641 replies to this topic

[mrredpants]

Hey Dragon,

I'm not quite sure what OP means. I did try to read up on as much as possible before I bailed out and just flat out asked, though. Perhaps my inability to understand the lingo hindered my understanding a lil. :-(

Mrredpants,

first of all - funny name. Secondly, I've been using bootstrap. Also, I'm currently using Liquid Smooth MR2.6 by SP Jester. Thanks for you for your willingness to help out.

I agree with safestrap recommendation. not having used a recovery solution like safestrap before I got to the Bionic it took some understanding for me. I came from on droid incredible which an unlocked bootloader and I just used clockwork mod recovery. The bionic is unique because 1. Bootloader is locked which prevents a lot of development 2. The amount of space that Motorola partitioned for the operating system is not very big which is problematic for the developers as well.

So the way this works with safe strap it is that it is essentially allowing for a dual boot environment where on 1 side you have what's called the unsafe side where the stock operating system resides ( recommend 232 leak) and on the other side you flash custom ROM's. this side is named the safe side because it's difficult to screw it up. the difference ROMs are divided into one's for bootstrap and the ones for safety strap. Many of them can use either recovery option. most of us use safe strap. and its associated ROMs.

Lastly, the ROMs themselves are divided into 2 main groups. Those that are based on the stock also known as a blur based ROMs. These ROMs have much less tweaks to them however they are fully functional and have few to no problems. The other group are either cyanogen or AOKP roms. These are roms developed by a group of developers and based on Android's original source (AOSP). These are what many ROMs use as their base. They are great because they are tweaked like crazy for battery life, options, etc. They are problematic for the bionic because the hardware doesn't always work right (bluetooth, camera, etc). So, the choice of ROM is dependent on what you are willing to sacrifice. CM9 is cyanogen 9 based on ICS, CM10 is cyanogen10 based on JB.

So, direct advice
1. Remove bootstrap and install safestrap 2.11. @hashofcode is working on safestrap 3 which will be released soon. Follow him on twitter or visit his blog at hash of codes (google). He and @dhacker do a lot of the troubleshooting of the hardest things with Bionic - but, they don't post to a lot of forums.
2. Pick a ROM - I choose functionality over tweaks for now. For example, I need bluetooth. I like blackhole (see OP). Others like rag 3. Both blur based. If you want to try CM or AOKP roms - hash just released a CM10 JB Rom which is pretty much fully functional except for bluetooth.

I think that covers it. There are more detailed instructions on safestrap on hash's website. Part of the issue is that us Bionic users got scattered a couple months ago so the information is not as centralized as it once was. If you get into any brick-like trouble, see Samuri's house of bionic - that is way tooooo big of a description for this post. see st. elsewhere

My name (thank you) is from Quake I - takes you back.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

[dragon]

Excellent wright up! I remember Quake. A bunch of us are into the unreal tournament now.

[correarc1]

I agree with safestrap recommendation. not having used a recovery solution like safestrap before I got to the Bionic it took some understanding for me. I came from on droid incredible which an unlocked bootloader and I just used clockwork mod recovery. The bionic is unique because 1. Bootloader is locked which prevents a lot of development 2. The amount of space that Motorola partitioned for the operating system is not very big which is problematic for the developers as well.

So the way this works with safe strap it is that it is essentially allowing for a dual boot environment where on 1 side you have what's called the unsafe side where the stock operating system resides ( recommend 232 leak) and on the other side you flash custom ROM's. this side is named the safe side because it's difficult to screw it up. the difference ROMs are divided into one's for bootstrap and the ones for safety strap. Many of them can use either recovery option. most of us use safe strap. and its associated ROMs.

Lastly, the ROMs themselves are divided into 2 main groups. Those that are based on the stock also known as a blur based ROMs. These ROMs have much less tweaks to them however they are fully functional and have few to no problems. The other group are either cyanogen or AOKP roms. These are roms developed by a group of developers and based on Android's original source (AOSP). These are what many ROMs use as their base. They are great because they are tweaked like crazy for battery life, options, etc. They are problematic for the bionic because the hardware doesn't always work right (bluetooth, camera, etc). So, the choice of ROM is dependent on what you are willing to sacrifice. CM9 is cyanogen 9 based on ICS, CM10 is cyanogen10 based on JB.

