Another Brick but with no valid partitions

[M8SSS]

Another brick story here on my BCM4335 M8S clone.
Let me first start with that I have successfully un-bricked this device before with a specific ROM and using all of the various methods all over this forum but now none of these will work because, I think, all the partitions on the device are reported by TWRP as being 0MB and "not valid".and so can't be mounted.
As a result TWRP cannot repair or change file system type on the partitions due to it not being able to mount any of them. The usual restore methods of .img and .zip formatted ROMs will not run either.
I have tried the SD boot methods and after the auto run install doesn't work and boots to the recovery, the install methods from the recovery also say they can't mount the partitions.
USB burning tool just reports an error of [0x30201004}UBOOT/Disk Initialise/Send Command/Error Result at 4%.
Yes I have tried different versions,cables, usb ports and images that are supposedly for this box.
Normally this beast can be brought back from the dead quite easily but on this occasion I'm stumped.
Are there any other windows tools etc that can access the box to try and re-partition the NAND ?? because until that happens I think it's fooked.
Cheers in advance of any ideas.

[mitchell4you]

MASK ROM MODE? this might hold a clue

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s812-aa/eny-acemax-ott-aa/550702-bricked-m8s-with-m8-v8_8-20150923-board-2gb-ram-8gb-rom-bcm4335-wifi-not-detected-in-usb-burn-tool

goodluck

[M8SSS]

MASK ROM MODE? this might hold a clue

http://freaktab.com/forum/tv-player-support/amlogic-based-tv-players/s812-aa/eny-acemax-ott-aa/550702-bricked-m8s-with-m8-v8_8-20150923-board-2gb-ram-8gb-rom-bcm4335-wifi-not-detected-in-usb-burn-tool

goodluck

Thanks for the reply. I Think mask rom mode only applies to Rock chip devices?? I could be wrong. I tried it though but no dice.
Any more ideas anyone? Is there a tool like usb burning tool that will re-write the partitions?
Cheers.

[norco53]

This method starts by uploading only the original boot loader using USB Burning tool: https://youtu.be/t_fMCUXwF4Q?t=253. Then he uses TWRP recovery to get a copy of ROM restored. Not sure if that can work for you. But good luck.

[mitchell4you]

Mask rom mode info

http://freaktab.com/forum/main-category/main-forum/637675-nand-chip-mask-rom-mode-short-location

[M8SSS]

Can you tell me what is supposed to happen in mask rom mode? I'm not sure what I'm looking for. There is info for this mode with a rockchip utility but not so much for amlogic.
The box responds to usb burning tool and can boot to twrp via toothpick. What exactly is this other mode and how do I know if the box is in it?
An interesting thing is to get the box recognised in usb burning tool, all i have to do is connect the usb and power cables. No toothpick needed.
I wonder if it is stuck in some mode although I can boot to TWRP via toothpick as normal.

[M8SSS]

If anyone is still interested.
It turns out I had shorted two of the NAND pins permanently by poking around a lot and mashing the solder together.
This was causing the box to be recognised by usb burning tool without me having to keep the reset button pressed and also causing usb burning tool to fail at 4%.
As soon as I corrected this, usb burning tool worked first time.

So in short if anyone has this box with this version of the pcb (photo in first post) I use the rom cyx_m8s_v8.6_bcm4335_8g2g_kodi_addons_160125_SD升级 from here https://yadi.sk/d/RB2usIUro4nRq
with the Mygica Kodi 17 fork for 4.4.2. Seems to work pretty well for basic media center usage..
Cheers to all the geniuses that come up with all this stuff.
Hope this helps someone.