stop when I dropped the tablet face down on my desk. There should have been a couple files after that time, but they're not there.

Anyway, I just thought it was proper to give warning before I show up out of the blue saying "for the love of God, what have I done??" again.

First, It is highly unlikely that your original tablet can't be repaired (unless it suffered some sort of internal damage), although at this point, you might possibly have to get it recognized by a PC and use one of the PC rockchip flashing tools to flash individual partitions (assuming it will no longer boot into recovery mode).

Regarding your external sd card... assuming you are using an adapter with your pc, have you verified the lock slider on the adapter isn't in the lock position?

Also, beware of cheap sd cards... they tend to fail permanently after a short time... I stick to big name brands (Sony, Samsung, SanDisk). They well worth the extra cost and tend to last a very long time compared to cheap brands. I can usually find really good deals on them at Amazon. I usually pay around $20 or less for a 32GB card or around $30 for a 64GB. Also, don't pay any price for a card that isn't Class 10, Ultra 1, or higher speed.

ShaunMT

[mel4787]

Your tablet isn't permanently bricked. I softbricked mine so many times its not funny. But to get that back see if it can boot into fastboot. Download rktools and Shaun's modified ROM. Guarantee it'll come back to life. Volume up and power will get you into boot loader. Heads up you will know if you are in it when you connect to the tools.

[OldrNdirt]

First, It is highly unlikely that your original tablet can't be repaired (unless it suffered some sort of internal damage), although at this point, you might possibly have to get it recognized by a PC and use one of the PC rockchip flashing tools to flash individual partitions (assuming it will no longer boot into recovery mode).

Oh, I don't doubt its fixability. I just don't know how to make my pc shake hands with it. I went through a small variety of downloaded drivers and it still gives it the cold shoulder of "unknown device". Being a self-taught IT engineer, I seems to have a few limitations.

Regarding your external sd card... assuming you are using an adapter with your pc, have you verified the lock slider on the adapter isn't in the lock position?

Yup, lock's off and I even came across numerous references to run tape around it and had to use a screwdriver to pry it back out. A few times.

[QUOTE=shaunmt;293117]Also, beware of cheap sd cards... they tend to fail permanently after a short time... I stick to big name brands (Sony, Samsung, SanDisk). They well worth the extra cost and tend to last a very long time compared to cheap brands. I can usually find really good deals on them at Amazon. I usually pay around $20 or less for a 32GB card or around $30 for a 64GB. Also, don't pay any price for a card that isn't Class 10, Ultra 1, or higher speed.

ShaunMT

Hmmm, seems PNY was one of the cheaper ones on Wally's rack.....

Well, I guess I should probably look into upgrading the new card of the same variety, since I got another of the same on the way home last night. On the bright side, I have Frankentab Jr. up to speed sportin' new parameters and dressed out with simple, yet elegant TWRP-wear. I do miss your splash screen tho.

[OldrNdirt]

Your tablet isn't permanently bricked. I softbricked mine so many times its not funny. But to get that back see if it can boot into fastboot. Download rktools and Shaun's modified ROM. Guarantee it'll come back to life. Volume up and power will get you into boot loader. Heads up you will know if you are in it when you connect to the tools.

Nope, haven't found a way to get it to boot slow, fast or just right. 3 buttons give me 9 combinations and I'm still looking for the 10th.

Now, I don't know anything about rktools, but I do love tools, and it sounds like something too potentially destructive in the hands of someone who would push the red button just because it's there, so all I can say is if I can figure out how to establish communication with this thing, count me in.

[Mike89]

I use PNY class 4 "cheapies" and have never had a problem with them in my tablets or cell phones. Nothing wrong with PNY. They make Nvidia video cards, that's good enough for me.