So, direct advice
1. Remove bootstrap and install safestrap 2.11. @hashofcode is working on safestrap 3 which will be released soon. Follow him on twitter or visit his blog at hash of codes (google). He and @dhacker do a lot of the troubleshooting of the hardest things with Bionic - but, they don't post to a lot of forums.
2. Pick a ROM - I choose functionality over tweaks for now. For example, I need bluetooth. I like blackhole (see OP). Others like rag 3. Both blur based. If you want to try CM or AOKP roms - hash just released a CM10 JB Rom which is pretty much fully functional except for bluetooth.

I think that covers it. There are more detailed instructions on safestrap on hash's website. Part of the issue is that us Bionic users got scattered a couple months ago so the information is not as centralized as it once was. If you get into any brick-like trouble, see Samuri's house of bionic - that is way tooooo big of a description for this post. see st. elsewhere

My name (thank you) is from Quake I - takes you back.

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Tapatalk 2

Hey MrRedPants,

That was exactly the kind of explanation that I needed - thank you very much. I will try what you explained. I actually kind of bricked my phone last night because I went to uninstall bootstrap, and I couldn't find it in the list, so I went ahead and installed safestrap... well. apparently it was still there cause I was caught in a bootloop, and then my battery drained out completely, and now I'm caught having to do the usb cord trick to charge my battery, and frz back to .905, and start anew (but this time with safe-strap).

[mrredpants]

Hey MrRedPants,

That was exactly the kind of explanation that I needed - thank you very much. I will try what you explained. I actually kind of bricked my phone last night because I went to uninstall bootstrap, and I couldn't find it in the list, so I went ahead and installed safestrap... well. apparently it was still there cause I was caught in a bootloop, and then my battery drained out completely, and now I'm caught having to do the usb cord trick to charge my battery, and frz back to .905, and start anew (but this time with safe-strap).

Well that should get you started. I've had to do that trick with the USB cord many times. There is an adapter and/or cord you can buy from

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As long as I'm at it, I dug up this old post from our old Bionic forums:
==========================================================================

First of all, Samuri's pathsaver tool is amazing. He has put an incredible amount of work into it and it can save you a lot of trouble and headache. That said, it is NOT intended to be a one click fix everything tool. And if you're going to use it, I would highly suggest you have a basic understanding of WHAT the script does.

I have done a lot of flashing on my bionic. FXZ'd many times, rooted, bootstrapped, safestrapped, gingerbreaded and ICS'd.

I am sharing the way I personally get myself back to square one if I get into trouble or start over. If you know Samrui's tool, this may seem like overkill - but, for me, I know this works and when it comes to technology - especially when I'm messing with my phone, if it ain't broke, I stick with it!

So, this is basically if I'm on an ICS leak (anything based off 232 or earlier or CM9 or AOKP).

THIS ABSOLUTELY DOES NOT APPLY TO ANYONE INSTALLING A LEAK NEWER THAN 232 (i.e. 235, 238). If you're on those leaks and looking for help, you need Samuri.

Anyway, here goes:

What you need:
1. Your phone with a charged battery - at least 50%.
2. A motorola USB cable, the one that came with your phone
3. A computer

Here's what to do:
1. Gather files - what you'll need - these can all be obtained from Obsidian's post here
a. Motorola's latest USB phone drivers for your computer
b. RSD Lite 5.7
c. 902 FXZ File (there is a 905 FXZ File - it gave me trouble once when I tried it, so I went back to my if it ain't broke philosophy and went back to my 902 FXZ)
d. 232 ICS Leak File
e. Motofail razors edge root tool
f. Safestrap (bootstrap if you like)
g. A custom ROM image
** (e, f, and g are all optional. If you JUST want to be on stock ICS on your Bionic, you can just use a-d and do not need to have a rooted phone.

2. Start the process

a. Install motorola drivers on your computer
b. Install RSD Lite on your computer
b. Boot your phone into fastboot mode
- with phone powered off, hold volume down and power button at same time. Should say ready to program
c. Plug your phone into your computer and wait for windows to find load drivers
d. Open up RSD Lite - you should see your phone listed if recognized
e. Hit ... button, browse to 902 FXZ file, click decrompress and flash
f. Get a cup of coffee
g. Phone will reboot and be a clean, out of the box, install of 902 stock gingerbread
h. Get past initial setup then go to settings, about phone, system updates
i. Take OTA 905 update
j. More coffee, pee if you need to
k. Phone will reboot and now be on 905 stock
l. If you haven't already, place 232 leaked zip file on your external SD card
m. Power off phone and boot into stock recovery
- with phone powered off, hold both volume buttons and power button at same time.

When prompts come up, scroll down once to recovery and up once to select. You'll see an android with an exclamation point. Hit both volume buttons again. Now you'll boot into factory recovery.

n. Install zip from SD card, browse to where you placed 232, select and install.
o. Perhaps some tea this time
p. At reboot, you'll be happily in stock, FULLY FUNCTIONAL ICS on the bionic.

3. Root, strap and more

I'm not going to reinvent the wheel here, however, I next root my phone with razor's edge tool. If I'm staying on stock, I then install JRummy's Rom Toolbox Pro and freeze all the
bloatware. If I'm not staying on stock, I install safestrap and then install a ROM. Currently there are some great 232 based ROM's available including blackhole and rag3. All of these are available at Osidian's post here

[correarc1]

Thank you, once again, for posting and helping me out. I've run into a bit of an issue that my phone is getting stuck on the last part of frz-ing when it boots up for the last time it's getting stuck on the Motorola logo. The post you just shared with me says that I should try going back to .902 if .905 doesn't work... so I'll try that now.

[mrredpants]

Thank you, once again, for posting and helping me out. I've run into a bit of an issue that my phone is getting stuck on the last part of frz-ing when it boots up for the last time it's getting stuck on the Motorola logo. The post you just shared with me says that I should try going back to .902 if .905 doesn't work... so I'll try that now.

Good plan - I think the 905 did the same thing for me.
For the record, I didn't know what OP meant either - and for what it's worth - it's called FXZing :>)
" FXZ is an acronym for Full XML Zip file and is the format for most dual core Motorola firmware files.
They are an archive of all of the stock partition images for a given device to be flashed in fastboot with either RSD lite or using adb and the fastboot binary."

[correarc1]

Thanks, man. and woops... I meant FXZ, haha.

But hey, I think I'm stuck beyond my knowledge. I've tried the regular way of doing the FXZ to both .902 and .905, and I've also tried house of droid's way to go back to .905, and in every single case I come to the same issue - during the reboot, It gets stuck on the Motorola logo and RSD says "Please manually power up this phone." If I try to manually reboot the phone, I get the same exact result.

I feel like I'm in a bit of trouble... Do you know how I would go about getting out of this?

[SamuriHL]

Boot it into AP Fastboot BEFORE trying to flash. Power off the phone, hold volume down then hit power. Connect it to USB, then RSD flash the 905 FXZ.

[mrredpants]

Boot it into AP Fastboot BEFORE trying to flash. Power off the phone, hold volume down then hit power. Connect it to USB, then RSD flash the 905 FXZ.

Agreed - The power off manually always shows up for me. Don't worry - highly unlikely you've bricked - Samuri has troubleshot (is that a word?) more than anyone so I'm sure he can help

[SamuriHL]

I've yet to lose a Bionic. My record on fixing them is flawless so far, so, hang in there. As long as you can boot into AP Fastboot mode, it can be fixed.

[correarc1]

I can boot into AP Fastboot mode

[SamuriHL]

Then we can fix it. Do as I suggest above. Make sure you're using RSD 5.7, latest moto drivers installed, phone is recognized by windows in AP Fastboot mode, then load up RSD and flash the 905 FXX.

[correarc1]

Thank you very much for all of your help. I'm trying it again now. I powered off. powered into fastboot mode, and ran the house of bionic selecting to fxz back to .905 (since it's the only option I had)

[SamuriHL]

That's fine. Skip the option to reboot into AP Fastboot since you've already done that. And pray.

[correarc1]

Alright,

so - It got all the way where you see the little droid on the screen with the status bar where it got all filled up. And then it tried to reboot, got to the Motorola screen. but nothing happened after. I'm leaving it alone in hopes that something will change, but it looks like it did before - it's stuck on the motorola screen...

:-(

[SamuriHL]

I assume you're using a FULL FXZ and not trying to keep your data right? Cause, given the state of your phone, a factory reset is going to be REQUIRED. If it doesn't come up in a bit, pull the battery and boot it into recovery and select the factory reset option. That should boot it.

[correarc1]

Yeah, I don't mind starting it from the beginning. I'll make sure to do things right this time - haha. This goes back to MrRedPants' original point to me - I should probably have gone with Safestrap to start with.

[SamuriHL]

I won't get into the whole SS vs BS religious debate. I'm only interested in helping you get this phone booted.

[correarc1]

welp guys... I think I might be a lost cause out here :-(

I went to the boot mode selection menu, I selected recovery, when the droid popped up, I clicked both volume buttons, I selected wipe data / factory reset. once that was done, I selected reboot system now, and my phone got stuck on the same spot.

:-(

[SamuriHL]

Can I see your swdl.txt file from your rsd installation folder? Nothing is a lost cause. We aren't done.